Introduction to Unit 1

Geography…Its Nature & Perspectives

Where does Geography come from? First named by Greek scholar Eratosthenes Geo= “Earth”Graphy= “to write”

Thinking Geographically Geography is the study of the location of

people and activities across Earth- and the reasons for their distribution

Geographers ask why & where

Early Geographers Eratosthenes (100 BC)

Coined to term First to measure the earth

Ptolemy (2nd century)Created one of the first maps

Zheng He (mid 1400s)Famous Chinese explorer

Gerardus Mercator (1512-1594)First to produce world map, withrelative accuracy and the general outline of the continents

Two Types of Geography Human Geography Where & why human activities

are located where they are Ex. Religions, cities, businesses Focuses on the study of

patterns and processes that shape human interaction

PopulationsEconomic activitiesMigration Political systems

Physical Geography Where & why natural forces

occur as they do landforms Plants Animals Climate Weather Bodies of Water Atmosphere Environment Rocks & minerals

Where & Why Space- patterns and regularities across Earth

(depicted on maps) Place- unique location of everything on Earth Region- areas formed by distinctive

combinations of featuresScale- the relationship between the size of

an object or distance between objects on a map and the size of the actual object of distance on earth’s surface.

Connections- relationships of places and regions

5 Themes of Geography Human features

Physical featuresRegion united by similar physical conditions

United by common cultural traits

People adapt to the environment

People change the environment

Absolute location (latitude and longitude)

Relative location (in relation to another place)

Travel from place to place

Exchange of goods and ideas

Location

Movement

Place

Region

Interaction

http://video.about.com/geography/Five-Themes-of-Geography.htm

Place Site- the internal physical attributes of a

place Situation- the external attributes of a place

Spatial Pertaining to the space on the earth’s surface All geographers are interested in the spatial

arrangement of places and phenomenon, how they are laid out, organized and arranged on the Earth and how they appear on the landscape

Mapping the spatial distribution is often the first step to understanding it

Pattern By looking at a map of how something is

distributed across space, a geographer can raise questions about, what processes create and sustain the particular pattern of distribution and what relationship exists between different things and places

Pattern- the design of spatial distributionIt will be scattered or concentrated

Cholera Pandemic In 1854, Dr. John Snow mapped cases of

cholera in London’s Soho district Cholera was one of the world’s 1st

pandemics (worldwide outbreak of disease) No one knew what caused the disease or how

to avoid it When it reached London in the 1850’s Dr.

Snow mapped the Soho district, marking all the areas water pumps and the residences where each person who died lived

500 deaths occurred in SohoAs he created the map, Snow noticed

especially large numbers of deaths clustered around the water pump on Broad street

At the Dr’s request, city authorities removed the handle from the pump making it impossible to get water from it

The results were drastic, almost immediately the number of reported cases fell to zero

Cultural LandscapeLandscape refers to the material character

of a place, the complex of natural and human structures

Cultural landscape- visible imprint of human activity on the landscape

Term was coined by Carl Sauer, a professor at the University of California at Berkley

We can see the cultural landscape in the layers of buildings, roads, memorials, churches and homes that human activities overtime have imprinted on the landscape

Cultural landscapes have layers of imprints from years of human activity

Sequent occupance- the sequential imprints of occupants, whose impacts are layered one on top of the other