East Asia7th Grade UBD - Unit 4 - East Asia

Preview Location and Landforms- East Asia’s landforms

vary from country to country. China has long influenced the cultures of other East Asian countries.

Climate and Resources- Volcanoes, earthquakes, and tsunamis affect the people of East Asia.

People and Their Environment- The people of East Asia belong to diverse ethnic groups and speak hundreds of languages.

             

            

Reach Into Your Background

Think about all the different products you use in a day. What natural resources were needed to make these items? Does a country have to have natural resources in order to manufacture things? (5 minutes)

Partner Activity

Work with a neighbor and compare your answer with theirs. What things are the same and what things are different?

(3 minutes)

Key Ideas- Location and Landforms

East Asia is a large and diverse region.For many centuries, Chinese civilization

greatly influenced the people of these regions.

China is a huge country with varied landforms but limited farmland. Areas along rivers are densely populated.

What is East Asia?

East Asia has high mountains, rugged plateaus, and wide deserts.

Isolated behind these barriers, East Asian people long ago developed their own societies.

What is East Asia?

Today, East Asia includes five countries- China, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Japan.

Japan, North Korea, and South Korea are among the smallest nations.

Key Term

Archipelago- A chain of islands.

National GeographicVideo- How Volcanoes Form Islands

It’s a Fact

Mongolia is the least densely populated country on earth.

Population density is four people per square mile.

Livestock outnumber people twelve to one.

It’s a Fact

Only one percent of Mongolia is farmable.

Mongolia was named after the thirteenth-century people who created the largest land empire in history: from East Asia to Western Europe.

Shared Experience

East Asia nations differ from one another in size, economic development, living standards and forms of government. Yet they share some features.

Today, nationalism is a strong force in most regions. Most nations in these regions are experiencing rapid economic growth.

Japan and China are both economic superpowers.

Highlands and Plains

Much of East Asia is mountainous.

The mountainous areas of East Asia are thinly populated.

Most Chinese are crowded into river valleys and costal plains.

Natural Forces

Natural forces often threaten both the islands and coasts of East Asia.

Powerful tsunamis destroy property and take lives along the coast.

The “Ring of Fire” also puts this area at risk to volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.

Life on the Fault Line The countries of East Asia have

learned to adapt to the earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis.

They have strict building codes and some of the best warning systems in the world.

However, this is not always enough to prevent all disasters from happening.

Key Term

Tsunami- A large wave produced by an earthquake on the ocean floor.

Key Term

Ring of Fire- An area around the Pacific Ocean known for frequent earthquakes and volcanoes.

Key Term

Earthquake- The shaking that results from the movement of rocks beneath the Earth's surface.

Questions

1. What are the nations of East Asia?

2. What natural forces act upon the land and people of East Asia? How do you think they affect the lives of the people?

Answers1. What are the nations of East Asia?

The nations of East Asia are Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and China.

2. What natural forces act upon the land and people of East Asia? How do you think they affect the lives of the people?

Tsunamis, volcanoes, and earthquakes occur in East Asia. People understand that disasters will occur, but it is difficult to prepare for them. When they do happen, people experience great upheaval.

Key Ideas- Climate and Resources

Volcanoes, earthquakes, and tsunamis affect the people of East Asia.

Climates vary across the regions, depending on the nearness to the sea and elevation. The climates of North China and South China differ.

East Asia has many resources, but they are not evenly distributed.

North China

North China has a humid continental climate of warm summers and cold winters.

Farmers grow such crops as millet, wheat, and sorghum. Rice and other crops requiring irrigation are not grown.

Arid China

Arid China has limited farmable land.

Some people farm at lower elevations.

Nomads graze sheep, goats, and yaks on grasslands.

Arid China is thinly populated.

Key Term

Arid China- Thinly populated climate zone in China. Gets less than twenty inches of rain fall each year.

South China

South China has a humid subtropical climate of hot, humid summers and cool, damp winters.

South China is greener and more hilly.

South China Farmers grow rice

and corn with the help of animals like the water buffaloes.

Forty percent of Chinese live along the Yangzi River in South China.

Key Term

Humid China- Densely populated climate that gets at least twenty inches of rain a year.

Customs

Feng Shui is the Chinese art of improving one’s surroundings to enhance well-being.

Feng Shui is popular in America. People hire Feng Shui experts to arrange rooms so that the best of luck in ensured.

Rich Recourses East Asia has mineral and energy resources, but

they are unevenly distributed. China is rich in minerals. Korea has some natural resources. Japan has few.

Most nations use water as an energy resource. China has built hydroelectric plants along its great rivers and smaller waterways. Japan, too, has used its rivers to develop hydroelectric power.

Forest Resources

Forests once covered much of East Asia. Today, large parts of China have few trees.

The Chinese government has set up programs to replant forests.

In Japan the government controls timber cutting and requires replanting of trees.

DeforestationVideo Deforestation - What is the real impact?

Questions

1. Why do fewer people live in Arid China than in Humid China?

Answers

1. Why do fewer people live in Arid China than in Humid China?

The region of Arid China has a less developed infrastructure, a rugged terrain, and is very dry. Humid China is a densely populated because it has a developed infrastructure and a good climate for growing food.

Eyewitness To HistoryReading Handout- Eyewitness to History 9

Key Ideas- People and Their EnvironmentEast Asia has many ethnic groups and languages.

The Chinese are mostly Han, but many national minorities also live in China.

China has used harsh methods to control population growth.

The People of East Asia Many ethnic groups live in East Asia. Each

nation usually has one major ethnic group and many smaller ones.

China has the greatest ethnic diversity. It has more than 50 national minorities.

Despite China’s diversity, more than 90 percent of the Chinese belong to a single group. They are Han Chinese.

Key Term

Han- China’s predominant ethnic group. More than 90 percent of Chinese are Han.

Key Term

Homogeneous Society- One in which the people belong to the same ethnic group, speak the same language, and share the same culture.

Languages and Dialects East Asia has many

languages. East Asia alone has three major languages. (Chinese, Korean, and Japanese)

The Chinese writing system has played an important role in uniting all of East Asia.

Population Pressures

East Asia has a population of 1.7 billion people.

China is the world’s most populated nation.

Population is expected to decline over the next ten years since people are starting to have smaller families.

China

The Chinese are concerned with population growth because the huge population puts great pressure on the country’s resources.

These days, a typical Chinese family includes a married man and woman with one child.

Questions

1. To what ethnic group do most Chinese belong?

2. Why does China want to limit population growth?

Answers

1. To what ethnic group do most Chinese belong?

Most Chinese belong to the Han group.2. Why does China want to limit population

growth? The Chinese are concerned with population

growth because the huge population puts great pressure on the country’s resources.

Independent Activity

What has been the

“muddiest” point so

far in this lesson? That

is, what topic remains

the least clear to you?

(4 minutes)

Partner Activity Work with a

neighbor and compare your muddiest point with theirs. Compare what things are the same and what things are different? (3 minutes)