The Basics of Geography

1
The Basics of Geography

• geography- the study of the distribution and
  interaction of physical and human features on the
  earth

2
Vocabulary

• absolute location- exact place on earth where a
  place is found using latitude and longitude
• relative location- describes a place in
  comparison to other places around it
• latitude- lines that run parallel to the equator

3
Vocabulary

• longitude- lines that go over the earth around
  the poles

4
Vocabulary

• prime meridian- imaginary line diving the earth
  east and west
• map projection- is a way of drawing the earths
  surface that reduces distortion caused by
  presenting a round earth on flat paper
• topographic map- a general reference map it has
  natural and man-made features of earth
• Landsat- a series of satellites that orbit more
  than 100 miles above Earth and can scan the Earth
  in 16 days

5
Vocabulary

• physical map- shows natural features of Earth
  landforms, bodies of water and other physical
  characteristics of a location
• political map- show features on the Earth that
  humans have created cities, states, countries
• qualitative maps- use colors and patterns to show
  a specific idea
• Check the title
• Study the legend closely
• Determine the theme
• Determine the relationships among the data

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Vocabulary

• Geographic Information System (GIS)- stores info
  about Earth in a digital database it can combine
  info from a variety of sources and keep it in one
  place

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Five Themes

• Location
• Where is it?
• Describe location using absolute location and
  relative location

8
Five themes

• Place
• -What is it like?
• -includes physical features (climate,
  landforms, vegetation)
• -includes cultural characteristics of a
  location
• -human influence (dams, highways, houses,
  building, bridges)

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Five Themes

• Region
• How are places similar or different?
• Area of the earths surface with similar
  characteristics

10
Regions

• (1)Formal region- a region that has a limited
  number of related characteristics
• The US and Canada
• Latin America
• Europe
• Russia
• Southwest Asia
• South Asia

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Regions

• Functional region- a region organized around a
  set of interactions and connections between
  places
• a hub or central place and links to that place
• New York city is a functional region because it
  is a main hub with many suburbs surrounding it

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Regions

• Perceptual regions- in region where people
  perceive the characteristics of a region in the
  same way
• perceptual regions can be different from person
  to person because everyone views how regions are
  defined differently
• ex everyone knows what the Southwest region is
  but they may differ on what states it contains

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Five Themes

• Human-Environment Interaction
• the relationship between humans and the
  environment
• people learn what the environment can give them
  and uses it to meet their needs
• living with aspects of the environment they cant
  control
• Altering the environment (irrigation ditches,
  bridges)

14
Five Themes

• Movement- how do people, goods, and ideas move
  from one location to another?
• Geographers analyze movement by looking at three
  types of distance
• (1) linear- how far across the earth a person,
  idea,
• or product travels
• (2) time- the amount of time it takes a person,
• idea or product to travel
• (3) psychological- the way people view distance
  (thinking something is farther away than it
  really is)

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Practice

• Turn to page 23 and answer questions 1-5
• Turn to page 25 and answer questions 1-3 under
  the Geographic Skills section
• How have modern technologies such as the
  airplane, television and Internet affected
  peoples perceptions of linear distance, time
  distance and psychological distance?