Unit OneGeography: Its Nature

and Perspectives

What is Geography?Geography is a representation of the whole known world together with the phenomena which are contained therein.

Ptolemy, Geographia 2nd Century A.D.

Geography is the science of place. Its vision is grand, its view panoramic. It sweeps the surface of the Earth, charting the physical, organic and cultural terrain, their areal differentiation, and their ecological dynamics with humankind. Its foremost tool is the map.

Leonard Krishtalka, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, 20th Century A.D.

““Geography”Geography”• Concerned with place and location – two

inherently important parts of everyday life. – APHG – invites you to see your world through

the lens of the geographer (enlarge your vision to encompass other places and locations and consider them in new ways).

– Geographers – are not merely able to name all the rivers, lakes, cities, and countries of the world. - Geographers are much more interested in understanding how those places shape and are shaped by people, and what their location means in the past, present and future.

What is Geography?Geography is the study of what is where and why it’s there.

Mike Reed

Okay, but what exactly is it?Well, it’s a way of thinking about intellectual problems, both natural and societal, which emphasizes the importance of spatial relationships.. Take any social, environmental, or physical question or problem and ask yourself whether there is a spatial aspect to it. Chances are that space and place play a role in the explanation and distribution of that question.

Mike Reed, Making It Up As I Go

For example: Why are so many plant and animal species becoming extinct at the end of the twentieth century?

Why do there always seem to be been so many wars in Africa?

Why is corn such an important part of a traditional Mexican diet?

Why are some beers known as India Pale Ales?

Divisions of Geography

• Physical Geography Human Geography• Rocks and Minerals Population• Landforms Settlements• Soils Economic Activities• Animals Transportation• Plants Recreational Activities• Water Religion• Atmosphere Political Systems• Rivers and Other Water Bodies Social Traditions• Environment Human Migration• Climate and Weather Agricultural Systems

• Geography is a bridge between the natural and social sciences. Geography is a holistic or synthesizing science.

The Five Themes of GeographyHuman features

Physical featuresRegion united by similar physical conditions

United by common cultural traits

People adapt to the environment

People change the environment

Absolute location (latitude and longitude)

Relative location (in relation to another place)

Travel from place to place

Exchange of goods and ideas

Location

Movement

Place

Region

Interaction

Key Concepts Key Concepts • Geography as a field of study –

– Location – the position of something on earth’s surface.

– Space – the physical gap or distance between two objects.

– Scale – the relationship between the size of an object or distance between objects on a map and the size of the actual object of distance on earth’s surface.

– Place – a specific point on earth with human and physical characteristics that distinguish it from other points.

Key Concepts Con’tKey Concepts Con’t

• Pattern – the arrangement of objects on the earth’s surface in relationship to one another.

• Regionalization – the organization of earth’s surface into distinct areas that are viewed as different from other areas.

• Globalization – the expansion, political, and cultural activities to the point that they reach and have impact on many areas of the world.

• All of these concepts help you understand the importance of spatial organization – the location of places, people, and events, and the connections among places and landscapes (the overall appearance of an area that is shaped by both human and natural influences).

• “Why of Where” - Critical explanations for why spatial pattern occurs. Sometimes geographers ask questions about how particular human patterns came about, so that specific places become distinct from all others.

Human Geography vs. Physical

Geography • Human Geography – focuses on people – where are

they? How are they are alike and different? How do they interact? How do they change the natural landscapes, and how do they use them? Because other fields of study – such as history, sociology, economics, and political science – also deal with human behavior, human geography often overlaps and interacts with these disciplines.

• Physical Geography – focuses on the natural environment itself. Example: Physical Geographers might study mountains, glaciers, coastlines, climates, soils, plants, and animals.

• Of course, neither human nor physical geography could exist without the other because the two fields inevitably intersect and interact, making them inextricably bound to one another.

The Geography of Breakfasta geographic thinking demonstration•

Take a minute to write down everything ate for breakfast or lunch today.

Top Ten Coffee Growing Countries

COFFEE

Chocolate was “discovered” for Europe by Christopher Columbus, but it’s commercial possibilities were recognized by Hernan Cortez who was served a drink made from cocoa beans by Moctezuma, leader of the Aztecs (whom he later executed). The cacao tree, like coffee, grows only in the tropics. Today it is grown primarily for export to the U.S. and Europe.

CHOCOLATE

Breakfast FoodsFood Place of Origin Current Production

coffee Ethiopia Tropics

oranges South Asia, India US, Mediterranean

pork China, South Asia Worldwide

wheat Near East US, Russia, Argentina

tea China Asia

oats Near East Temperate Climates

pepper South America Americas, Asia

What is CULTURE?

What are its elements?

How is it transferred?

How has the meaning of the word changed over time?

What is CULTURE?• Culture is learned behavior that is passed on

by imitation, instruction, and example.– Culture is almost entirely relative. Proper behavior

shifts from culture to culture.– U.S. current problems:

1) little shared culture2) no one is teaching culture.

• For example: sex education - Home? School?

• Note: experiencing another culture is useful for gaining perspective on your own.

Geographic Importance of Culture

• Geographers study culture because it leaves dramatic imprints on the earth, both physical and cultural.– Language: a crystal ball into culture.– Religion: strongest determinant of ethics.– Nationalism and Borders– Material Culture: tools, clothes, toys, etc.– Architecture: Suburban garages vs. earlier

porches

Key ConceptsKey Concepts• REGIONS

–Culture Regions• Formal - all members share a

characteristic• Functional - defined by a node of

activity and distance decay from center• Vernacular - perception of cultural

identity

Vernacular Regions

• Where is AIDs?• Where do we find hunger?• Where are American blacks?

