Have you ever thought about the ways in which the physical geography of a place or region affects the way people live? Consider New York City for example, does Manhattan Island force people to build upward? Does the fact that Manhattan is a small island with limited area influence how people relate to each other here? How does the geography of the city determine what you do?
Geography influences more than just the way people get their food or what clothes they wear. Geography also shapes world views. If your daily routine is determined by your activities in mountains or on an island, for example, then you will "think" like a mountain- or island-person. What would this be like? What kinds of physical artifacts might you produce? What kinds of mental ideas might you develop? If, for example, you lived in a place where you never saw the ocean, would your society even have a word to represent the idea of an ocean?
Now think of the historical societies that you have already encountered. Do you think they were more or less constrained by geographical factors than you are? What major geographical features shaped the lives of the ancient Egyptians and Mesopotamians? Were rivers important, for example, in their daily lives? Did rivers or deserts influence other parts of their culture?
As we look at the second largest continent, Africa, keep in mind the role the physical geography played in the development of various societies. For instance, why did certain areas become trade centers? Clearly the physical location had much to do with this development, but why was this true?
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2. Interpretation of Images.
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