Geography Semester 1 Review

Maps and Tools of Geographers

• Globes– Advantages: Exact representation of earth in space– Disadvantages: Not portable’ can only see half at

once• Maps– Advantages: Portable; can be drawn to any scale– Disadvantages: distortion

Tools Continued• Landsat – scans a wide swath of earth, and

can give a completely updated view of earth every 16 days

• GOES – Geostationary Operational Environment Satellite – a weather satellite that looks at one place on the earth’s surface constantly

• GIS – Geographical Information System – layers info on a map to make decisions

• GPS – Global Positioning System – uses 24 NavStars to give lat., long., elevation, and time

Physical vs. Cultural Geography

• Physical – naturally occurring things on earth (rocks, landforms, bodies of water, animals, climate, etc)

• Cultural – activities of man on earth; often shaped by the physical (dress, religion, education, transportation, food, recreation)

Types of Regions

• Formal Region – marked by similarities, and a limited number of similar characteristics (ex. Latin America)

• Functional Region – organized around interactions and connections (ex. A metropolitan area)

• Perceptual Region – a region where the world perceives them to have the same characteristics; doesn’t even have to be near to one another (ex. The West)

Climate Regions

• The biggest determining factor of a given locations climate is LATITUDE.

• The other determining factors, after latitude, are: elevation, distance from a body of water, and wind/ocean currents

• Seasons are caused mostly by TILT, but also the earth’s revolution (not rotation) around the sun (seasons are opposite in the southern hemisphere)

Internal and External Forces

• Internal Forces– Seismic/Tectonic Activity– Divergent/Pull – causes rift valley or mid-ocean ridge– Convergent/push – causes earthquakes subduction, and

mountains/volcanoes– Slip/Transform – causes earthquakes, cliff/escarpment

• External Forces– Weathering – breaking down/changing of rock– Erosion – carrying away of broken down rock– Deposition – when the forces responsible for erosion are

no longer strong enough to carry the material, and it falls out causing a delta, loess, or moraine

Adaptation/Modification

• Adaptation– Adapting human behavior to fit the natural

environment (ex. Coat in colder weather)• Modification– Changing the environment to meet our needs (ex.

Building a damn to create a lake for drinking water/flood control/electricity)

Culture

• Cultural Hearth – a place where cultural norms originate, and spread out to the rest of the world

• Cultural Diffusion – the spreading out of cultural traits

US and Canada

• First inhabitants are thought to have come across the Bering Land Bridge between Russia and Alaska during an ice age when ocean levels would be lower, and that land would be exposed

• Columbian Exchange – the moving of American goods to Europe, and European goods to the Americas

Canada

• There are more than 5000 miles of Canadian border with the US– 90% of Canada’s population lives within 100 miles

of this border (too cold farther north; more jobs close to US)

• 2nd Largest Country in the world by land area

Latin America (Middle America)• Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean Islands• Home to Maya and Aztec• Lots of Land Alienation in the past due to history of

colonialism• Plantation vs. Hacienda

– Plantation: Single cash crop for export, seasonal employment, all about profit

– Hacienda: diversified crops, year round crops, self sufficient/subsistence, domestic market

• Mainland vs. Rimland– Mainland: Hacienda style farming, more isolated, mestizo

people– Rimland: Plantation style farming, more accessible, mulatto

Middle America continued

• Maquiladora – factories along the US/Mexico border, where raw materials and machinery are sent to Mexico, and finished products are sent back to the US (the idea is to pay the laborers in Mexico less than you would the laborers in the US)– Advantages: lower cost of products for consumers,

lower cost of production for the producers, new jobs for workers in Mexico

– Disadvantages: takes jobs away from originating country (US), makes locals reliant on just this one, somewhat low paying job

Middle America continued

• Tourism– Advantages: can lead to economic development, it

is a somewhat clean industry (at least superficially), and it can be educational

– Disadvantages: can make the area reliant on just that one industry, can damage sensitive ecosystems, and can be a false representation of the local culture

Latin America (South America)

• Dominated physically by the Andes and Amazon

• Peripheral population• The more landlocked, highly elevated, and

isolated a location, the more likely it is to be poverty stricken (ex. Bolivia)

Europe

• Peninsula of Peninsulas – basically one large peninsula off of East Europe/Russia that is made up of the: Balkan, Italian, Iberian, Jutland, and Scandinavian Peninsulas

• Very tolerable climate despite its northern latitude because of the North Atlantic Drift and Prevailing Westerlies

Europe

• East vs West contrast– The east in general has a weaker economy due to

its long history of communism. It has moved on now, but the process is not immediate

• Supernationalism– The European Union was created to maintain

peace by having the countries of Europe rely on each other economically (the most important reason for wanting to join is to benefit economically)