• Where are cows produced?

Diffusion

• Relocation

• Hierarchical

• Contagious

• Stimulus

Tobler’s 1st Law of Geography

• All things are related. However, all other things being equal, those things that are closest together are more related.

• Related Concepts:– Distance Decay

Space

• Latitude and Longitude - a reference system designed to provide “absolute” location (as opposed to relative locations).

• Parallels of Latitude

• Meridians of Longitude

Place and Sense of Place• Every place is unique. Imagine where you

lived as a child. What made that special?– Sensory– Architecture– Symbolic

• Humanistic Geography - values the individual perspective.

• Place and Placelessness (Relph, 1978)

What kinds of cultural values are reflected in each of these American houses?

Gated community?

The Cultural LandscapeThe Cultural Landscape

• The result of the natural environment and all of the changes to it as a result of a particular culture. (Carl Sauer)– Environmental Determinism: environment

is primary determinant of culture.– Possibilism: humans are primary

determinant of culture.

N.Y.C.

Environmentally Determined?

What about Bali,

Indonesia?

Where are we? What values are reflected in each? What relation to physical environment?

Geography and Politics

• Ties to Military • Role in Colonization• Role in Imperialism• Role in Cold War

• Ethnocentrism• Masculinism

Foreign - 4) Situated in an abnormal or improper place. 5) Not natural: alien.

The American Heritage Dictionary

Key

Con

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s:C

ore-

Per

iphe

ry

Key Concepts:Core-Periphery

• Core– U.S., Europe, Japan,

Australia– Wealthy– Powerful– Controls Media and

Finance– Technologically

advanced

• Periphery– Less Developed– Poor– Dependent upon Core

countries for:• Education• Technology• Media• Military Equipment

Globalization• The increasing

interconnectedness of different parts of the world through common processes of economic, political, and cultural change. The economic, cultural, and environmental effects of globalization are highly contested.

Panama, 1997

Maps and Spatial Data• All geographers are very interested in the way places

and things are arranged and organized on the surface of the earth. This common bond – the spatial perspective – means that they notice patterns of both natural and human environments, distributions of people, and locations of all kinds of objects. Words can describe space, and so some geographical data may be communicated through written and spoken language; however, the map is a powerful geographical tool that is almost as old as geography itself.

Absolute and Relative LocationAbsolute and Relative Location• Absolute Location – Maps provide the exact

location of a place on a mathematical grid of the earth divided by two sets of imaginary arcs: meridians and parallels. A meridian is an arc drawn between the North and South Poles that measures longitude, a numbering system that calculates distance east and west of the prime meridian.

• The prime meridian is located at the observatory in Greenwich, England at 0 degrees. The meridian at the opposite side of the globe is 180 degrees, and all meridians placed in between are designated as either “east” or “west” of the prime meridian. A parallel is a circle drawn around the globe parallel to the equator, an imaginary circle that lies exactly half way between the North and South poles. Parallels measure latitude, or distance north and south of the equator. The equator is 0 degrees latitude, the North Pole 90 degrees north latitude, and the South Pole is 90 degrees south latitude. So any absolute location of a place on the surface of Earth may be described in terms of longitude and latitude.

• Relative Location – All places on earth also have relative locations – spots relative to other human and physical features on the landscape. In other words, where does the country of Chile lie relative to Brazil? Or Argentina? Where does the Caspian Sea lie in relation to the Black Sea? Or the Mediterranean Sea? Relative location is important to think about because it defines a place in terms of how central or isolated it is in relation to other places.

Time ZonesTime Zones• The earth is divided into 360 Degrees of

longitude (180 d. west of the prime meridian and 180 d. east).– International agreement – lines of longitude

are spaced 15 d. apart in both directions from Greenwich, England. • Uniform time – 12 p.m. – noon is meant to be

where the sun is high in the sky everywhere in the world. 12 a.m. midnight – night everywhere.

• System was set up in the late 19th century to accommodate internal railroad travel.

International Date LineInternational Date Line• One consequence of the organization of the

world into time zones is that somewhere on the globe the date has to change. This occurs at 180 d. longitude, also called the International Date Line that divides the world from pole to pole through the Pacific Ocean. If a traveler crosses the line headed from Asia to America, he sets the clock back 24 hours; likewise, a traveler crossing the line headed from America to Asia will set the clock ahead 24 hours.

Uses of MapsUses of Maps• Geographers use maps in two basic ways-

– Reference materialReference material – Maps are efficient tools for storing information. Once a map is drawn it may be pulled out to help find relative locations of places. Maps show roads or waterways that connect places, and they have been used for centuries by travelers. For example 16th century European explorers use maps to help them cross the Atlantic Ocean, just as 21st century Americans use maps to visit vacation destinations.

–Communications / education – Communications / education – Maps may be used to explain spatial perspectives to others. These maps are often thematic because they are designed to explain a type of geographic information. Examples are maps that show soil types, relative elevations, economic prosperity levels, and spatial arrangements of racial and ethnic groups.

Map ProjectionsMap Projections• An important problem with communicating

information through maps is that the only accurate representation of earth is a globe. When spatial information is presented on a flat piece of paper, a cartographer immediately faces the issue of distortion caused by trying to represent a three-dimensional object (like the earth) on a two dimensional surface (a flat map). Different methods have been devised to increase accuracy, but it is impossible to avoid some type of distortion.

The Mercator Projection

The Robinson Projection

The Peters Projection

Scale

• Size of the unite studied