Geography

Geography is a topic that we have covered in class on several occasions. It has also been a focus of some of our assigned readings. Geography is one of the most important sections of Social Studies. Geography is simply defined as the study of earth and its features. This is a very simplistic view of what geography is. I believe that there is much more that goes into studying this section of Social Studies. As we discussed in class, geography deals with five key components. The five parts are location, place, interaction, movement, and regions.

Geography is my favorite sector of the social studies. This is because of the vast possibilities for exploration. The subject entails everything from longitude and latitude lines on a map to how and why people interact with each other. Geography to me is like an open-ended question. It is an area where you can explore and research for what seems to be an eternity. This is because the five sectors are so interconnected. If you were researching a certain area and the people that live there, you are exposed to a tremendous amount of material. From there you can start to research how the people interact with different cultures, or how the people moved there and settled, or the physical characteristics of the setting. The possibilities for exploration are endless, and that is why geography is so captivating to me.

Geography is also extremely important because it affects all aspects of life. No matter what you are talking or thinking about geography is some how involved. Everything in the world has a direct connection to place, location, interaction, movement, and region. Movement is important because it relates to interaction. If people could not move from one place to another they would be unable to interact. I believe that regions are important because all places on earth are part of a particular region. When people are defining areas or places they can label them into a certain region. Location is important because it is your exact placement on earth. This is key for map building, knowing where places are, and the best way to get there. Place is an important sector of geography because it gives you the ability to separate one area from the next. This is important to understand because all places on earth have different characteristics, which allows us to distinguish the meaning and character of place. The most important sector of geography in my mind is interaction. I believe this is the essential component of social studies. Without interaction we would have no way to communicate with one another. Without communication all parts of society and life would be tremendously affected. It is quite difficult to explain on paper the extreme importance of geography. To capture the essence of geography one must sit back and just think of all the different ways geography affects their lives. This is an activity that should be practiced in all geography lessons. There is no aspect of your life that doesn t in one way or another include geography. People and objects all have an exact location; exact place, exact region, and they interact with other people and places.

People need to understand where they are in the world in order that they can understand where they are in their lives. Realizing this will help you understand that geography affects each and every aspect of our lives. Because of this I believe that Social Studies and geography need to have a much greater emphasis placed on them. And they should be a focal point of our nations educational system. In conclusion, geography is a subject of great importance and it is necessary that al students across the country are exposed and have a general understanding of this particular subject.