How big is the Universe?
Hubble Deep Field View
• http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/releases
/2004/07/image/a
• The Hubble Telescope was pointed at a ‘dark’ part
of the sky
• Located in the constellation Fornax, the region is
so empty that only a handful of stars within the
Milky Way galaxy can be seen in the image.
• http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/java/scienceopticsu/powe
rsof10/
The Great galaxy in Andromeda… a spiral galaxy similar to our own
Our sun is but one single middle sized and middle aged star
hanging out along the edge of average sized galaxy
Our Earth is planet # 3 in a system of Nine Planets
So here we have
our Earth,
fundamentally
the only planet
we have
explored…
GEOGRAPHY
Is the science of
describing this
planet…
literally,
“Writing about
Earth”
SUBJECT MATTER
From the Greek Language
“geo” = Earth
“graphia” = description or depiction
Eratosthenes, a 3rd century B.C. Greek Scholar
and chief librarian at the famous Library of
Alexandria was perhaps the first person to use the
term “Geography.”
DEFINITIONS
The world and all that is in it.
Spatial perspective on people, places and environment.
Geography is a social science that focuses on the spatial
distribution of human and physical phenomena.
The science and art of understanding the spatial
relations among people, place, and environment.
Geography is the study of pattern and processes
associated with the Earth. The focus of the geographer
is on spatial patterns and how phenomena that share
common space interact spatially.
DEFINITIONS
The world and all that is in it.
Spatial perspective on people, places and environment.
Geography is a social science that focuses on the spatial
distribution of human and physical phenomena.
The science and art of understanding the spatial
relations among people, place, and environment.
Geography is the study of pattern and processes
associated with the Earth. The focus of the geographer
is on spatial patterns and how phenomena that share
common space interact spatially.
DEFINITION
Geography is the study of people, places
and environments. But more than that, it
is a way of looking at the world and
asking why it works ( or doesn’t work )
and the way it does work. It is more than
where, but why there. It is looking at
issues from a spatial perspective and
inquiring about them.
Why What is Where?
and
Who Cares?
An alternative definition of ‘geography’ developed by Dr.s
McKnight and Strong during a snowball fight along the
empty streets of Washington DC.
The “geographic eye”
• Learning to SEE space and spatial
relationships.
• An important part of training this skill is
learning to communicate spatial
relationships….
The field notebook
• In one place records Where? What? Why?
And Who cares?
• The field notebook is a critical tool for a
geographer
Sketch Mapping
A sketch map gives a geographer the
opportunity to selectively present information.
A sketch map can easily be seen as a perceptual
map… how does one perceive the world?… this
is embodied in a sketch map.
The Hundred Acre Wood
Autobiographical
Map by GGG
Photo graphy
Writing/drawing with light
Good photography is an extremely
powerful tool for geographers. It
records instantly an image that
contains a wealth of information
about a topic.
“A picture is worth a thousand
words”… true?
• Geographers have always tried to tell the
story of a place….
• Sketches, word pictures, paintings, maps,
collections of samples, data… all tell the
story of a place…. All have advantages….
The ‘essence’ of Place…
• One of the most powerful tools to record
and describe geographic locations are
photographs…..
• Geography is in large part understanding the ‘sense of
place’…
• When you walk down a street in St.Petersburg, Dhaka
or Haleyville, what is different about this place than
other places?
Appropriate Technology
• Not all field tools are ‘high tech’
• We will learn to use the simplest tools to
gather accurate spatial data.
High Tech.....
• We will also expand on the use of mapping
grade GPS receivers to include the use and
processing of our new sub-meter Trimble
GeoExplorer XT