Canadian Geography Geography is the study of the earth and everything on it.

“…if some countries have too much history, we have too much geography.” – P.M. Mackenzie King, House of Commons 1936

Click icon to add pictureClick icon to add picture

Click icon to add picture

5 Themes of Geography

The 5 Themes of Geography originated by the National Geographic Society to fulfill a need for geographers to categorize everything they learn.

Location - “where are we?”

Place – “How does the landscape affect us?”

Regions – “How can we describe this area?”

Movement – “How are ideas exchanged?”

Interactions – “How have we changed the land?”

Location – Absolute and Relative

“Where are we?”

Absolute location – very precise location on globe

Latitude – distance of any point north or south of the equator, measured up to 90 degrees

Longitude – distance of any point east or west of the Prime Meridian, measured up to 180 degrees

Kelowna, B.C. located 49 degrees North (latitude) and 119 degrees west (longitude)

Relative locations - described by time, direction in relation to other places

Kelowna is app. 400km east of Vancouver, 600km west of Calgary, 110km north of U.S. border and 1100km south of Yukon border

Latitude and Longitude

Place – Physical and Cultural Characteristics

How do the physical characteristics of a place affect how people live?

Example: Prince Rupert, B.C. is in a mountainous area on the coast, has heavy rainfall, but also abundant forests and ocean access.

Cultural landscapes – visible results of human activity

Sustainable – an activity that maintains an ecological balance by avoiding the depletion of a natural resource.

Regions – Formal, Functional, Perceptive

How can geographers organize information about different areas?

Regions – areas that have common characteristics eg. Gov’t, landforms or climate

Formal Regions – based on official boundaries eg. Surrey, Greater Vancouver Regional District

Functional Regions – based on connections created by an activity such as communication or trade flow. eg. NAFTA

Perceptual Regions – determined by peoples attitudes and feelings eg. “up north”, “the interior”, “east side”

Formal Regions – GVRD

formal boundaries

Interactions - Human/Environment

What brings about changes in the natural landscape?

Humans depend on the environment and adapt to it, but they also change it dramatically to suit their needs and wants.

How do dams, roads, industry and housing developments change an environment?

Three Gorge Damming Project

world's largest electricity-generating plant of any kind

led to biggest displacement of people in history -- 1.13 million

How have land-use decisions affected our ability to buy locally grown food?

How does urban planning effect the health and safety of communities?

Movement

How do people interact in the 21st century?

Modern technology provides interaction no matter where you are located.

Globalization – process of economic technological, political, and cultural forces creating a single, global society.