Thinking Geographically

Two Categories of Geography Human Physical

Each ask “where” and “why”

Two basic concepts

Why is every place unique? Place : Specific point on Earth

distinguished by a particular characteristic

Region: An area of Earth distinguished by a distinctive combination of cultural and physical features.

Key Issue 1: Maps

Scale model of the real world Two dimensional or flat-scale model

of Earth’s surface Two purposes:

Reference tool: Find shortest route between two places, where something is in relation to something else

Communication tool: distribution of human activities or physical features.

The Early Years: Maps

7th & 8th century Middle East (earliest) Thales: applied geometry to measuring

land area Aristotle: 1st to show Earth was spherical Eratosthenes: 1st to use “geography” Ptolemy: 8 volume “Guide to

Geography” 17th century: maps accurately displayed

the outline of most continents and ocean positions

Map Scale

Ratio/Fraction: 1:24,000 Written: 1 inch equals 1 mile Graphic: Bar Line

Projection

Scientific method of transferring locations on Earth’s surface to a flat map

Drawing Earth on a flat piece of paper causes some distortion. 4 types of distortion

Shape: can appear more elongated or squat Distance: increased or decreased Relative Size: can be altered, one area may be

smaller than shown Direction: can be distorted

Equal Area Projection

Relative sizes of the land is same as in reality

Areas around North/South poles become distorted (not an issue since few inhabitants)

Eastern and Western hemispheres are in 2 pieces (called interruption)

Meridians that converge at North/South poles in reality don’t on map; nor form right angles with their parallels.

Uninterrupted Projections Robinson

Good for ocean information Land tends to be smaller

Mercator Little shape distortion Rectangular map More consistent direction Pole regions distorted, high latitudes

appear larger

US Land Ordinance of 1785

Divided the country into a system of townships and ranges to facilitate the sale of land to settlers in the West.

Township – 6 miles square on each side.

Principal Meridians-north/south lines separating townships

Base Lines- east/west lines Townships are in 36 sections, 1 mile

by 1 mile.

Satellite-based Imagery GPS-Global Positioning System

3 elements Satellites in predetermined orbits by military Tracking stations to monitor/control

satellites Receiver to locate at least 4, know distance

to each and use info to pinpoint location Remote Sensing

Acquisition of data about Earth’s surface from a satellite orbiting Earth or from other long-distance methods.

Scans Earth like a television camera scans images for TV.

Satellite-based Imagery

GIS-geographic information system A computer system that can capture, store,

query, analyze, and display geographic data Key is geocoding: the position of any object

on Earth can be measured and recorded with mathematical precision and stored in a computer

Used to produce maps more accurate than hand-drawn

Uses layers to create the various parts of a map.

Key Issue 2: Why are points unique? Location: position that something

occupies on Earth’s surface 4 ways to identify location:

Place Name Site Situation Mathematical Location

Place Name

Toponym: Name given to a place on Earth Named for person: founder, famous

person Settlers chose names connected with

religion, ancient history, or their homeland.

Pioneers chose names based on their success or failures.

Physical environment names Names may change due to politics,

offensive words, or to honor a war hero

Site

Physical character of a place Characteristics include: climate,

water sources, soil, elevation Combo of physical features make

each place distinctive Modifiable

Situation

Location of a place relative to other places

Helps to locate unfamiliar places and to understand the locations importance

Mathematical Location

Meridian-arc drawn between North/South poles. Longitude

Prime Meridian: 0 degrees longitude Parallel-circle drawn around the globe

parallel to the equator and at right angles to the meridians. Latitude

Designated by dividing each degree into 60 minutes (‘) and each minute into 60 seconds (“)

Regions

Area defined by one or more distinctive characteristics

Cultural Landscape: combo of cultural features like language, religion, economical, physical

Three types of Regions Formal Functional Vernacular

Formal

Uniform/homogeneous region All shares in common distinctive

characteristics Countries, government units, North

American Wheat Belt, Political parties (election time)

Functional Nodal Region Organized around a node or focal point The ‘thing’ chosen to define the region is

the focus or node. Region connected to node by

transportation/communications or economically

TV station reception area, newspaper circulation area

Vernacular

Perceptual region Place that people believes exists as part

of their cultural identity. Mental maps help identify a perceptual

region

Spatial Association

Factors with similar distributions have spatial association

The degree that things are similarly arranged over space.

High cancer rates = distribution of cancer is spatially associated with distribution of factories.

Regional Integration of Culture Geographers look at culture two

ways: What people care about and What

people take care of. Language, Religion, and ethnicity are

what people care about. Food, clothing, shelter are human

needs and what people take care of.

