1. THINKING
GEOGRAPHICALLY!!!
Chapter 1

2. Where are people and activities found on earth?
WE ARE
GEOGRAPHERS.
Where are people and activities found on earth?
Why are they found there?
Why is each place unique?
Why do different places on this earth have similar features?

3. What is Human Geography?
Key Question:
What is Human Geography?

4. Human Geography
The study of how people make places, how we organize space and society, how we interact with each other in places and across space, and how we make sense of others and ourselves in our locality, region, and world.

5. THE FIVE THEMES
OF GEOGRAPHY

6. Location
Human-Environment
Region
Place
Movement

7. HOW DO GEOGRAPHERS DESCRIBE WHERE THINGS ARE?
LOCATION
WHERE DO YOU LIVE?
HOW CAN YOU FIND IT?
WHAT IS IT LIKE THERE?
HOW DO GEOGRAPHERS DESCRIBE WHERE THINGS ARE?

8. PLACE NAME DUH!!!! BIXBY OKLAHOMA UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA
NORTHERN HEMISPHERE

9. TOPONYMS FUN, FUN, FUN! NAME GIVEN TO A PLACE ON EARTH!
LLANFAIRPWLLGWYNGYLLGOGRYCHWYRNDROPWLLLLANTYSILIOGOGOGOCH—”CHURCH ST. MARY’S IN THE GROVE OF THE WHITE HAZLENUT TREE NEAR THE RAPID WHIRLPOOL AND THE CHURCH OF ST TISILIO NEAR THE RED CAVE”
LONGEST IN US—LAKE CHARGOGGAGOGGMANCHAUGGAGOGGCHAUBUNAGUNGAMAUGG IN MASSACHUSETTS

11. physical character of place
Climate
Water sources
Topography
Soil
Vegetation
Latitude
elevation
SITE

12. DO YOU KNOW WHERE JUJAX IS? HOW ‘BOUT THE OLD FOLK’S HOME?
SITUATION
DO YOU KNOW WHERE JUJAX IS?
HOW ‘BOUT THE OLD FOLK’S HOME?
THE STRAIGHT OF MALACCA?

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

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

15. Why do Geographers use Maps, and What do Maps Tell Us?
Key Question:
Why do Geographers use Maps, and What do Maps Tell Us?

16. Two Types of Maps: Reference Maps
Show locations of places and geographic features
Absolute locations
What are reference maps used for?
Thematic Maps
Tell a story about the degree of an attribute, the pattern of its distribution, or its movement.
Relative locations
What are thematic maps used for?

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

18. Reference Map

19. Thematic
Map
What story about median income in the Washington, DC area is this map telling?

20. the places we travel to routinely in our rounds of daily activity.
Mental Maps:
maps we carry in our minds of places we have been and places we have heard of.
can see: landmarks, paths,
and accessibility
Activity Spaces:
the places we travel to routinely in our rounds of daily activity.
How are activity spaces and mental maps related?

21. 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.

22. 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)

23. Land Ordinance of 1785
a law that divided much of the United States into a system of townships to facilitate the sale of land to settlers
A north-south line designated in the Land Ordinance of 1785 to facilitate the surveying and numbering of townships in the US
An east-west line designated under Land Ordinance of 1785 to facilitate the surveying and numbering of townships in the US

24. Township and Range System in the U.S.
township—square normally 6 miles on a side, divided into 36 sections
Section—square normally one mile on a side
Fig. 1-4: Principal meridians and east-west baselines of the township system. Townships in northwest Mississippi and topographic map of the area.

26. 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.

27. Remote Sensing: a method of collecting data by instruments that are physically distant from the area of study.

28. MATHEMATICAL LOCATION
MERIDIANS/PARALLELS
LONGITUDES/LATITUDES
0° LONGITUDE?
0° LATITUDE?
MORE PRECISE? DIVIDE EACH DEGREE INTO MINUTES AND EACH MINUTE INTO SECONDS

29. LONGITUDE—THE BRITISH CONSPIRACY
PRIME MERIDIAN/GREENWICH ENGLAND
LONGITUDE ACT OF 1714
JOHN HARRISON—CLOCK WITHOUT PENDULUM
EACH HOUR IS 15 DEGREES
TIME MEASURED FROM GREENWICH MEAN TIME OR UNIVERSAL TIME
INTERNATIONAL DATE LINE 180°

30. 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.

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

32. PLACE WHAT IS IT LIKE THERE?
A SPECIFIC POINT ON EARTH DISTINGUISHED BY A PARTICULAR CHARACTER.
PLACES HAVE PHYSICAL AND HUMAN FEATURES. HUMAN FEATURES INCLUDE CULTURE.

33. Geographers describe a feature’s place on earth by describing its location. Place=unique location of a feature
Geographer’s consider four ways to identify a location!! ???????
Place name…aka
TOPONYM
Site
Situation
Mathematical location

34. Place Sense of place: infusing a place with meaning and emotion.
Perception of place: belief or understanding of what a place is like, often based on books, movies, stories, or pictures.

