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Physical Geography
Looking at the Earth
Geography involves the study of places: their
locations, their characteristics, and how humans
use and move around them.
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Physical Geography
Looking at the Earth
SECTION 1
The Five Themes of Geography
SECTION 2
The Geographer’s Tools
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Section 1
The Five Themes of
Geography
• Geographers view the world in terms of the
use of space.
• Geographers study the world by looking at
location, place, region, movement, and
human-environment interaction.
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The Five Themes of
Geography
The Geographer’s Perspective
Geographers and Historians
• Historians look at events over time
• Geographers look at:
- use of space on Earth
- interactions that take place there
- patterns and connections between people and
land
• Geography is the study of the distribution and
interaction of:
- physical features on Earth
- human features on Earth
Continued . . .
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continued The
Geographer’s Perspective
Methods of Geography
• Geographers use a variety of tools:
- maps- visual representations of a portion of the
earth.
- photographs- gain visual evidence of a place
- charts, graphs, tables- organize information in to
learn about geographic patterns and understand
change over time
- scale models
- five themes of geography
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Theme: Location
Where is it?
• Absolute location—exact place where a
geographic feature is found
• Relative location—location of a place compared to
places around it
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continued Theme:
Location
Absolute Location
• Earth is divided into two equal halves, vertically and
horizontally
• Each vertical and horizontal half is called a
hemisphere
• An imaginary line, the Equator, divides north and
south halves
• Another imaginary line, the Prime Meridian,
divides east and west
Continued . . .
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continued Theme:
Location
Latitude Lines
• Geographers use latitude lines to locate places
north and south
• Latitude—imaginary lines that run parallel to the
equator
Longitude Lines
• Geographers use longitude lines to mark positions
east and west
• Longitude—imaginary lines that go over the poles
• Where latitude and longitude lines cross is the
absolute location
Continued . . .
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continued Theme:
Location
Relative Location
• How a place is related to its surrounding
environment
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Theme: Place
What is it Like?
• Place includes physical features and cultural
characteristics:
- physical features include climate, landforms,
vegetation
- cultural characteristics include dams, highways,
houses
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Theme: Region
How are Places Similar or Different?
• A region is an area united by similar characteristics
• Unifying characteristics—physical, political,
economic, cultural
• Three types of regions:
- formal
- functional
- perceptual
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continued Theme:
Region
Formal Regions
• Defined by a limited number of related
characteristics
• Formal regions of the world:
- The United States and Canada
- Latin America
- Europe
- Russia and the Republics
- Africa
- Southwest Asia
- South Asia
- East Asia
- Southeast Asia, Oceania, and Antarctica
Continued . . .
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continued Theme:
Region
Functional Regions
• Organized around interactions and connections
between places
• Example: a city and its suburbs are connected
through human movement
Perceptual Regions
• Region with characteristics people perceive in
much the same way
• Example: the American Midwest
• Sometimes perceptions differ: Does Midwest begin
in Ohio or Illinois?
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Theme: Human-Environment Interaction
How Do People Relate to the Physical World?
• A relationship exists between people and their
environment
• People use and change the environment to meet
their needs
• People adapt to environmental conditions they
cannot change
• Often, people in similar environments adapt in
different ways
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Theme: Movement
How Do People, Goods, and Ideas Get from
One Place to Another?
Places do not exist in isolation
Interconnectedness of the world changes the way
places “look”.
People, Goods and Ideas move from place to place.
Examples:
Immigration from Latin America to United States
War in Iraq (troops, supplies, ideas, people)
Myspace, Facebook (ideas)
Continued . . .
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Section 2
The Geographer’s Tools
• Geographers use two- and three-dimensional
tools to learn about the earth.
• Geographers use computer-assisted
technology to study the use of the earth’s
surface.
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The Geographer’s Tools
Maps and Globes
Visualizing Earth
• Oldest known map: Babylonian clay tablet, circa
500 B.C.
• Maps show locations of places, landforms, bodies
of water
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continued Maps
and Globes
Two or Three Dimensions
• Globe—a three-dimensional representation (a
sphere) of Earth
• Map—a two-dimensional graphic representation of
Earth’s surface
• Cartographer (mapmaker) tries to accurately
reflect earth’s surface
• Map projection—way of showing Earth’s curved
surface on a flat map
Continued . . .
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continued Maps
and Globes
Types of Maps
• Three types of maps: general reference,
thematic, navigational
• A topographic map is one kind of general
reference map
• Topographic map—shows natural and man-made
features of earth
• Thematic map—shows specific data such as
climate, population density
• A navigation map is used by sailors, pilots
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The Geographer’s Tool
The Science of Mapmaking
Surveying
• Surveyors observe, measure, record what they see
in a specific area
• Remote sensing, gathering geographic data from a
distance, includes:
- aerial photography
- satellite imaging
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continued The
Science of Mapmaking
Satellites
• Best known satellites are Landsat and GOES
• Landsat is a series of satellites; can scan entire
planet in 16 days
• Geostationary Operational Environment Satellite
(GOES):
- orbits in sync with Earth’s rotation
- gathers images of atmospheric conditions
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continued The
Science of Mapmaking
Geographic Information Systems
• Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a
digital geographic database
• Combines and displays information from many
sources
Global Positioning System (GPS)
• Uses series of 24 Navstar satellites to beam
information to Earth
• Hand-held GPS receivers on Earth display exact
position
• GPS used by explorers, sailors, drivers; also used
to track animals
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