Human Geography
What are we looking for?
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Understand the World and its patterns
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“Why of Where?”
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Why do certain events occur in certain places?
Why are places located where they are?
“What is there, why there, why care?”
Human Geography
Why do I care?
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Globalization
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Interconnectedness of the world
Increasing interaction of peoples
Positive and Negative Effects
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Sharing ideas / cultures / technologies
Desire for products -> Cheap Labor
Ideas / Culture Clash
Globalization
Maquiladora
Globalization
Globalization
Japanese
McDonalds
Globalization
Al-Farooq
Masjid
Atlanta, GA
Nasa.gov
After
Impact of a
Tsunami
Before
Geographers
How do they work?
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Need to create a spatial perspective
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The location of things and events
Used to explain why human events occur
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Used to show how events are related
Nothing lives in isolation
Geographers
How do they work?
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Collecting data
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Put data in spatial perspective
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Use databases
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On a map
US government
UN
WHO
Collect Data
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Quantitative
Qualitative
Spatial Perspective
Human and Physical Geography
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Physical Geography
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Analyzes structures, processes, and locations of
the earth’s natural phenomena
Human Geography
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Analyzes structures, processes, and locations of
the earth’s humans and their interactions
New York City, USA
Shanghai, China
Carving of Buddha
Carving of Buddha, Afghanistan
Many statues
of the Buddha
have been
destroyed by
the Taliban in
Afghanistan.
Unit 1
Geography
It’s Nature and Perspectives
5 Themes of Spatial Perspective
(or the 5 Themes of Geography)
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Location
Human – Environment Interaction
Region
Place
Movement
5 Themes
Location
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Where is something located?
2 Types of Location
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Absolute Location
Relative Location
2 Ways to Describe a location
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Site
Situation
5 Themes
Location
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Absolute Location
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A precise, mathematical location
A location on the global grid
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We use latitude and longitude to find Absolute Location
5 Themes
Location

Latitude
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Lines parallel to the
Equator
Horizontal
Measure North and
South
5 Themes
Location
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Longitude
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Parallel to the Prime
Meridian
Vertical
Measure East and West
Absolute Location
Intersection between latitude and longitude.
http://help.goro.am
5 Themes
Location
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Measuring Latitude and Longitude
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Degrees, Minutes and Seconds
60 Minutes in a Degree
60 Seconds in a Minute
5 Themes
Location
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Time Zones
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24 Time Zones
Start at Prime Meridian
Use Latitude
Driven by economics for scheduling
Time Zones
http://www.physicalgeography.net
5 Themes
Location

