What is Geography?

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What is Geography?
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Geography

• helps describe and explain the
  connections or links between the people and
  the land.

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Geographers look especially at

• Landscape
• Climate
• Vegetation/Wildlife
• Natural resources
• Settlement of the land

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The Study of Geography

• helps people to understand how the environment
  shapes the things people do and the way they
  live.
• allows people to understand how humans affect the
  environment through their use of the land and its
  resources.

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Information Used By Geographers

• Photographs and Sketches
• Ground level, aerial oblique, vertical aerial
• and satellite photographs provide accurate
• pictures of the landscape.

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Satellite Image
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Photograph at ground level
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Aerial Photograph Parliament Hill, Ottawa
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• Maps
• Small and large scale maps and a variety of
• special purpose maps show selected
• landscape features.

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Political Map of Continents
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Political Map of Canada
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Landform/Physical/Relief Map of Canada
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Special Purpose Map of Trans Canada Highway
Routes
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• Graphs and Charts
• Bar, line and circle graphs provide additional
• information from which the generalizations
• may be drawn.

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Climograph
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Circle Graph Natural Resources of Canada
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• Drawings
• Drawings are useful to show how things are
• related, to simplify, or to summarize large
• amounts of information.

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Ojibwa Indians Shooting the Rapids.
By Frederick Arthur Verner (1836-1928). National
Archives of Canada
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• Documents
• Written and printed materials can explain
• how things are done or how things look,
• helping build a more complete
• understanding of a physical landscape.

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This unique exploration document, originally
intended for presentation to the king of France,
was compiled by Samuel de Champlain (1567-1635),
founder of New France. One of the great
cartographic treasures of America, it provides
the first thorough delineation of the New
England and Canadian coast from Cape Sable to
Cape Cod. It shows Port Royal Frenchman's Bay
the St. John, St. Croix, Penobscot, and Kennebec
Rivers and many offshore islands--including
Mount Desert, which Champlain himself named. The
place names and coast line correspond closely to
Champlain's narrative in his Voyages, published
in 1613
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Geography of Your Community

• Maps and Documents
• Where is your community? Can you locate it on a
  map?
• Where is it in relation to other important
  features and communities?
• What are some reasons why people first settled in
  your community?

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Documents, Drawings

1. What is the area or site of your community like?
   Describe the surrounding landforms
2. What bodies of water are nearby?
3. What is the natural vegetation like?
4. What kinds of vegetation and produce are planted
   by the people?
5. Do you know what kind of soil and rocks are found
   here?
6. How does the community location affect the way
   good are transported?

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Documents, Maps

1. How has the community changed since it was first
   established?
2. What transportation and communication links are
   available?
3. What main buildings are there?
4. What has determined the location of these
   buildings?
5. How is the land used?

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Graphs, Charts

• Describe the climate in your community
• What amounts of rain and snow fall each year?
• How does the temperature change from one season
  to the next?
• When do the local farmers begin to work on their
  land?
• What months are best for growing crops?
• What special weather conditions, such as high
  winds or thunderstorms, occur?

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Graphs, Charts, Documents

• 1.