The Relationship Between Humans and the Physical Environment

The Relationship Between
Humans and the Physical

Environment

What does Physical Environment Mean?

●The physical environment can mean

○ Different physical features such as rivers, oceans, islands, mountains

○Forests, lakes, deserts, cities

Today we are going to look at:

1.

How we use the environment to meet our (human) needs.

2.

How humans adapted or changed their lives based on what
environment they live in.

3.

How humans changed the physical environment.

How do we use the environment to meet our
(human) needs?

●Lets think about our needs as humans:
○We need water to drink

○Food to eat

○Shelter to live in

○Power/Electricity

○Clothing

●Let's look at some ways we use the environment to meet our needs!

Land (soil/dirt):

●People use soil for farming to grow food- potatoes, corn, rice, berries, apples,
grapes etc. (Lots of fruits and vegetables) We also use the land for livestock
to graze on.

Mountains:

●Often, inside mountains we can find minerals like silver and gold. We use
these minerals to make many different things like coins and jewelry.

●Mountains are often covered in trees. We cut down the trees in the forests and
use the wood for building homes, boats, furniture etc. Wood can also be burned
in a fire to create heat.

Oceans, Lakes and Rivers:

●We use oceans, lakes and rivers to fish. Humans can also use sections of the
ocean to farm selfish and grow fish in enclosed cages for food as well.

●Fun Fact! Many of the world's biggest cities are located close to a river,
ocean or lake. It's not by chance. People create cities close to waterways on
purpose because they provide food and transport.

Rivers:

●Rivers are important sources of power. Humans can put in dames or water
wheels and it ends up making hydro power that humans can use as
electricity.

How have humans adapted or changed their lives
based on what environment they live in?

●Let’s think about where people live. Are the activities people participate in,
food they eat and jobs they have different depending on where they live?
○The answer is YES they are!

●People's lives are a bit different depending on the environment they live in. In
other words they have adapted their lives to the environment they live in.

●What to consider: Physical features humans live close to such as a
mountain or near the ocean. We also have to consider climate and weather
patterns as well.

Ocean

-Food

-Fishing

- Things to watch out for

- Hurricanes
- Flooding

-Activities

-Swimming
-Boating
-Surfing

Mountains

-Food

-Hunting

-Things to watch out for

- Avalanches
- Forest Fires

-Activities

-Skiing
-Hiking
-Rock Climbing

LET’S COMPARE Physical Features!

*Humans adapt and respond to physical feature challenges and live comfortably

Climate: The weather conditions in a specific area over a long
amount of time.

Polar Zones- Cold all the time

Temperate Zones- 4 Seasons
(Where we live) Gets hot and
Cold

Tropical Zones- Warm all the
time

These 3 different zones have
different zones have different
weather!

Tropical Zones (Always warm)

-Food

-Grows outside all year round
-Fishing if near ocean, lake or
river
-Hunting

- Things to watch out for

- Heat Stroke
- Too hot

-Activities

-Swimming in an outdoor pool
-Playing tennis outdoors

Polar Zones (Always Cold)

-Food

-Have to grow food inside
greenhouses
-Could ice fish if near lake,
ocean or river
-Hunting

-Things to watch out for

- Frostbite
- Too Cold

-Activities

-Snowshoeing
-Snowmobiling

LET’S COMPARE Climate!

*Humans adapt and respond to climate region challenges and live comfortably

How have humans changed the physical
environment?

How have humans changed the physical environment?

Putting in roadways
●Roadways were put in through mountains, valleys, forests, rivers etc.

Building Cities
●Large groups of people now live where swamps, forests and rivers used to be.

Building bridges across rivers or islands!
●The confederation bridge connects PEI to New Brunswick.

Re-directing waterways
●Changing the path of a river or waterway.

When we change the physical environment sometimes we are harming the
environment through:

●Deforestation- cutting down too many trees

●Over hunting or fishing

●Destroying natural ecosystems or animal habitats

●Putting chemicals into waterways by accident

Let's take a look what we can do to help fix these problems that humans caused!

What can humans do to change the earth for the
better?

Reduce! Reuse! Recycle!

Reduce the amount of waste
you throw out

Reuse items such as clothing (pass down to younger children)

Recycle items such as paper and plastic to create new paper and plastic

**Make sure to throw out your waste in the right bins!

●Re-Plant trees when they cut them down

●Find alternative sources of energy like wind and water

●Growing fish in fish farms

●Clean up leftover materials from farming and mining

Big Cities

●In really large cities with 10s of millions of people they have started planting
trees and gardens on rooftops and creating extra parks to help the
environment- they call them sky gardens or rooftop gardens