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The Geographer's Tools
Globes and Map Projections
• A globe is a scale model of Earth that accurately
depicts area, distance, and direction.
• Cartographers are mapmakers that convert 3-D
globe images onto flat maps to create a map
projection.
• There are three types of map projections:
planar, cylindrical, and conic.
The Geographer’s Tools
Determining Location
• Lines of latitude and longitude create a grid
system on Earth’s surface that is used to
determine location.
• The Equator divides Earth in half, creating the
Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
• The Prime Meridian splits the globe into the
Eastern and Western Hemispheres.
• The absolute location of a place is the point at
which its latitude and longitude lines intersect.
The Geographer’s Tools
Using Maps
•
There are many components to a map, including
a title, a legend, symbols, and color-coding.
•
Scale represents the consistent, proportional
relationship between the measurements shown
on a map and on Earth’s surface.
•
Physical, political, and thematic maps each serve
a unique purpose and show different types of
information.
•
A mental map describes an individual’s
perception of features of Earth’s surface.
The Geographer’s Tools
Geospatial Technologies
•
Geospatial technologies include global
positioning systems (GPS), geographic
information systems (GIS), and remote sensing
from satellites and aircraft.
•
GPS uses networks of satellites and receivers to
provide the absolute location of something on
Earth.
•
GIS are software programs used to process and
organize data that links a location to its
characteristics.
•
Remote sensing is any technique used to
measure, observe, or monitor something without
touching it.
The Geographer’s Craft
A Geographic Perspective
• Geographers study the locations and
relationships of Earth’s physical and living
features.
• Spatial perspective focuses on how individual
places, objects, and people are related to one
another across Earth’s surface.
• Thinking like a geographer involves asking and
answering geographic questions by acquiring,
organizing, and analyzing geographic
information.
The Geographer’s Craft
The Elements of Geography
• The six elements of geography include: the
world in spatial terms, places and regions,
physical systems, human systems, environment
and society, and the uses of geography.
• Geographers group places with similar
characteristics into three types of regions: a
formal region, a functional region, or a
perceptional region.
• A place has both physical and human
significance. Geographers divide their focus into
two branches: physical geography and human
geography.
The Geographer’s Craft
Research Methods
•
Geographers gather and analyze information
through direct observation and measurement, by
visiting a place, or through remote sensing. They
often convey their findings through mapping.
•
Interviewing involves a geographer asking direct
questions to gather information.
•
Technology is often used to help geographers
analyze statistics and data and compile findings
in an understandable manner.
The Geographer’s Craft
Geography and Other Subjects
•
Geography is used to understand historical
patterns, economies, politics, and the impact of
societies and cultures on the landscape.
•
Cultural geographers use sociology and
anthropology to study human tendencies and
past cultures and their influence on current
traditions and social norms.
•
Geographers study economies to understand
how locations of resources impacts the ways
people make, transport, and use goods and
services.