MDCs and LDCs

World divided into: More developed countries MDC

North America Europe Japan

Less developed countries LDC Sub-Saharan Africa Middle East East and South Asia Southeast Asia Latin America

Culture and Environment Cultural Ecology: study of human-

environment relationships Environmental determinism: physical

environment CAUSED social development

Possibilism: physical environment may LIMIT some human actions, but people are able to ADJUST to their environment.

Opposite

Physical Processes: Climate Geographers use physical processes

to understand human distribution Vlad Koppen classifed climates into

5 main regions: A. Tropical Climates B. Dry Climates C. Warm Mid-Latitude Climates D. Cold Mid-Latitude Climates E. Polar Climates

Climate…

Humans have limited tolerance Avoid places: too hot, too cold, too

wet, or too dry Climate influences human activities,

esp. food production.

Physical Processes: Vegetation

Biomes Forest-Trees form continuous canopy;

grass/shrubs on floor. Covers large % of Earth’s surface

Savanna-Trees not continuous, lack of shade/grass. Africa, South America, Southeast Asia

Grassland-grass; few trees; low rain. American prairies

Desert-dispersed patches of plants; vegetation suitable for small numbers of animals.

Physical Processes: Soil

Used mainly in agricultural settings MDC farmers will plant non-cash

crops just to replenish soil nutrients for cash crops

LDC farmers lack knowledge and economic ability to have proper soil management

Physical Processes: Landforms Geomorphology: study of Earth’s

landforms People prefer to live on flatter land,

ease of farming Topographical maps help to show

landforms and some cultural features (roads, farms)

Contour lines help to show steepness and elevation.

Modifying the Environment Humans modify; can deplete resources

Netherlands: Polder: piece of land created by draining

water from an area Dikes-used to prevent the North Sea from

flooding the country South Florida : Unsensitive Modifying

Levee built around Lake Okeechobee, drained 1/3 of the Everglades, constructed dikes and levees near Miami.

Caused polluted water from cattle to drain into fresh drinking water for Florida’s citizens

Key Issue 3: Different Places are Similar

Geography can help explain human actions on the local and global scale.

“Where is the population growing rapidly?”

“Why can population growth exceed available food supply?”

Globalization

Force or process that involves the entire world and results in making something worldwide in scope

Scale of world is shrinking. Transnational Corporations: conducts

research, operates facilities, and sells products in many countries, not just @ HQ

Culture and Globalization Globalization can and does threaten

local culture’s beliefs and customs. The more people are aware of global

culture the more they want; yet many beliefs still stand strong.

Determination to retain beliefs can lead to intolerance of those that embrace the new.

Space: Distribution

Spatial thinking is the most fundamental skill to understand the arrangement of objects across surfaces.

Geographers think of arrangement of people and objects found in space and work to understand why they are distributed across the space in the manner they are.

Immanuel Kant: Geography’s concern for space to history’s concern for time.

Distribution

Arrangement of features in space 3 properties:

Density Concentration pattern

Density Frequency with which something occurs

in space Arithmetic density

Total # of objects in an area Large population does not = high density

Physiological density # of persons per unit of area suitable for

agriculture Agricultural density

# of farmers per unit area of farmland

Concentration

Extent of a feature’s spread over space Objects in area are close together =

clustered Objects far apart = dispersed To compare: 2 areas must have same #

of objects and same size area Not the same as density. Use to describe changes in distribution.

Pattern

Geometric arrangement of objects in space

Some features in geometric pattern, some irregular

Frequently arranged in a square or rectangle, or in a linear distribution

Homes on a street, a cities street pattern

Connections

Space-time compression: reduction of time it takes for something to reach another place

Distance places less remote and more accessible in modern times.

S/T compression promotes rapid change

Spatial Interaction

Places connected to each other through networks have spatial interaction

Distance Decay: farther away one group is from another the less likely the 2 groups are to interact. Contact diminishes and eventually

disappears

Diffusion

Process by which a characteristic spreads across space from one place to another over time.

Hearth: place where innovation originates

For a person, object, or idea to have interaction with other persons, objects, or ideas in other regions diffusion must occur

Relocation Diffusion

Spread of an idea through PHYSICAL movement of people from one place to another

People take their culture with them when they move: language, religion, ethnicity

Expansion Diffusion Spread of a feature from one place to

another in a snowball effect Hierarchical diffusion

Spread of an idea from person of authority to other persons/places. Political leaders, elites, large cities

Contagious diffusion Rapid, widespread of a characteristic through

population. Disregard of hierarchy or w/out perm. Location of people.

Stimulus diffusion Spread of an underlying principle, even though

characteristic doesn’t diffuse. Encouraged by new tech.

Diffusion of Culture and Economy Global culture and economy allows rapid

diffusion of goods, services, etc. Centered on 3 hearths: North America,

Western Europe, and Japan Command centers: New York, London,

Tokyo Uneven development: increasing gap in

economic conditions between regions in the core and periphery that results from the globalization of the economy.