1. Thinking Geographically
Chapter 1
Thinking Geographically

2. geo=Earth graphy=to write
Geography is the study of where things are found on Earth’s surface and the reasons for the locations.
2 big questions:
Where are people and activities found on the Earth?
Why are they found there?

3. An in-depth Social Science
Many people have misconceptions about geography and think of the discipline as simply an exercise in memorizing place names.

4. Get hyped to study geography!!!!

5. Where we find Geography?
Geography exist in the global issues receiving attention at this time things such as
Population growth
Terrorism
Politics
Economic Issues

6. Location, Location, Location
Geography's importance can also be established by looking at community issues, such as:
Water supply
Pollution
Growth management
Housing
Retail

7. Thinking Geographically
In addition to political rule, boundaries can be drawn based on various components of culture including language, religion, values.

8. Questions to Ponder
Where would the most desirable places to live be located?
What impacts would this population increase cause?

9. Every Story Can be approached from a Geographers Perspective
Consider natural events and natural disasters. Do humans choose to live in harm’s way?

10. Spatial analysis
Geography by its nature is a spatial science. Geographers therefore study space in order to locate the distribution of people and objects. Geographers ask two main questions, “where” and “why.” Spatial analysis is concerned with analyzing regularities achieved through interaction. Regularities result in a distinctive distribution of a feature. Distribution has three properties:
Density
Concentration
Pattern

11. World Political Boundaries (2004)
Fig. 1-1: National political boundaries are among the most significant elements of the cultural landscape

12. How Geographers Address Location
Maps
Early mapmaking
Eratosthenes ( B.C.)-First person to record use of the word geography and prepared one of the earliest maps.
Map scale
Projection
Land Ordinance of 1785
Contemporary Tools
GIS
Remote sensing
GPS

13. Ptolemy’s view of the world c150AD

14. Old Islamic Maps
Fulfilling the duties of formal prayers and the pilgrimage, Muslims need to find the direction and routes leading to al Ka'ba from virtually any spot on the globe. The Ka'ba is the house of Abraham in Mecca. And it is the point at which Muslims must face when they perform prayers.
Left - map of the world in 1154 by Idrissi
Right - map of the world made by the Muslim geographer Jihani in the 10th century of the Christian era.

15. Scale Differences: Maps of Florida
Fig. 1-3: The effects of scale in maps of Florida. (Scales from 1:10 million to 1:10,000)

16. Examples of Map Projections

17. The Cartographer’s Dilemma
Write in your notes the different types of projections the video discusses.

18. World Geographic Grid Latitude vs. longitude Meridian vs. parallel
Fig. 1-8: The world geographic grid consists of meridians of longitude and parallels of latitude. The prime meridian (0º) passes through Greenwich, England.

19. Telling time 24 time zones in the world
4 in the US (Eastern, central, mountain, pacific)
International date line-heading east >move clock back 24 hours
Heading west towards Asia>move clock forward 24 hours

20. World Time Zones
Fig. 1-9: The world’s 24 standard time zones are often depicted using the Mercator projection.

21. Contemporary Geographic Tools GPS

22. GPS

23. Layers of a GIS
Fig. 1-5: A geographic information system (GIS) stores information about a location in several layers. Each layer represents a different category of information.

24. If Time…

25. KEY ISSUE 2
Why is each point on Earth unique?

26. Uniqueness of Places and Regions
Place: Unique location of a feature
Place names
Site
Situation
Mathematical location
Regions: Areas of unique characteristics
Cultural landscape
Types of regions
Regional integration of culture
Cultural ecology

27. Place Names
First way the geographers describe the location of a place.
toponym-name given to a place on Earth.
Shepherdsville, North Bullitt, Mr. Hardy’s classroom=all toponyms

28. Site: Lower Manhattan Island
Physical character of a place
Topography, climate, soil, etc. all examples
Site factors are essential for selecting location of a settlement.
Fig. 1-6: Site of lower Manhattan Island, New York City. There have been many changes to the area over the last 200 years. Why is it there?

29. Situation: Singapore Location of a place relative to other places
Ex. Singapore is south of China
Fig. 1-7: Singapore is situated at a key location for international trade.

30. 3 Types of Regions
Formal-an area within which everyone shares in common one or more distinctive characteristics.
Functional-an area organized around a node or focal point.
Vernacular-an area that people believe exists as part of their cultural identity.

31. Election 2000: Regional Differences
Fig. 1-10: Presidential election results by county and state illustrate differences in regional voting patterns.

32. Formal and Functional Regions
Fig. 1-11: The state of Iowa is an example of a formal region; the areas of influence of various television stations are examples of functional regions.

33. Vernacular Regions
Fig. 1-12: A number of factors are often used to define the South as a vernacular region, each of which identifies somewhat different boundaries.

34. Vernacular Region - Kurdistan

35. Spatial Association at Various Scales trying to explain why regions possess the same distinctive features.
Fig. 1-13: Death rates from cancer in the U.S., Maryland, and Baltimore show different patterns that can identify associations with different factors.

