GeographyThemes and Essential Elements

What is Geography?

• Geography is the study of everything on Earth, from rocks and rainfall to people and places.

• Geographers study how the natural environment influences people, how people’s activities affect Earth, and how the world is changing.

• Geographers look at many different things including cities, cultures, plants, climate, and resources.

Perspectives from Space • Satellite images have

provided additional resources for geographers using a spatial perspective in their study of Earth.

• Improvements in satellite technology and imagery now allow geographers to analyze climate and vegetation patterns over time.

Analyze the Following Satellite Images Below

• What types of changes related to the effect of human actions on the environment might geographers observe in satellite images?

Why use geography?

• Most jobs require the understanding of geography. An example is a restaurant owner must find a good location. Politicians need to know the geography of their districts. They must understand the issues that are important to the people in the area.

Subfields of Geography

• Two well known subfields of geography are cartography and meteorology.

Cartography

• Cartography is the study of maps and mapmaking. Maps are important because they help geographers study locations.

• Although some maps are still drawn by hand, computers have the completely changed mapmaking. A cartographer then creates a map on a computer.

• Cartographers work for companies that publish maps, atlases, newspapers, magazines, and books.

Meteorology

• Another subfield of geography is meteorology. This is the study of the weather.

• Meteorologists forecast how the weather will develop so that people know what to expect.

Modern Forecasting• What information is

presented in the following photographs?

• Why is accurate and timely information important?

• Who could possibly be effected by the changing weather presented? How?

Regions

• Regions can be any size. Countries, deserts, and mountain ranges are examples of large regions.

• Smaller regions include suburbs and neighborhoods.

• Regions can also be divided into smaller areas called sub-regions.

• For example, the Great Plains is a sub-region within North America.

Types of Regions

• There are three types of regions:– Formal Region– Functional Region– Perceptual Region

Formal Regions

• Formal regions can be based on almost any feature or combination of features.

• Those features may include population, income levels, crops, temperature, or rainfall.

• Physical features might define a formal region, such as the Rocky Mountains in the western United States.

Formal Regions

• For example, an industrial area in the northeastern and Midwestern United States is also a formal region.

• This region was once called the Rust Belt because so many old factories there had shut down.

Functional Regions

• Functional regions are made up of different places that are linked together and function as a unit.

• An example of a functional region is a transit system.

• The flow of people, trains, subways, and buses link those places together.

Functional Regions

• Many functional regions are organized around a central point.

• Surrounding areas are linked to this point. Shopping malls are an example.

Perceptual Regions

• Human perception is the awareness and understanding of the environment around us.

• Our views are influenced not only by what is in a region but also by what is in us.

• Our ways of life and experiences influence how we perceive the world.

• Perceptual regions reflect human feelings and attitudes.

• An example is “back home.”

Regional Perceptions

• What is your perception of California and Venice Beach?

Regional Perceptions• What is your perception of

New Yorkers and the City of New York?

Quick group/class discussion:• Give three reasons you

would like to live in New York City.

• Give three reasons you would definitely want to live in New York City.

Regional Perceptions

• What are your perceptions of the Corpus Christi area?

Quick group/class discussion:

• How do you think others perceive our city and the people from this area?

Organizing the Globe

• We begin our study of geography by looking at a globe.

• A globe is a scale model of Earth.

• One of the first things you will notice on the globe is a pattern of lines.

Map Grid

• These lines circle the globe in east-west and north-south directions.

• This pattern is called a grid.

• The grid is made up of lines of latitude and longitude.

Latitude

• Lines of latitude are drawn in an east-west direction.

• Lines of latitude measure the degree of distance north or south of the equator.

Longitude

• Lines of longitude are drawn in a north-south direction.

• As you see these lines of longitude extend from the north pole to the south pole.

• Lines of longitude measure the degree of distance east or west of the prime meridian.

Latitude and Longitude

Latitude and Longitude

• Lines of latitude measure distance north and south of the equator.

• The equator is an imaginary line that circles the globe halfway between the Earth’s North Pole and South Pole.

Parallels

• Lines of latitude are also called parallels.

• This is because they are always parallel to the equator and each other.

Meridians

• Lines of longitude are also called meridians.

• They measure distance east and west of the Prime Meridian.

• This is an imaginary line drawn from the North Pole to Greenwich, England to the South Pole.

Parallels and meridians measure distance in degrees. Degrees are further divided into minutes. There are 60

minutes in a degree.

Measures of Longitude

• Lines of longitude range from 0 degrees on the Prime Meridian to 180 degrees on the meridian in the mid-Pacific Ocean.

• Meridians west of the prime meridian to 180 degrees are labeled with a W. Those east of the prime meridian are labeled with an E.