35. Perception of Place Where Pennsylvanian students prefer to live
Where Californian students prefer to live

36. HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTION
CAN YOU GROW FOOD?
CAN YOU BUILD WATERWAYS?
CAN YOU CHANGE AND BE CHANGED BY THE PLACE YOU LIVE?
HOW DO PEOPLE AND PLACES EFFECT EACH OTHER?
We will discuss this further, later.

37. 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.

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

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

40. MOVEMENT HOW DO YOU GET YOUR INFORMATION? HOW DO YOU MOVE AROUND?
HOW DO PEOPLE, IDEAS, GOODS OR THINGS MOVE FROM PLACE TO PLACE?

41. Spatial interaction: the interconnectedness between places depends upon:
Distance
Accessibility
Connectivity

42. Why are Geographers Concerned with Scale and Connectedness?
Key Question:
Why are Geographers Concerned with Scale and Connectedness?

43. Scale Scale is the territorial extent of something.
The observations we make and the context
we see vary across scales, such as:
- local
- regional
- national
- global

44. Scale

45. Scale is a powerful concept because:
Processes operating at different scales influence one another.
What is occurring across scales provides context for us to understand a phenomenon.
People can use scale politically to change who is involved or how an issue is perceived.
EX laws jump scales, ignoring cultural differences

46. Map Scale
Fractional Scale
Word Statement
Graphic Scale

47. Space-Time Compression, 1492–1962 the reduction in the time it takes for something to reach another place
Fig. 1-20: The times required to cross the Atlantic, or orbit the Earth, illustrate how transport improvements have shrunk the world.

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

49. Connectedness
Diffusion: the process of dissemination, the spread of an idea or innovation from its hearth (origin) to other areas.
What slows/prevents diffusion?
- time-distance decay
- cultural barriers
-transportation/communication barriers

50. Types of Diffusion
Expansion Diffusion – idea or innovation spreads outward from the hearth
Contagious – widespread to most people
Hierarchical – spread of idea from nodes of authority or power to other people or places
Stimulus – spread of underlying principal but with some adaptations
Relocation Diffusion – movement of individuals who carry an idea with them

51. BARRIERS TO DIFFUSION
TIME and DISTANCE DECAY – farther from the source & the more time it takes, the less likely innovation adopted
CULTURAL BARRIERS – some practices, ideas, innovations are not acceptable/adoptable in a particular culture – e.g. pork, alcohol, contraceptives…
PHYSICAL BARRIERS – physical barriers on the surface may prohibit/inhibit adoption

52. Distance Decay Graph
Learn to think about distance decay in a “spatial” context
Think of distance decay in terms of an ‘x’ and ‘y’ axis

55. Examples of Hierarchical Diffusion
AIDS is typically viewed as hierarchical because if its historically distinctive URBAN to URBAN diffusion pattern
Political ideas
Fashion is also viewed as hierarchical. Why?

56. 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.

57. Expansion Diffusion
Stimulus Diffusion – the spread of an underlying principle even though the characteristic itself does not spread. OR
Stimulus Diffusion - involves the transfer of an underlying concept or idea, without the specific accompanying traits due to some cultural or other barrier to the movement of the idea

58. Stimulus Diffusion
Because Hindus believe cows are holy, cows often roam the streets in villages and towns. The McDonalds restaurants in India feature veggie burgers.

60. Other Types of Diffusion
Relocation diffusion – movement of individuals who carry an idea or innovation with them to a new, perhaps distant locale. Can include languages, religions, and ethnicities.
Paris, France
Kenya
Photo credit: H.J. de Blij
Photo credit: A.B. Murphy

61. Migrant Diffusion (a form of Relocation Diffusion)
Migrant Diffusion is when an innovation originates and enjoys strong, but brief, adoption there. The innovation may travel long distances (& be thriving), but could be faded out back at the point of origination – e.g. influenza in China will reach the U.S., but the epidemic could be over in China by the time it takes hold in the U.S.

62. Relocation and Expansion – In Review
A’ is relocation diffusion as the person goes.
‘B’ is expansion diffusion as the idea/trait moves or transports.

63. Acculturation
Acculturation – when smaller/weaker groups take on traits of the larger/dominant culture. Can be 2-way process – e.g. Aztecs acculturated into Spanish culture, but some Aztec traits remained and became Spanish culture.

64. Assimilation
Assimilation – the adoption of cultural elements can be so complete that two cultures become indistinguishable – e.g. – jeans being worn here in the Czech Republic

65. REGIONS
WHAT THINGS ARE ALIKE AND DIFFERENT IN THE PEOPLE AND PLACES AROUND YOU?

66. Regions
Formal region: defined by a commonality, typically a cultural linkage or a physical characteristic.
e.g. German speaking region of Europe
Functional region: defined by a set of social, political, or economic activities or the interactions that occur within it.
e.g. an urban area

67. Regions
Vernacular Region: ideas in our minds, based on accumulated knowledge of places and regions, that define an area of “sameness” or “connectedness.”
e.g. the South
the Mid-Atlantic
the Middle East

69. 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