World Geography Today
Chapter 1
Why Study Geography?
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDk06h7Abb
w&feature=fvw
World Geography Today
Chapter 1
Section 1: Themes and
Essential Elements
Question
What are the two main branches of
geography?
World Geography Today
Chapter 1
Section 1: Themes and
Essential Elements
Human
Geography
Physical
Geography
• Studies distribution
Both
and characteristics
of the world’s people
• Studies how
(where people live
people interact
and what they do)
with their
• Examines how
environments
people make and
trade things that they
need to survive
• Focuses on Earth’s
natural environments,
including landforms,
water features, plants,
animals, and other
physical features
• Studies the processes
that shape physical
environments
World Geography Today
Chapter 1
Section 1: Themes and
Essential Elements
We Use Geography:
• In Government—For mapmaking and planning
• In Business—For marketing and development
• In Schools—For education
• Every Day—To find our way in town or on trips, when
we watch the news and weather, when we read about
other countries, when we make decisions about
locations for events or businesses
World Geography Today
Chapter 1
Section 1: Themes and
Essential Elements
Organizing
Organizingthe
theStudy
Studyof
ofGeography
Geography
By Five Themes
• Location—Exact or relative spot of something on Earth
• Place—Physical and human features of a location
• Human-Environment Interaction—Ways people and environments
interrelate with and affect each other
• Movement—How people and things change locations and the
effects of these changes
• Region—Geographic areas with one or more shared characteristics
World Geography Today
Chapter 1
Location
• "Where are we?" is the question that the theme
Location answers. Location may be absolute or
it may be relative. These locations, whether
relative or absolute, may be of people or places.
• An absolute location is a latitude and longitude
(a global location) or a street address (local
location).
Ex: Paris, France is 48o51' North latitude and
2.20' East longitude
World Geography Today
Chapter 1
• Relative locations are described by landmarks,
time, direction or distance from one place to
another and may associate a particular place
with another.
Ex: Paris is located along the Seine River.
World Geography Today
Chapter 1
Place
• What kind of place is it? What do you think of
when you imagine
China? Japan? Russia? Saudi Arabia?
• Places have both human and physical
characteristics, as well as images.
• Physical characteristics include mountains,
rivers, soil, beaches, wildlife, soil.
World Geography Today
Chapter 1
• Places have human characteristics also. These
characteristics are derived from the ideas and
actions of people that result in changes to the
environment, such as buildings, roads, clothing,
and food habits.
• The image people have of a place is based on
their experiences, both intellectual and
emotional. People's descriptions of a place
reveal their values, attitudes, and perceptions.
World Geography Today
Chapter 1
Human/Environmental Interaction
• There are three key concepts to
human/environmental interaction:
• Humans adapt on the environment.
Humans modify the environment.
Humans depend on the environment.
• All places on Earth have advantages and
disadvantages for human settlement. One
person's advantage may be another person's
disadvantage.
World Geography Today
Chapter 1
• Some like the excitement of large cities whereas
others prefer remoteness. Environment is not
just trees, spotted owls, and rain
forests. Environment is a feeling. What is the
environment of a big city? New York? Los
Angeles? Las Vegas? Dallas?
• Given the choice, where would you
live? Why? What is the environment?
World Geography Today
Chapter 1
Movement
• The movement of people, the import and export
of goods, and mass communication have all
played major roles in shaping our world.
• People everywhere interact. They travel from
place to place and they communicate. We live
in a global village and global economy.
World Geography Today
Chapter 1
• People interact with each other through
movement. Humans occupy places unevenly on
Earth because of the environment but also
because we are social beings. We interact with
each other through travel, trade, information
flows (E-Mail) and political events.
• Not only do humans move but also ideas move;
fashions move; fads move. What is an example
of an idea that moves? Fashion? Fad? How do
we depend on people in other places?
World Geography Today
Chapter 1
Section 1: Themes and
Essential Elements
Organizing the World by Regions
• Formal—Has one or more common features
that make it different from surrounding areas
• Functional—Different places that are linked
together and function as a unit
• Perceptual—Reflects human feelings and
attitudes
World Geography Today
Chapter 1
Region
• A region is the basic unit of study in
geography. A region is an area that displays a
coherent unity in terms of the government,
language, or possibly the landform or
situation. Regions are human constructs that
can be mapped and analyzed.
• There are three basic types of regions.
World Geography Today
Chapter 1
• Formal regions are those defined by
governmental or administrative boundaries (i. e.,
United States, Birmingham, Brazil). These
regional boundaries are not open to dispute,
therefore physical regions fall under this
category (i. e., The Rockies, the Great Lakes
States).
World Geography Today
Chapter 1
• Functional regions are those defined by a
function (i. e., TVA, United Airlines Service area
or a newspaper service area). If the function
ceases to exists, the region no longer exists.
• Vernacular regions are those loosely defined by
people's perception (i. e., The South, The Middle
East).
World Geography Today
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Chapter 1
World Geography Today
Chapter 1
Section 1: Themes and
Essential Elements
By Six Essential Elements
•
•
The World in Spatial Terms
1.
How to use maps and other tools
2.
How to use mental maps to organize information
3.
How to analyze the spatial organization of people, places, and
environments
Places and Regions
4.
The physical and human characteristics of places
5.
How people create regions to interpret Earth
6.
How culture and experience influence people’s perceptions of
places and regions
World Geography Today
Chapter 1
Section 1: Themes and
Essential Elements
By Six Essential Elements
•
Physical Systems
•
Human Systems
•
Environment and Society
7.
The physical processes that shape Earth’s surface
8.
The distribution of ecosystems on Earth
9.
The characteristics, distribution, and migration of human populations
10. The complexity of Earth’s cultural mosaics
11. The patterns and networks of economic interdependence on Earth
12. The patterns of human settlement
World Geography Today
Chapter 1
Section 1: Themes and
Essential Elements
By Six Essential Elements
•
Physical Systems
•
Human Systems
•
Environment and Society
13.
14.
15.
16.
•
The forces of cooperation and conflict
How human actions modify the physical environment
How physical systems affect human systems
The distribution and meaning of resources
The Uses of Geography
17. Apply geography to interpret the past
18. Apply geography to interpret the present and plan for the future
World Geography Today
Chapter 1
Section 2: Skill Building:
Using the Geographer’s Tools
Map
Projection
Advantages
Disadvantages
Cylindrical
Used by navigators
because it shows true
direction and shape
Exaggerates landmasses
at high latitudes
Conic
Accurate for areas with long
east-west dimensions
Not as accurate for areas
that extend mostly north to
south
Flat-Plane
Used by pilots and
navigators because it
shows true direction and
area sizes
Distorts shapes
World Geography Today
Chapter 1
Section 2: Skill Building:
Using the Geographer’s Tools
Special-Purpose Maps
• Climate and Precipitation Maps—Show
weather patterns and atmospheric conditions
• Population and Economic Maps—Show the
distribution of people, natural resources, and
land usage patterns
• Elevation Profiles and Topographic Maps—
Show physical features of the land
World Geography Today
Chapter 1
Section 2: Skill Building:
Using the Geographer’s Tools
Important Geographic Characteristics
Climate graphs show average temperatures and
precipitation in a place.
Population pyramids show percentages of males
and females by age group in a country’s
population. They help us understand population
trends.