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Social Studies 4: U.S. Geography Subtopics 60 Views


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Description:

The study of geography in terms of the United States is actually the study of many, many different subtopics. Well…great. That sounds like a lot of work.

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:04

[Dino and Coop singing]

00:13

The study of geography and the United States is usually the study of many, many different

00:18

subtopics. Well great, that sounds like a lot of work. [Coop pointing at a blackboard]

00:20

Eh, sorta..

00:22

See, geography is defined as the study of Earth. [Dino pointing at a blackboard]

00:25

And Earth is a pretty big place, with a whole lot of different stuff going on.

00:29

Not the kind of subject you can study for 10 minutes and call it a day. [Student closing his laptop]

00:33

There's physical geography, which includes landforms also known as the surface of the [Coop pointing at a blackboard]

00:37

Earth like mountains, plains and plateaus...

00:40

...bodies of water, including oceans, seas, rivers, lakes,

00:43

and everything in between.

00:45

In this one subtopic alone, we've got the vastness of the ocean and the entire surface [Boy in a dingy being circled by sharks]

00:50

of the Earth.

00:51

And we're only skimming the surface, like this guy. [Man water skiing flies into the air]

00:54

The Earth also has many different climates and climate zones.

00:57

If this subtopic is the focus of a particular geographer

01:00

they could look at the weather and temperature of an [Man looking confused at a computer]

01:03

area over time.

01:04

And then compare it to the climate of another area.

01:07

And another area.

01:08

And another.

01:09

It doesn't leave a lot of time for Sudoku solving. [Person playing Sudoku]

01:12

Another subtopic of geography is population.

01:15

Focusing on this subtopic would lead a researcher to look at where people live, why they live

01:19

there, and how they move about. [Man looking at screens about people]

01:21

They might also consider the population density of a specific area... [Video of a busy city]

01:24

And then compare it to another area.

01:28

And another.

01:29

And well, yeah, you're probably starting to get the idea.

01:31

Biomes are another subtopic.

01:33

A biome is an area of natural land where certain plant and animal wildlife are able to survive. [Dino pointing at a blackboard]

01:38

As you can probably imagine, America has plenty of different biomes, ranging from cactus-filled [Man stuck in a biodome]

01:43

deserts to lush green forests, to studio apartments. [Man in his apartment]

01:47

Believe it or not, even the economy can be considered a geographic subtopic. [Coop pointing at a blackboard]

01:51

Sure, you might think it's better suited for the field of finance, but the physical geography [Lots of dollar bills going round in circles]

01:55

and climate of a region can significantly impact an area's economy. [A clown in a busy city]

02:00

Hawaii's warm weather and beautiful beaches attract tourists year-round, while the Midwest's

02:04

low population density allows for many of its states to be filled with farms instead.

02:09

Yeah, not a lot of guided wheat field tours. [Tour guide showing people round a field of wheat]

02:12

Regardless of subtopic, geographers in the United States often use maps as tools to represent [Dino pointing at a blackboard]

02:17

the various areas they study, while commonly dividing America into four regions: the North, [The US broken into four different colours]

02:22

South, Midwest and West.

02:24

To say you're studying “geography” means you're simply studying Earth. [Planet Earth rotating]

02:28

But within that topic exists countless subtopics, each with an endless amount of information

02:33

to learn and consider.

02:34

Unfortunately, no matter how much you learn about the planet we call home, you will never [Man looking annoyed because he can't find the remote]

02:38

be able to find the television remote.

02:40

It's whereabouts are one of life's great mysteries. [The dog has the remote in its mouth]

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