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The world in which we live has many different environments. The geography of the landscape changes greatly as we move from place to place. We may also find a very different climate, as we travel around the world. This is one reason why communities around the world have very different lifestyles, or ways of living. People adapt, or get used to, their environment and weather. They can live in places that might seem very harsh to us. In this lesson we will explore some different communities around the world. We will see how location and climate affect their lifestyles.
We
will begin our
journey here, on the continent of North America. We will travel way up north
to a very
cold and distant land. In
the northern part of Alaska and Canada, live the Inuit (In-you-it) people.
The Inuit have adapted to one of the harshest climates on earth.
The weather is very cold for most of the year. The people
must be prepared for long winters.
The Inuit people dress very warmly. They must have enough food
stored to
last during the long winter storms, and periods of extreme cold.
Most Inuit live in houses, like ours. A very few, however, still live in igloos.
We may also see Inuit being pulled on sleds by teams of
dogs. Most Inuit use modern forms of transportation.
Nepal is a very small country located in Asia. It is about the size of our state of Tennessee, here in the United States. Most of Nepal is made up of high mountains. In fact, the world’s tallest mountain, Mount Everest, is located in Nepal. Most of the people living in Nepal are very poor. Nepal does not have much contact, or do much trading with other countries. Nepal is too remote. The people of Nepal must get what they need to live from their land. Winter in the mountains is very cold. The growing season is very short. Food is hard to find. People in Nepal have a very different lifestyle than we do, here in the United States.
We have seen that people have learned to live in some of the coldest places in the world. Well, there are also people living in some of the hottest places on earth. The Sahara Desert is located on the continent of Africa. It is one of the driest and hottest places in the world. The Sahara receives only about 3 inches of rain per year. Temperatures have reached 136 degrees! It might surprise us that there are groups of people who can live in this desert. They are called nomads. Nomads are always on the move. They must search for food and water for themselves and the small herds of cattle and goats they raise. The only place to find water in the Sahara Desert is in an oasis.
The Bahamas are islands. They are located in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Florida. The people of the Bahamas enjoy beautiful weather most of the year. However, the people who live there have learned to deal with very powerful storms called hurricanes. Many people keep sheets of plywood in their homes in case they need to board up their windows. Food, water, candles, flashlights, and other supplies, are often stored during hurricane season. For people in the Bahamas, preparing for a hurricane is part of their lifestyle. Hurricanes are part of the environment in which they live. This is similar to how the people of the Midwestern United States prepare to live with tornados.
In this lesson, we
have learned that different communities around the world practice
certain lifestyles. One
of the reasons for this is because of the very different environments and climates
in which people live.
We have learned that people must adapt to their environment and climate, in order to
survive. photographs
and clipart used with permission
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