Geography Concepts
Introduction
Where is it? Why is it there?
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Geography is about
asking questions.
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Where is something?
Why is it located there?
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Physical Geography
and Human
Geography are
two great branches
of the discipline
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Environmental
geography is
emerging as a link
between the two
“5 Themes” or “6 Essential Elements”?
Geography is always about: spatial relationships
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The “5 Themes”
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Location
Interaction
between humans
and the
environment
Regions
Place
Movement and the
landscape
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The “6 Essentials”
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The world in spatial
terms
Places and regions
Physical systems
Human systems
Environment and
society
Uses of geography
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Maps:
the toolbox of
geographers
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Maps are used to portray spatial ideas:
• The distinctive character of places
• Their relationship to environmental issues
• The movements of people, goods, and ideas
• Regions of various types
Perceptions matter
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Peoples perceptions of
places and regions are
influenced by their
individual mental maps
as well as by printed
maps and other
information
„
How did our perceptions
of the world, solar
system, and universe
change after the voyages
of Magellan or Neil
Armstrong?
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Remember, no
matter where you
go… There you
are!
Tools of Geographers
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What tools do
geographers use to
investigate the world?
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Maps
Data
• This can come from a
wide variety of sources
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Other tools?
What do geographers
think about?
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Space
Place
Region
Scale
Connections
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The Five Themes of Geography
„ Location
„ Place
„ Environment
„ Movement
„ Region
Location
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The “where and
why” of geography
http://www-user.tu-chemnitz.de/~gropp/fotos/istanbul.jpg
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Absolute location
Relative location
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Site and situation
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Absolute location
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The exact position
on the earth’s
surface
Grid system
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Latitude (E/W)
Longitude (N/S)
Absolute locations
do not change in
their degrees of
latitude and
longitude
Relative location
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The position of a place
or point on Earth’s
surface in relation to
other locations
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Relative locations can
change as surrounding
environments change
Boston’s Old State House in
1990 and 1713
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Place
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Physical and human characteristics
distinguish it from other places
Landforms, climates, vegetation, natural resources, patterns
of human settlement and human characteristics
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Environment
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“Surroundings”
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How did human activity change the
environment of the Great Plains?
Human activity
modifies
environments
How people
change
environments
depends on their:
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Beliefs
Ideas
Economy
Social organization
Technology
Movement
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The study of
interactions among
people and other life
forms located in
different places and
different
environments
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Migration
Transport
Spread of ideas
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migration
transportation
spread of ideas
Region
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Parts of earth’s
surface that share one
or more
characteristics that
distinguish them from
surrounding areas
Characteristics of
regions differ greatly
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Regions can play an important
role in influencing the
development of cultures
Based on culture,
economy, religion, or
environment
They can be large or
small and part of other
regions
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The Big Picture: Earth
The Earth in Space
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Third planet from
sun
About 2/3 or 70%
of area of planet
covered by water
Daily rotation
causes day/night
Earth revolves
around sun
(365.25 days/per
revolution)
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The Structure of the Earth
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Planet is made up
of layers of
molten material
and minerals
Thin hard crustal
plates move over
liquid mantle
Energy from the
mantle drives
plate movement
and helps warm
surface
Rotation
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Night and Day…
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The circle of
illumination is
an imaginary
line that
separates the
lighted half
from the
darkened half
of the planet
The line
moves as the
planet rotates
We experience dawn and dusk
as the line moves over us
Seasons
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Seasons are caused
by
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Regions further away
from the equator
experience more
significant seasons
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Earth’s tilt
Earth’s revolution
around the sun
These areas have
greater oblique angle
rays of the sun
Equinoxes and
solstices
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http://starsoverkansas.org/images/_earthseasons.jpg
http://www.physci.wsc.ma.edu/young/ast/exams/examimages/02f/exam4/seasons.jpg
Global Latitude Regions
Equatorial
„ Tropical
„ Sub-tropical
„ Temperate
„ Arctic
„ Polar
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Going to the Tropics?
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Low latitudes or
Tropics
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Between the Tropic of
Cancer (23½ degrees
north) and the Tropic
of Capricorn (23½
degrees south)
Furthest points from
the equator that
receive vertical
sunlight
Tropical regions are
usually warmer and
don’t have significant
seasons
The Middle Latitudes
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Temperate
regions
Regions located
between the
tropics and the
polar regions
Pronounced
seasons
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winter,spring,
summer, and fall
A Wheatfield, with Cypresses; by van Gough
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Polar regions
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From the north pole
to the Arctic Polar
Circle (66½ degrees
north)
From the south pole
to the Antarctic
Polar Circle (66½
degrees south)
These regions have
light and dark
seasons for 6
months a year
Midnight Sun in Norway
Learning to Read a Map
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Again, geographers are asking questions…
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What is the map of?
From what point of view are we seeing the
information?
When was the map made?
Who made it?
What do the different symbols mean?
What is the size represented on the map?
How can we find a specific item on a map? (like a city
or a road?)
What will we use to locate the items on the map?
(using the grid and index)
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How do we show a round
image on a flat surface?
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Only true map is a globe
Map projections
A grid of lines projected
onto one of several
geometrical surfaces
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All projections will distort
Area
Shape
Distance
Direction
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Only degrees of latitude
and longitude are correct
on all maps
Mapping the planet:
latitudes and longitudes
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Latitudes are
imaginary lines
drawn on globes to
show distances north
and south of the
equator
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Equator = 0 degrees
There are 90 degrees
of latitude in each
hemisphere
Lines of latitude are
also called parallels
Longitudes are
imaginary lines drawn
on globes to show
distances east and
west of the Prime
Meridian
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There are 180 degrees
of longitude in each
hemisphere
The Prime Meridian is 0
degrees longitude
Greenwich, England
Lines of longitude are
also called meridians
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Different types of map projections
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Equal-area
projections
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Conformal
projections
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Goode’s Homosline Projection
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Correct area
(although shape
and distance may
be distorted)
Show true shape for
a limited area
Equidistant
projections
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Show distance
accurately from one
or two points
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Map projections
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Cylindrical
projection
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Gerhardus
Mercator in the
1500’s
Every straight line
is a line of true
direction
Important for
plotting courses
and navigation
Azimuthal and Conic projections
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Conic projections
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show hemisphere
or smaller areas
Azimuthal
projections
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measure equal
distance from its
central point to any
other point
http://www.geometrie.tuwien.ac.at/karto/norm07.gif
http://www.fes.uwaterloo.ca/crs/geog165/images/az_eqdist.gif
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Cartograms
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A cartogram assigns an area (size) to a
particular region based on some value other
than land-surface area.
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Very helpful when visually comparing data
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TODALSig
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Parts of a map
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Theme
Orientation
Date
Author
Legend
Scale
• Index
• Grid
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Geographic Information Systems
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GIS uses layers of spatial
data superimposed upon
one another
GIS involves the three
disciplines of computer
science, geography and
cartography
GIS has real world
applications
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Surveying
Computer cartography
Spatial statistics
Remote sensing
Other applications for GIS
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Urban planning
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Environmental impacts
• Population and land use
Thinking About Space
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Distribution
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Density
Concentration
Pattern
American Suburbia
Central Park, NYC
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