1. THINKING GEOGRAPHICALLY: NATURE AND PERSPECTIVES Human Geography Physical Geography Five themes of Geography 1. Location (absolute and relative) 2.Movement (ideas, people, goods) 3.Regions – what do areas have kin common 4.Place – what is unique about a location 5.Human Environment Interaction a. Modify b. adapt Famous Geographers: Erastosthones – Father of Geography – circumference of the Earth Ptolmey: Compiled first Atlas “ Guide to Geography”. It was Ptolmey’s incorrect map that Columbus used to determine he could sail around the world.

2. Location: Site: physical character of a place Situation: Relative location – location in relation to other places. Longitude, latitude ----meridians, parallels Prime Meridian, International Dateline Greenwich Mean Time Time Zones (degrees?) Country with no time zones?

3. MAPS AND MAP PROJECTIONS: All maps have distortion. The type of projection is determined by the projection. The Mercator projection distorts shapes around the poles. Perfect for ship navigation.

4. A Robinson projection distorts all features a little but is one with as little distortion as can be expected.

5. A Peter’s projection “spreads “ countries near the equator but squashes them near the poles. An azimuthal map shows the earth from a particular point. Doesn’t show all of the planet.

6. Map Scale Large scale map 1” = 5 miles. Would be used on a local map. Small scale map 1” = 500 miles. Would be used on a larger map.

7. Chloropleth Maps Cartogram

8. Dot Map Isoline map

9. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Satellite imaging takes photos of “layers” of the surface. These can be separated and studied for a particular purpose.

10. Scale can also be used to identify the importance of an occurance. If 25 people die in a flood in Burkina Faso, the scale of the tragedy is important there, but not on a world scale. If 250,000 people die in a Tsunami in the Indian Ocean, the scale is important on a worldwide scale. Think ZOOM

11. REGIONS FormalStates, counties, countries Functional (nodal) The “range” of a central location (node.) The coverage of a radio station, newspaper Perceptual (Vernacular) A region that people know exists, although there are no formal boundaries. The South, East Texas, Cy-Fair

12. DIFFUSION EXPANSION DIFFUSION RELOCATION DIFFUSION Spread of an idea from the physical movement of people. Hierarchal Diffusion: spread of an idea from persons or nodes of authority to other persons or places. (top down diffusion) Contagious Diffusion: The rapid and widespread diffusion of a characteristic throughout a population. Stimulus diffusion: The spread of a principle even though the characteristic itself does not diffuse. Apple vs Microsoft

13. GENERAL INFORMATION Space-time compression The reduction in time it takes something to diffuse to a distant place. (technology) Toponyms: Place names San Antonio, Red Bluff Mountain, Houston Oaks Golf Club Sequent occupance The change over time as to what is “occupying” a particular space. Prairie to sod hut to house to apartments to vacant lot

14. Environmental Determinism: the environment determines the relative success of failure of a group of people. The physical environment causes and restricts human development. Distance decay: the diminishing importance and eventual disappearance of a phenomena the further away it is from its origin. Possiblism: the environment may set limits on development, but people have the ability to overcome their environments.

15. Density Pattern Concentration- Irregular Arithmetic Concentration - regular dispersed Linear or clustered? end