University of Georgia
Relative Location
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Relative to it’s
surroundings
Can change
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With person /
perspective
As area changes
Not precise
The Big Chicken
5 Themes
Location
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Relative Location
Georgia Tech
5 Themes
Location
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Site
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Internal Physical and
Cultural Characteristics
Mt. Kilimanjaro, Kenya
Horses in Argentina?
Islamic Population Around the World
http://www.digital-kaos.co.uk
5 Themes
Location
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Situation
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Location relative to physical and cultural
characteristics
Relative to things around it
5 Themes
Human / Environment Interaction
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Cultural Ecology
How do humans affect the environment?
How does the environment affect humans?
5 Themes
Region
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Used to classify information
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Organizational tool
Not exact
5 Themes
Region
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3 Types
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Formal
Functional
Perceptual
5 Themes
Region
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Formal
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Tied to a physical or cultural characteristic
Appalachian Mountains
The Sun Belt
5 Themes
Region
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Functional
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“Nodal” Region
A link that is established
Connects the people
Created by an outside influence
Functional Regions
Fig. 1-11: The state of Iowa is an example of a formal region; the areas of influence of
various television stations are examples of functional regions.
5 Themes
Region
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Perceptual (Vernacular)
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Created by “perception”
Not exact
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Based on opinion
Can change
Vernacular Regions
Fig. 1-12: A number of factors are often used to define the South as a vernacular region,
each of which identifies somewhat different boundaries.
5 Themes
Place
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Has Human and Physical Attributes
Human
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Religion, Language, Politics, Artwork, etc
Physical
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Climate, Terrain, Natural Resources
5 Themes
Movement
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How / where do things “move” within a given
space?
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Ideas, people, goods, information, etc
5 Themes
Movement
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Spatial Interaction
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How do places interact through movement?
Show impact of one place on the other
5 Themes
Movement
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Friction of Distance
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How distance interferes with interaction
Interaction made easier over time
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Improved Technology
Space – Time Compression
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Increased connectivity due to increased
technology
Space-Time Compression, 1492–1962
Fig. 1-20: The times required to cross the Atlantic, or orbit the Earth, illustrate how
transport improvements have shrunk the world.
5 Themes
Movement
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Distance Decay
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Influence of one area over another over distance
Less important with improved travel technology
5 Themes
Movement
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Diffusion
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How things spread or move within an area
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From person to person or place to place
The characteristic of that spread
5 Themes
Movement
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Relocation
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Expansion
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Hierarchical
Contagious
Stimulus
5 Themes
Movement
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Relocation
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Spread by physical human movement
5 Themes
Movement
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Expansion
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Hierarchical
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From node or person of importance
Filters “down” to the general population
Based on relationship / location
5 Themes
Movement
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Expansion
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Contagious
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Spreads quickly through the population
Regardless of who
5 Themes
Movement
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Expansion
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Part of the idea
Not the whole concept
Maps
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Study the earth and its features
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2-D representation of the earth / portion of the
earth
Cartography
Cartographer
Maps
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Problem with maps
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Distortion
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Putting 3D information in 2D
Properties of Maps
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Shape
Size
Distance
Direction
Maps
Properties
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Shape
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Geometric Shapes on the map
Size
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Area the map portrays
Maps
Properties
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Distance
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Distance between objects
Direction
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Accuracy of cardinal directions on the map
Maps
Properties
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Direction
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Cardinal Directions
Intermediate Directions
Relative Directions
Maps
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Some property will be distorted
Depends on the information
Each map displays different information. Where is India?
Where is India now? How did the information displayed
change?
How has the map information changed?
Maps
4 Projection Types
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Equal Area
Conformal / Orthomorphic
Azimuthal
Equidistant
Maps
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Equal Area Projection
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Does not distort Area
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lambert-cylindrical-equal-area-projection.jpg
Maps
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Conformal Projection
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Maintains Shape
Cannot have Conformal
and Equal Area
Maps
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Azimuthal Projection
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Maintains direction
http://www.mapsanddirections.us/projections.htm
Maps
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Equidistant Projection
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Maintains Distance
http://mathworld.wolfram.com/AzimuthalEquidistantProjection.html
Maps
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Can use combinations of each projection
Most Common Types
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Mercator
Robinson
Maps
Mercator
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Shows accurate shape
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Distorts size / area
Maps
Robinson
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Shows spherical contour
A slight distortion of all
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No radical distortion of any
Maps
Peters
Maps
Fuller
Maps
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Cognitive Maps
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“Mental Maps”
Show biases of the individual
Maps
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Scale
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Map Scale
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Distance on the map vs distance in the real world
Scale of Inquiry
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The area of study
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Global, National, Local
Maps
Scale
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Larger the area shown
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= smaller scale
Smaller the area shown
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= larger scale
Scale Differences: Maps of Florida
Fig. 1-3: The effects of scale in maps of Florida. (Scales from 1:10 million to 1:10,000)
Maps
Scale
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Map distance first
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3 Types
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Fractional
Written
Graphic
1/1,000 / or 1:1,000
1 inch equals 1,000 inches
Maps
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Categories
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Reference
Thematic
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Isoline Thematic
Choropleth Thematic
Proportional Symbol Thematic
Dot Density
Cartogram
Maps
Categories
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Each type tells a different story
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Reference
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Common Features
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Roads, Bridges, Physical Features
Maps
Categories
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Thematic
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Used to show 1 particular feature
Maps
Categories
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Isoline Thematic
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Lines connect points of
equal value
Maps
Categories
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Choropleth
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Shows patterns in
varying degrees
Uses color shading
Maps
Categories
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Proportional Symbol
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Uses symbols to
represent values
Larger symbol = larger
value
Maps
Categories
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Dot Density
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Each dot has same value
Used to show frequency
Maps
Categories
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Cartogram
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Proportional Sizes of area = frequency of some
variable
Unit 1
Geography
It’s Nature and Perspectives
Intro To Geography
Geography
It’s Nature and Perspectives
Map Making Technology

Used to construct new / more accurate maps

A collection of data
Map Making
Data Collecting
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Primary Data
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Collected and used by Geographer
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Can be qualitative or quantitative
Secondary Data
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Collected by someone else
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Databases
Map Making Technologies
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GIS
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Geographic Information System
Storage of information to be retrieved later
Information can be “layered”
Allows for a multitude of studies
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.
Map Making Technologies
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GPS
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Global Positioning System
Exact position on the earth
Uses the global grid
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Latitude and longitude
Uses remote sensing