36. What is Culture?
Your book defines culture as a body of customary believes, material trades, and social forms that together constitute the distinct tradition of a group of people.
The Latin root of culture is cultus, which means to care for. Example Agriculture (term for growing things)

37. Cultural Ecology
Geographers also consider environmental factors as well as cultural factors, when looking at regions.
This is cultural ecology.
Basically, this is the geographic study of human-environmental relations.
In the 19th Century – some geographers said that human actions were caused by environmental conditions. (environmental determinism)
This is rejected by modern geographers that say some environmental conditions limit human actions. (possibilism)
Of course now we are realizing that humans can actually adjust their environment. (For good or bad)

38. World Climate Regions
Fig. 1-14: The modified Köppen system divides the world into five main climate regions.

39. Types of Maps Isoline Characteristics of Isolines:
Isolines connect points of equal value.
Isolines never, ever, never, ever cross!
Isolines either run off the map or create a closed loop.
Isolines usually have gentle curves instead of sharp angles.
Isolines tend to follow one another.
Types of Isolines
Contour lines – Connect points of equal elevation
Isotherms – Connect points of equal temperature
Isobars – Connect points of equal air pressure
Isotachs – Connect points of equal wind speed
Isoseismal lines – Connect points of equal earthquake intensity
Isoline

41. Dot-density (also called dot) maps place individual points on a map to correspond with occurrences of a particular feature or data. Clusters of dots show where the features or data are concentrated

43. Chrlorpleth Maps
a thematic map in which areas are shaded or patterned in proportion to the measurement of the statistical variable being displayed on the map, such as population density or per-capita income.

45. KEY ISSUE 3
Why are different places similar?

46. Similarity of Different Places
Scale: From local to global
Globalization of economy
Globalization of culture
Space: Distribution of features
Distribution
Gender and ethnic diversity in space
Connections between places
Spatial interaction
Diffusion

47. Globalization
A force or process that involves the entire world and results in making something worldwide in scope.

48. Globalization of Economy
2008-first global recession
Not confined to one country
Fate of a home buyer in Kentucky tied to investment banker in London tied to financial consultant in Tokyo-EVERYTHING CONNECTED
Specialized regional workers

49. Globalization of the Economy
Fig. 1-17: The Denso corporation is headquartered in Japan, but it has regional headquarters and other facilities in North America and Western Europe.

50. Globalization of culture
What are the major Elements of culture?
Customary beliefs
Social customs
Material traits
Affects of globalization of culture
Fewer local differences
Enhanced communications
Unequal access
Difficulty in maintaining of local traditions
There is also globalization of environment
Sensitive and insensitive environmental modification

51. Space-Time Compression, 1492–1962
Fig. 1-20: The times required to cross the Atlantic, or orbit the Earth, illustrate how transport improvements have shrunk the world.

52. Space-physical gap between objects
Distribution-arrangement of a feature in space

53. Distribution properties
Density-frequency which something occurs in space
Concentration-extent of a feature’s spread over space
Pattern-geometric arrangement of objects in space

54. Density, Concentration, and Pattern
Clustered vs. dispersed
Housing density in Hong Kong
Fig. 1-18: The density, concentration, and pattern (of houses in this example) may each vary in an area or landscape.

55. Density and Concentration of Baseball Teams, 1952–2000
Fig. 1-19: The changing distribution of North American baseball teams illustrates the differences between density and concentration.

56. Spatial Interaction
Interdependence exists among places based upon the degree of spatial interaction.
Spatial interaction is established through the movement of people, ideas, and objects between regions.
For example, Travel has changed considerably over the last 500 years.
In the past, most forms of interaction among cultural groups required the physical movement of settlers, explores, and plunders from one place to another.
Today travel by car or plane is much faster and communication is instantaneous.
When places are connected to each other through a network, geographers say there is a spatial interaction between them.

57. Airline Route Networks
Fig. 1-21: Delta Airlines, like many others, has configured its route network in a “hub and spoke” system.

58. Diffusion
Diffusion is the process by which a characteristic spreads across space from one place to another over time.
The place of origin of the characteristic is called the hearth.
For example – US, Canadian, and many Latin cultures can be traced back to the European Hearth.
There are two basic types of diffusion:
Relocation diffusion
Expansion diffusion
Expansion Diffusion includes-
Hierarchical diffusion
Contagious diffusion
Stimulus diffusion

59. AIDS Diffusion in the U.S., 1981–2001
Fig. 1-22: New AIDS cases were concentrated in three nodes in They spread through the country in the 1980s, but declined in the original nodes in the late 1990s.

60. Diffusion Activity
You will be broken into groups and each assigned either hierarchical, contagious, stimulus, expansion, or relocation diffusion.
You will be given an information sheet that explains each type of diffusion.
You will have 15 minutes to come up with a way to visually represent/act out/portray this type of diffusion to the class AND come up with an example.
I am leaving the directions broad on purpose to give you freedom as to how you’d like to do it.
We will then present these to the class.

61. KEY ISSUE 4