UNIT ONE:
NATURE AND PERSPECTIVES
What is Geography?
Eratosthenes – 1st to Coin the Word Geography
Geo + Graphy = Earth + To Write
2 ? Geographers Ask: Where? And Why?
2 Main Areas of Geography: Physical & Human
Physical: Natural forces….climates, landforms, etc.
Human: human activities…Religion, language…ways we
make a living, cities, etc.
w/in human – 2 main areas: culture & economy
1st ½ of book – culture…. 2nd ½ - economy
What is Geography?
 Geography is the study of Earth in a spatial perspective
 What does spatial mean?
 Spatial = space
 How things are laid out, organized, and arranged on the
earth in different scales.
 What are scales?
 The level at which we look @ things
 Examples: local, regional, national, or global
Using a map to spatially
locate the source of a 1854
cholera outbreak in London.
What scale is this map drawn
at?
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Map Scale: How much does it show?
5 streets? City? Country? Or..Continent?
Locally or local scale: large scale; see unique
aspects
Globally or global scale: small scale; can see
similarities
**NOTE: large scale = small area small scale =
large area; the smaller the scale the less detail is
given (see slide)
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Show map scale 3 ways
:
 fraction (1/24,000) or ratio (1:24,000)
 Graphic bar scale (see p. 10, fig. 3)
 written statement (“1 inch equals 1 mi.)
-left = distance on map
-right = dist. on the Earth
Note: large scale = small area
small scale = large area
The smaller the scale the less detail is given.
Scales on maps
 On this map the scale is
given as a representative
fraction (1/253,440) and
also as a ratio (1:253,440).
 The fraction and the ratio
mean the same thing:
 that one unit of distance
on the map represents
253,440 of the same
units on the ground.
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Which map would show the
largest area?
1 / 2,500,739
Or
1:10,000
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Scale
Differences:
Maps of
Florida
The effects of scale
LARGE
SCALE =
small area…
Small scale=
LARGE
AREA
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MAPS
 Maps: science of mapmaking = cartography
 Map = 2D or flat- scale model of some part of the
Earth
 Mental Maps – Cognitive landscape in the human mind –
accurate around our areas of home, school and
workplace…elsewhere may be blank
 2 main purposes of maps:
 Storing Reference Info: Ex.: How do we get from here
to there? …or… Where is Zimbabwe?
 Communications Tool

Ex.: Show migration or spread of disease
Types of maps & info on maps:
 physical maps: show landforms
of an area
 Use colors to show relief—
 difference levels in land
elevations
-green usually = lo elevations
-orange or brown = hi
elevations
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Topographical
Presents horizontal
& vertical positions
of features
represented

-shows relief in
measurable form.
-Uses
contour lines
(isolines) to show the
shape & elevation of an
area
(shape of the Earth’s
surface)
-Lines close together
indicate steep terrain
-Lines far apart
indicate flat terrain.
Isolines
 Isolines calculate date
between points to show
change in data
 This Isoline map shows
overage rainfall in Mexico
 Weather maps showing
temperature contours – use
isotherms – and are the
most common isoline
maps
Political maps: show places divided by states (aka
“countries”), cities, counties, etc.

-usually show rivers, major lakes, oceans, etc.,
elevations….capital cities show w/ star
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Economic maps: type of
thematic
map that shows natural
resources
in areas and/or ways that
people
make a living; legends
may show
mines, factories, power
plants, etc.
NOTE: the economy
of a country
is the way the
money is earned,
used, spent,
controlled, issued,
invested, etc.
Thematic Maps: Provides info
on a
single topic (population,
rainfall…)
 Using Thematic Maps: shows
comparison of statistical
data, like population or
income
-can view facts about
places by comparing the
patterns of shaded areas or
colors on the map.
Dot Map
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Thematic Maps
Chloropleth:
(Gk.: for “place” + “value or
magnitude”):
Thematic map w/ areas
colored, shaded,
dotted, or hatched so
have darker/lighter
areas in proportion to
density of whatever
aspect U R are looking
-show amt. of some
“phenomenon” (some
event or thing which
occurs) like ratios, %,
etc., using these colors
 Flow-line maps – use
lines of varying thickness
to show the direction
and volume of a
particular geographic
movement pattern
Cartogram:
Shows some quantity
or value by shape
or size of a region
GDP
Military Spending
p. 47 Rubenstein –
Population
Distribution
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Reference Maps- Tool to view boundaries of census
 geographies, cities, counties, cities/towns, urban
areas, congressional districts, census tracts, census
blocks, & more.
Note: some of these terms overlap
MAP PROJECTIONS
 To create maps, cartographers project the
round Earth onto a flat surface—making a map
projection.
 There are many different map projections.
 Distance, shape, direction, or size may be
distorted by a projection.
 Each has advantages and disadvantages.
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MERCATOR PROJECTION
 Flemish Cartographer: Gerardus Mercator 1569
 Purpose: Navigate ships across the Atlantic Ocean
between Europe & the Americas
 Used grid system of meridians and parallels good for travelling east and west
 BUT…distorts size of areas especially @ North
and South poles
 Antarctica and Greenland look HUGE on map
Mercator is
conformal,
meaning
shapes stay
the same.
Mercator Projection
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ROBINSON PROJECTION
 Tries to correct for distortion in high north and
south by curving those areas inward on paper
 Longitude lines get closer @ North & South Poles
– so sizes of landmasses are more accurate
 BUT…other landmasses look smaller
 Robinson attempts to balance all distortions by
making errors in all 4 ways:
 Shape, size, distance and direction
 Good for general use and often used for wall maps
in classrooms
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Peter’s Projection
 Arnold Peters – 1974
 Focuses on keeping landmasses equal in area
 Shapes are distorted - resulting in map quite
unfamiliar w/ most viewers
 BUT…Humanitarian Aid groups tend to like this
map because other maps have made Africa and
Latin America seems smaller than they are
Peters Projection
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Goode’s Homosoline Projection
 Like the Robinson Projection - it tries to balance aarea
and form
 Sacrifices a bit of both to create a more visually
practical representation of the earth’s surface
Interrupted Goode Homolosine Projection
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Land Ordinance of 1785: pp. 10-12 Township & Range
system used to divide western lands of USA
Township (TS) = 6 sq. miles per side
each TS divided into 36 sections (1 mi x 1 mi.)
sections divided into quarter sec.’s which = a typical
“homestead” (160 acres) for settlers
Used principal meridians (some of the N & S lines) &
base lines (some E & W lines) to form squares
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Township &
Range
System in the
U.S.
Using GRIDS to lay out land areas Principal meridians & east-west
baselines of the township system. Townships in NW Mississippi &
topographic map of the area
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:
Remote sensing GIS
GPS
remote sensing: satellites orbiting (or
other long-distance) give data RE:
surface
-shows vegetation, ice, weather
patterns, etc.; scans like TV camera
using pixels
-resolution: smallest feature that
can be picked up by
the camera
-some 1 meter across…weather
satellites pick up several
km across (need lg. area)
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GPS: Global Positioning System: using map to find way
to another location
Can use hand-held or computers in cars
- gets signal from GPS satellites
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GIS INFORMATION SYSTEM
Created fusing remote sensing
Hi-perform. computer system; processes
geog.-data
-In layers: can show 1 or several at a
time (F.1-5, p.12)
-Shows earthquake faults, pop. data,
manufacturing,
soil types, etc.
EX: of use: street map + pop. map =
bus routes needed
(# w/in walking distance of stop)
Layers of a GIS
Fig. 1-5: A geographic information system (GIS) stores information about a location
in several layers. Each layer represents a different category of information.
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