Human Modification of the Environment

Human Modification of the Environment and Adaptation to the Ennvironment

by Lon Thrasher

​People have adapted to build homes that will not flood even when there are hurricanes and a lot of rain.

​​Building in Flood Zones

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​We have adapted to make our homes less vulnerable to fires by building with fire resistant materials and limiting flammable material.

​​Building in Fire Zones

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We can add air conditioning to a home to adapt to the extreme heat. This allows people to live in areas that would be difficult to live in without this adaptation.

​What is human modification of the environment?

​For years, humans have modified the environment to meet their needs. Basically, modifying is changing things - building, digging, cutting, or changing what was there - and creating something new or different. Examples include transportation infrastructure, irrigation systems, dams, mining, creating canals and clearing land or deforestation.

​Canals

​Canals are human-made waterways that allow ships and boats to pass from one body of water to another.

​Some canals are used for irrigation, to bring water from one place to another.

​The Panama Canal is one of the most famous and largest in the world.

​Irrigation Systems

​These are systems that are used to water plants for agriculture, or it can be a system of moving water from a place that has it to a place that needs it.

​The picture is an example of an ancient irrigation from ancient Egypt.

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​These are more modern irrigation systems

​These are some ways that irrigation is used for agriculture.

Multiple Choice

What are canals?

• A way of controlling forest fires.

• Human made waterways that allow boats to get from one body of water to another.

• They are natural waterways like rivers and lakes.

• They are another name for a Gulf.

Multiple Choice

What are irrigation systems used for?

• To stop the flow of water and control flooding.

• To allow ships and boats to pass from one body of water to the other.

• To bring water to areas that need it.

• The clear land for people to grow agricultural products.

Multiple Choice

What are human modifications to the environment?

• When people change what was there to meet their needs.

• When people recycle and reuse things.

• When people travel to far away places using boats.

• When people use water for drinking.

​What is transportation infrastructure?

​Transportation infrastructure involves building things that help people to get around. This could include highways, subways, bridges, light rail, bus stations, train stations and tracks, airports and tunnels.

​Think about a subway. The subway station, waiting area and train tracks CHANGED what was there before. That is a modification. The subway train is an adaptation that allows people to travel underground.

​Transportation Infrastructure

​Why would we consider bridges and tunnels as modifications?

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Would the cars and truck that use them be modifications or adaptations?​

Multiple Choice

Fireplaces heat heat the inside of homes. This allows people to live more comfortably in areas that get cold. This is called

• An Adaptation

• A Modification

• Transportation Infrastructure

• Irrigation Systems

Multiple Choice

Which of these is an example of transportation infrastructure?

• Mining

• deforestation

• agricultural irrigation

• bridges

Multiple Choice

When people modify or change the environment to meet their needs, they

• Build, dig or cut down and change what was there before

• Always do more harm than good

• Help the earth but harm humans

• always make things better and have ONLY a positive impact

​Mining - Getting raw materials from the earth

​Mining is extracting natural resources from the land.

​Some of the things that are mined include coal, copper, gold and iron ore.

​While mining is important because it extracts valuable materials from earth, it often leaves a lot of pollution and is very destructive to the land in and around the mines. Is MINING and ADAPTATION or a MODIFICATION?

​Deforestation : Clearing land to build, for agricultural reasons or for lumber (wood).

​Deforestation happens for different reasons, but usually it is either to use the wood for lumber, to build homes, furniture and other things, or to clear land for agricultural use. While we need homes to live in and furniture to furnish our homes, this creates many problems for our environment in terms of our air quality and animal habitats.

​Adaptation or Modification?

Multiple Choice

Why is deforestation happening?

• To clear land for agricultural use and for lumber, or to build things

• To create canals and tunnels

• To provide irrigation systems to farms

• Because people prefer clear land over forests

Multiple Choice

True or False: Mining is an adaptation

• True

• False

• Neither true or false

• Both true and false

Multiple Choice

Extracting raw materials from earth is called

• Mining

• Deforestation

• Irrigation

• Transportation Infrastructure

Multiple Choice

Which is true about the Panama Canal?

• It connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean

• It connects the Arctic Ocean to the Indian Ocean

• It connect the China Sea to the Gulf of Mexico

• It doesn't connect any bodies of water