Introduction to Geography

Geography 7

Cardinals!

The Global World

N. America

S. America

Africa

ASIA

Europe

Antarctica

Australia

Atlantic Ocean

Pacific Ocean

Indian Ocean

Pacific Ocean

Artic Ocean

Southern Ocean

The New Global World – Region

N. AmericaEurope

Antarctica

Atlantic Ocean

Pacific Ocean

Indian Ocean

Pacific Ocean

Artic Ocean

Southern Ocean

Modern Middle East

Sub-SaharaAfrica

Europe

Russia and Eurasian Republic

S. Asia

N. America

S.America

E. Asia

S. E. Asia

M. America

Australia

Oceania

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.

Geographer’s must look at many different things, including cities, cultures, population, political, economical, natural resources, and the physical environment.

Geographer’s focus on “where” things are and “why” they are there

Geographer’s organize materials by place, because they understand that something happening at one place can result from something that happened elsewhere and can affect conditions at other places

What is Geography?

Misconceptions of geography: Merely memorizing lists of countries and state capitals Studying rocks and soil Looking at maps and pictures of faraway places

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What is Geography?

The word geography, invented by the ancient Greek scholar Eratosthenes. Geography is based on two Greek words, Geo meaning “Earth” and graphy meaning “to write”.

Geography is one of the oldest human activities. An early geographic activity was as simple as a man

taking a journey – deep into the jungle or desert, climbing a hill or mountain or merely crossing a river and inform his/her fellow tribesmen of what was on the other side.

Today everyone uses geography in some form – drawing a map to their house, watching the weather channel and even judging migration.

History of Geography

The Six Essential Elements1. The World in Spatial Terms: Dividing the World into

manageable sizes.

ContinentsOceansGridsHemispheres

N. America

S. America

Africa

ASIA

Europe

Antarctica

Australia

Atlantic Ocean

Pacific Ocean

Indian Ocean

Pacific Ocean

Artic Ocean

The Six Essential ElementsThe world in Spatial Terms includes Location (Where a

place is.) Location can be described two ways:1. Absolute Location: The exact location on the

Earth. This is determined by using the imaginary geographic grid of parallels (lines of latitude) and meridians (lines of longitude).

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Equator Equator

Prime Meridian

The Six Essential ElementsThe Second way Location can be described is in

terms of

2.Relative Location: It is merely a reference to a place by using a more familiar location.

Example: Next to Publix, On Wickham, in Florida, Off the Coast of Florida, three houses down on the left

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2. Places and Regions: a. Places: the description of the characteristics

(human or physical) of a location. Such as landforms, climate, animal life, human

population. b. Regions: A number of places united that have one

or more common characteristic. Rocky Mountains, tornado alley, The West

Coast, The Great Plains

The Six Essential Elements

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2. Places and Regions:

The Six Essential Elements

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3. Physical Systems: All the physical activity of the environment.

Flooding, earthquakes, mountains, rivers, volcanoes, and weather patterns.

The Six Essential Elements

4. Human Systems: People are central to geography. Our activities, movements and settlements shape Earth’s surface.

Farming vs ranching Migration patterns Wars Governments Religions

Movement-People move for many reasons including new jobs, to attend special schools, to be closer to family, to move away from a place (Dust Bowl), or to move to a place (Gold Rush)

The movement of ideas or behaviors from one place to another is called diffusion.

The Six Essential Elements

5. Environment and Society: Human-Environment Interaction Geographers study how people and their surroundings affect each other

6.Geographers study how humans depend on their physical environment to survive

7.Geographers study how humans change their behavior to be better suited to an environment

8.How humans change the environment

Flooding Farming Hurricane Katrina The Dust Bowl

The Six Essential Elements

6. The uses of geography: Putting it all together. Analyzing past events to help us prevent future events.

Developing transportations networks Migration

The Six Essential Elements

Everyone! We use it by finding our way to a new place – a

friend, restaurant, amusement park When we watch the news – Israel invades Lebanon Planning a vacation What to wear – shorts vs pants, jacket, sunglasses Athletes – winds, sun, rain, temperature, slope of the

field Professions:

Cartographers – the study of maps and mapmaking, maps are an essential part of geography

Meteorology – the study of weather, forecasting Government – FBI, CIA military study countries

cultures and physical characteristics Teachers – develop new geographers

Who Uses Geography

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