Download Unit 1 (Part 1)

Unit 1, Part 1
I.
What is geography?
a. Differences between geography and geology.
i. Dirt up – geography
ii. Dirt down – geology
b. Definition
i. The study of the Earth’s surface and the processes
that shape it, the connections between places, and
the relationship between people and their
environment.
II.
Five Themes of Geography
a. Location – Where you at?
i. Absolute Location
1. Uses latitude and longitude
a. Global Positioning System (GPS)
2. Street address is most common use of
location.
ii. Relative Location
1. Tells about where someone is.
2. Can be as exact as needed.
b. Place – What’s there?
i. These are things that help describe a location.
ii. Can be natural or man-made.
c. Human-Environment Interaction – What’s going on?
i. This is the study of how people effect their
environment and how the environment effects
people.
d. Movement – Where you going?
i. Helps to understand the relationship among places.
ii. Helps to understand how and why people move.
iii. What people bring with them and how that effects
those already there.
Unit 1, Part 1
e. Region
i. The grouping of locations by some unifying
characteristic.
ii. Could be physical or man-made.
iii. Three Types
1. -Formal Regions
a. Regions defined by governmental or
administrative boundaries (States,
Countries, Cities)
b. Regions defined by similar
characteristics (Corn Belt, Rocky
Mountain region, Chinatown).
2. -Functional Regions
a. Regions defined by a function
(newspaper service area, cell phone
coverage area).
3. -Vernacular Regions
a. Regions defined by peoples perception
(middle east, the south, etc.)