• Unlike lines of latitude, lines of longitude are not parallel to one another.

Hemispheres

• The globe’s grid does more than help us locate places. • Geographers also use grid lines to organize the way we look

at the world. • For example the equator divides the globe into two halves or

hemispheres. • The half lying north of the equator is the Northern

Hemisphere and the southern half is the Southern Hemisphere.

• The United States is located in the northern hemisphere. Australia is located in the southern hemisphere.

Northern Hemisphere

Southern Hemisphere

• The Prime Meridian and the 180 degree meridian divide the world into the Eastern Hemisphere and Western Hemisphere

• The Eastern and Western Hemispheres are officially divided in the Atlantic Ocean at 20 degrees W.

• Due to this division along the Prime Meridian and 20 W, all of Europe and Africa are located in the Eastern Hemisphere.

Continents

• There are seven continents: Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America.

• Asia, the largest continent, is five times the size of Australia, the smallest.

• Landmasses smaller than continents and surrounded by water are called islands.

• Greenland is the world’s largest island.

Oceans

• The largest areas of water are the global oceans.

• Geographers divide these oceans into four areas: the Atlantic Ocean, the Arctic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and the Pacific Ocean.

• The Pacific Ocean is the largest ocean and the world’s largest geographic feature.

• It is more than 12 times the size of the smallest ocean, the Arctic.

Gulf of Mexico• Smaller bodies of

water include seas, gulfs, and lakes.

• Gulfs and seas, such as the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, are areas of salt water that are connected to larger oceans.

• Geographers use maps to study the Earth.

• Maps are flat representations of all or parts of Earth’s surface.

• A collection of maps in one book is called an atlas.

Distance Scales

• A map’s distance scale helps us determine real distances between points on a map.

• On large-scale maps objects are relatively large, whereas on small-scale maps objects are relatively small.

• Some may show just one or two miles while others illustrate a few hundred feet.

• Maps showing larger distances, may cover hundreds and thousands of miles.

Compare the following maps. Which map has the larger scale? What types of information can you derive from each of the

maps?

Directional Indicators

• A directional indicator shows which direction on a map are north, south, east, and west.

• Some mapmakers use a north arrow which points toward the North Pole.

• Most maps show direction with a compass rose.

Compass Rose

• A compass rose has arrows that point to all four principal directions.

• What are the other arrows? What use do they have?

Legends

• A map’s legend, or key, identifies the symbols on a map and what they represent.

• They may show colors, shapes, or symbols to represent many different kinds of features on a map.

• What types of information can you obtain from the legend?

Inset Map

• An inset map is another special element. • Inset maps are used to focus in on a smaller part of a

larger map. • Some inset maps also show areas that are far away

from the main areas of the whole map.

• Analyze the inset map which follows. What advantages does this type of map present?

Climate and Precipitation Maps• Some mapmakers

use maps to show weather patterns and atmospheric conditions.

• Climate maps use color to show various climate regions of the world.

• Where would you want to live?

Precipitation Maps• Precipitation maps show average amount

precipitation that a region gets each year. • Precipitation refers to condensed droplets of water

that fall as rain, sleet, hail, or snow. • Each map’s legend uses color to identify those

amounts. • By using the legends, you can see which areas

receive the most precipitation.

• What predictions could you make regarding population growth, trade, and agriculture based on the following data?

What predications could you make about migration, economic, industrialization patterns?

Population Maps • Population maps give you a snapshot of distribution of people in a region.

• Each color may represent an average number of people living within a square mile.

Based on the information below, where do you think the greatest population densities occur?

Economic Maps• Economic maps

show a region’s important natural resources and the ways in which land is used.

• Some maps will show where land is used for farming or other economic activities.

Which states export the most based on the data below?

Elevation Profiles

• Some maps focus on an area’s land features. • For example, you can see that each physical

map in this textbook uses color to show land elevations.

• Elevation is the height of the land above sea level.

• Each color represents a different elevation.

• An elevation profile shows a side view of a place or area.

• Vertical distances are measured top-bottom, while horizontal distances are measured left –right.

Elevation Profile• What information can you get from the profile

below:

Topographic Maps• The purpose of

some maps is to show just the topography, elevation, layout, and shapes of the land.

Topographic Map

• What information can you determine from the topographic map?

• Where are the highest areas in South America?

Contour Map

• A special kind of topographical map is called a contour map.

• Contour maps provide a way of looking at the shapes of land in an area.

• They use contour lines to connect points of equal elevation above or below sea level.

• The closer the lines are to each other, the steeper the land.

Contour Map• What can you

determine about the slope of the mountain by the contour information provided?

Climate Graphs

• Climate graphs show the average temperatures and precipitation in a place.