Inspired by Hemispheres' 2004 Teachers' Summer Institute, People and Place: Human-Geographic Relations, this curriculum unit was designed to address human adaptation to and modification of the environment. How have humans adjusted to life in extreme climates? To limited water resources? How have people affected their surroundings? How have solutions to geographical challenges damaged the natural environment? How has the use of fossil fuels increased the need to find renewable sources of energy? How has urbanization modified both land and air? Regional case studies were chosen to address these, and other, essential questions. Each case study is complete unto itself, with activities that build social studies skills by incorporating primary and secondary sources, presenting information in a variety of formats (including graphs, charts, and maps), representing varying points of view, and using mathematical skills to interpret social studies information. If time and interest allow, case studies can also be grouped to present global trends: energy use, water management, and waste disposal are among the cross-regional topics that appear in this unit. Each case study is designed to be completed in its entirety, and activities are presented in sequence. Learning activities build on one another, and the final assessment tasks require students to use information from each of the previous activities.