Unit One
Geography: It’s
Nature and
Perspectives
Chapter One:
Introduction to Human
Geography
Major Divisions of
Systematic Geography:
Physical Geography VS
Human Geography
The Five Themes of
Geography
• Derived from the spatial
perspective of geography.
–Variations amongst
geographic phenomenas
across space.
Place
Human features
Physical features
Region united by similar physical conditions
Region
United by common cultural traits
People adapt to the environment
Interaction
People change the environment
Absolute location (latitude and longitude)
Location
Relative location (in relation to another place)
Travel from place to place
Movement
Exchange of goods and ideas
LOCATION
• Answers the questions where and
why.
Absolute Location
• The exact location of something
based on latitude and longitude A
formal mathematical
measurement.
• Is a fixed location: Does not
change.
Relative Location
• Describes a place in relationship to
other human and physical features.
• Usually this is done using a landmark of
sorts.
• Are not set in stone, rather these
locations frequently change
– For example: Where is the ASC Residence?
– Old: The 4th floor of the Jes. Res. Building.
– New: Across from Marquette High on the
corner of 33rd and Michigan.
Human-Environment
Interactions
• The relationship between humans
and the physical world.
• Addresses the Cultural
Landscape.
– All human-induced changes that
involve the surface and the
biosphere.
Environmental
Determinism Theory
(Alexander von Humboldt and Carl Ritter)
• States that human behavior is
affected by and/or
controlled/determined by the
environment.
• Physical environment causes social
development.
• NOT A GOOD THEORY: Why?
POSSIBILISM THEORY
• Counter-theory to ED Theory.
• States that the natural
environment serves to limit the
range of choices available to a
culture.
– BUT, people have the
means/resources to work around
these limitations and adjust their
environments.
PLACE
• A specific point on the earth’s
surface distinguished by a
particular characteristic.
– Could be a cultural feature, physical
processes, landforms/geo. features.
PLACE Cont…
• Perception of Place
– The view one creates about a specific
place, even though the person has never
been there.
• based on images, stories, and media, etc.
– For example: Columbia.
PASS OUT MAPS
Region
• Areas of unique characteristics.
• Way of organizing people
geographically.
• Unity based off of cultural
landscape.
Distinctive Characteristics
• The area covered (spatially).
• The location.
• The boundaries.
– visible/tangible (or not)
– Can be pre-determined.
• Also impacted by culture, economics,
politics, and physical landscape.
Types of Regions
• Formal Region (uniform region)
• Functional Region (nodal region)
• Vernacular Region (perceptual)
Overlapping Formal and
Functional Regions
Vernacular Regions
MOVEMENT
• The mobility and interconnection of
people, ideas, services, and goods
across the planet.
• Dependent upon distances,
accessibility, and connections.
MOVEMENT Cont…
• Diffusion
– The process of spreading something from
one place/person to another.
– Types of Diffusion
• Cultural
• Expansion
– Contagious, Hierarchical, and Stimulus
• Relocation
– Acculturation
– Transculturation
Diffusion
Forces that inhibit
diffusion
• Time-Distance Decay
– The longer something has to travel,
the less likely it will make it there.
• Cultural Barriers
– Prevailing attitudes, traditions, or
taboos.
Key Concepts:
Core-Periphery
• Core
– U.S., Europe,
Japan, Australia
– Wealthy
– Powerful
– Controls Media
and Finance
– Technologically
advanced
• Periphery
– Less Developed
– Poor
– Dependent upon
Core countries
for:
•
•
•
•
Education
Technology
Media
Military Equipment
NEW TOPIC:
Understanding
Maps
•Reference Maps
•Thematic Maps
Upside Down
World
http://www.flourish.or
g/upsidedownmap/ho
bodyer-large.jpg
Reference Maps
• Show location of places as well as
geographic features.
• Show the absolute location of
something.
• Map creation aided by GPS
– Global Positioning System
• Satellite system that can identify the
absolute location of a place or feature.
Thematic Layer Maps
• Are story telling maps.
– Show the degree of an attribute or
movement of a geographical
phenomena.
– Are qualitative (characteristic) or
quantitative (amount of).
• Created Using GIS
– Geographic Information System
**SCALE**
• The representation of real world
phenomena at a certain level of
reduction or generalization.
• The ratio between the size of an
area on a map and the actual size
of that same area on the earth’s
surface.
Ways To Express Scale
• Representative Fraction
• Word Statement
• Graphic Scale
SCALE Cont…
• Large Scale
– Shows a smaller piece of earth with
greater detail.
– RF is usually between 1:1-1:50,000
• Small Scale
– Shows a larger piece of earth with
less detail
– This is often very inaccurate because
the degree of generalization is great.
SCALE Cont…
• BEWARE OF THE FALLACY OF
TRUTH!
– One scale may not be true at a
different scale.