1. Thinking Geographically
An Introduction to Human Geography
The Cultural Landscape
INTRODUCTION
Thinking Geographically

2. WHAT IS GEOGRAPHY?
Geography, as a discipline does claim to be a valid and revealing approach to contemporary questions of political, economic, social, and ecological concern. Themes of geography include:
Humans and environmental interaction
Distribution of natural phenomena affecting the human use of the earth
The Cultural patterns of settlement and exploitation of the physical world

3. How did it come to be what and where it is?
To best understand geography is to understand the questions geographers ask.
What is it?
Where is it?
How did it come to be what and where it is?
Where is it in relation to other physical or cultural realities that affect it or are affected by it?
How is it part of a functioning whole?
Who does its location affect peoples lives?

4. THE TRUTH
There is a fundamental truth answered by geography: things are rationally organized on the earth’s surface and that interpreting spatial patterns is an essential starting point for understanding how humans live on earth.

5. HOW DO WE FIND PLACES?
The location of the place may be described in both absolute and relative terms.
ABSOLUTE LOCATION: records a precise position on the surface of the globe, usually in terms of a mathematically based reference system.
RELATIVE LOCATION: Describing the position of a place or thing in relation to other places or things.
Indicate whether the following are examples of absolute or relative location.
a. terminal of the Erie Canal
b B Baker Street
c. lower California
d. along the Potomac River
e. 42° 30’N, 90°43’W
f. south of the border
g. Township 2 West, Range 3 North
h Pennsylvania Ave

6. PHYSCIAL AND CULTURAL ATTRIBUTES
All places have physical and cultural attributes. In Geography we study the relationship between the two.
Physical characteristics refer to: climate, soil, water supplies, and resources.
Everything we do leaves an imprint and this visible imprint is called the Cultural Landscape.

7. HOW DO PLACES INTERACT?
Spatial interaction—how places interact with each other.
To be able to understand how places interact with each other we must understand distance.
Distance affects everything humans do. Distance affects humans on different scales.
Small scale—personal
Large scale—U.S. History-settlement patterns of the U.S.
How has technology helped us reduce distance?
Distance Decay—as everything is related to everything else, relationships are stronger when things are near one another.
To get a better understanding of distance and technology think about the history of the delivery of news.

8. REGIONS Types of Regions
To study larger areas of land geographers are able to divide places into regions. Regions are areas divided because there is a similarity. This could be political, physical, cultural, or because of the climate.
Types of Regions
1. Formal—essential uniformity in or on limited geographic features.
2. Functional—parts are interdependent w/each other and forms an organized system.

9. How Geographers Address Location
Maps
Early mapmaking
Map scale
Projection
Land Ordinance of 1785
Contemporary Tools
GIS
Remote sensing
GPS

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

11. Maps of the Marshall Islands
Fig. 1-2: A Polynesian “stick chart” depicts patterns of waves on the sea route between two South Pacific islands. Modern maps show the locations of these Marshall Islands.

12. 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)

13. Township and Range System in the U.S.
Fig. 1-4: Principal meridians and east-west baselines of the township system. Townships in northwest Mississippi and topographic map of the area.

14. 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.

15. Site: Lower Manhattan Island
Fig. 1-6: Site of lower Manhattan Island, New York City. There have been many changes to the area over the last 200 years.

16. 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

17. Situation: Singapore
Fig. 1-7: Singapore is situated at a key location for international trade.

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

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

21. 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.

22. 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.

23. Spatial Association at Various Scales
Fig. 1-13: Death rates from cancer in the U.S., Maryland, and Baltimore show different patterns that can identify associations with different factors.

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

25. Environmental Modification in the Netherlands
Fig. 1-15: Polders and dikes have been used for extensive environmental modification in the Netherlands.

26. Environmental Modification in Florida
Fig. 1-16: Straightening the Kissimmee River has had many unintended side effects.

27. 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

28. 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.

29. Density, Concentration, and Pattern
Fig. 1-18: The density, concentration, and pattern (of houses in this example) may each vary in an area or landscape.

30. 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.

31. 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.

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

33. 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.