Basics of

1
Basics of Geography
2
Basics of Geography -
word Geography comes from the Greek word
geographia which means to describe the earth
3
A person who studies geography is called a
geographer. Geography is the study of the
distribution and interaction of physical and
human features on the earth.
4
5 Concepts of Geography
Location Place Region Human Environment
Interaction Movement
5
Absolute Location

• Absolute Location is the EXACT location on earth
  where something is found
• Found using Latitude and Longitude
• Equator and Prime Meridian divide the earth into
  equal halves called Hemispheres

6
Latitude Lines

• Run East and West measure North and South
• Parallels
• Equator - 0 (closest place to sun)
• Divides earth into Northern and Southern
  Hemispheres
• Tropics Tropic of Cancer 23 1/2 N
• Tropic of Capricorn 23 1/2 S
• South Pole - 90 South
• North Pole - 90 North

7
Latitude Lines are flat
8
Longitude Lines

• Run North and South measure East and West
• Meridians (Meet at North and South Poles)
• Divides earth into Western and Eastern
  Hemispheres
• Prime Meridian - 0
• 0 - 180
• International Dateline 180

9
Longitude Linesare long and measure east and
west
10
b. Relative location (1) describes how a place
is related to its surrounding environment (2)
example church is located 2 blocks south of the
park
11
Place

• physical features and cultural characteristics
  of a location
• climate, landforms, and vegetation are examples
  of physical features
• dams, highways, and houses are examples of human
  and cultural characteristics

12
Region

• Region a group of locations or places with
  similarities
• Formal Regions has clear boundaries, usually
  defined by a single characteristic
• i.e. Latin America, Southeast Asia, US/Canada

13

• Functional Region Organized around a set of
  interactions and connections between places
• i.e. a city, state, county

14

• Perceptual Region A region in which people of
  the region see or perceive the characteristics of
  the region in the same way
• i.e. the Midwest, the Middle East
• Southeast or Southwest

15
(No Transcript)
16
(No Transcript)
17
(No Transcript)
18
Human-Environment Interaction people learn to
change their environments to meet their
needs b. people use different environmental
circumstances for different reasons
19
(1) some may see a warm, tropical environment as
an opportunity to build a vacation resort (2)
Others may see a warm, tropical environment as an
opportunity to grow citrus fruits
20
c. Human alterations to the physical world around
them can sometimes hurt the environment
21
Movement How do people, goods, and ideas move
from one location to another?
22
I. The Geographers Tools A. Globes and
Maps 1. Globes a. three-dimensional
representation of the earth What are the
advantages/disadvantages of a globe?
23
2. Maps a. two-dimensional graphic
representations of selected part of the earths
surface What are the advantages/disadvantages of
a map?
24
f. map projection way of drawing Earths
surface by presenting a round Earth on flat paper
(planar, flat-plane, conical) How is a map
projection misleading?
25
Mercator Map Projection 1569
26
Robinson Map Projection Today
Least distorted view of the world!
27
II. Types of Maps A. Physical Maps 1. shows
types of natural landforms and bodies of
water found in a specific area 2. Color,
shading, or contour lines are used to show
relief (elevation or altitude)
28
Physical Map
29
B. Political Maps 1. Shows features on the
earths surface that humans created 2.
Includes cities, states, provinces, territories,
or countries
30
Political Map
31
Thematic Maps

• Maps focused on specific types of information
• (Qualitative, Cartograms, flow-line, etc.)

Belgium
What's the theme?
32
C. Qualitative Maps 1. use colors, symbols,
dots, or lines to help you see patterns related
to a specific area
What does this map tell you?
33
Qualitative Map
34
D. Cartograms 1. Information about a country
based on information other than land area 2.
Size of each country is drawn in proportion to
that information rather than its actual land size

35
Cartograms are distorted
36
E. Flow-line Maps 1. Illustrates movement of
people, goods, ideas. 2. Data usually shown in a
series of arrows 3. Location, direction, and
scope of movement can be seen
37
Flow-line Maps
38

• III. Map Information
• Title subject or basic information of the map
• Compass Rose shows direction (introduced by
  Chinese)
• Legend/Key explains symbols
• D. Scale shows distance
• E. Symbol represents something

39
Title
Compass Rose
Symbol
Legend/Key
40
B. Satellites 1. used to find large scale
information for geographers
41
1. Landsat - series of satellites that orbit
more than 100 miles above the earth a. can
scan the entire earth in 16 days