Download File

Chapter 1: Basic Concepts
The Cultural Landscape:
An Introduction to Human Geography
© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
What is Geography?
Geography is the study of what is
where and why it’s there.
© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
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 diets?
Why are French fries called chips in England?
© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Divisions of Geography
Physical Geography
Rocks and Minerals
Landforms
Soils
Animals
Plants
Water
Atmosphere
Rivers and Other Water Bodies
Environment
Climate and Weather
Human Geography
Population
Settlements
Economic Activities
Transportation
Recreational Activities
Religion
Political Systems
Social Traditions
Human Migration
Agricultural Systems
Geography is a bridge between the natural and social sciences.
Geography is a holistic or synthesizing science.
© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
The Five Themes of Geography
Place
Human features
Physical features
Region united by similar physical conditions
Region
United by common cultural traits
People adapt to the environment
Interaction
People change the environment
Absolute location (latitude and longitude)
Location
Relative location (in relation to another place)
Travel from place to place
Movement
Exchange of goods and ideas
© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Defining Geography
• Historians versus Geographers
• Word coined by Eratosthenes
– Geo = Earth
– Graphia = writing
• Geography thus means “earth writing”
© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Contemporary Geography
• Geographers ask where and why
– Location and distribution are important
terms
• Geographers are concerned with the
tension between globalization and local
diversity
• A division: physical geography and
human geography
© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Geography’s Vocabulary
• Place: unique location or position on
Earth
• Region: combination of cultural/
physical features
• Scale: portion of the Earth compare to
the whole
• Space: gap between two objects
• Connections: relationship btw
people/objects
© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
How Do Geographers Describe Where
Things Are?
Key Issue One
© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Maps
• Two purposes
– As reference tools
• To find locations, to find one’s way
– As communications tools
• To show the distribution of human and physical
features
© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Maps
• Maps are a geographers most important tool.
• Two purposes:
– As reference tools
• To find locations, to find one’s way
– As communications tools
• To show the distribution of human and physical features
• The science of mapmaking is called
cartography.
• Cartographers have to make two important
decisions when map-making—scale and
projection.
© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Maps
• Early map-making:
– Babylonians on clay tablets c.2300 BC
– Polynesians using 3-D stick charts made of palm trees and sea shells
– Mediterranean sailors used landforms and ocean currents c.800 BC to
make maps
– Aristotle 1st observed the Earth was spherical
– Eratosthenes calculated the Earth’s circumference within a 0.5%
accuracy!
– Ptolemy wrote an 8 volume guide to geography from info gathered by
merchants and soldiers in the Roman Empire
– Phei Hsiu “father of Chinese cartography” created a map of China c.267 AD
– Muslim cartographer al-Idrisi created a world map and geography text
c.1154
– Ibn-Battuta wrote a book called Travels after 3 decades of journeys through
N. Africa, S. Europe, and much of Asia
– Age of Exploration led to Columbus, Magellan, etc. travelling and mapping
© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Early Map Making
Figure 1-2
© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Maps: Scale
• Types of map scale
– Ratio or fraction: numerical ration btw
distances on Earth’s surface 1:100
– Written: written word form of ratio
– Graphic: bar line to show distance
• Projection
– Distortion: 4 types
•
•
•
•
Shape: appears more elongated
Distance: distance, more or less
Relative size: altered size
Direction: distorted
© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
• Map Scale Example
• 1) Washington State
1:10,000,000 (1 in = 10,000,000
inches or 158 miles)
• 2) Western Washington
1:1,000,000
• 3) Seattle 1:100,000
• 4) Downtown Seattle 1:10,000
Explained: As the area covered
gets smaller, the maps get more
detailed. 1 inch represents smaller
distances
Figure 1-4
© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Projection
Robinson Map: shape distortion/
more ocean
Mercator Map: accurate shape/
distorted poles
© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Peters Map
one specialization of a configurable equal-area map
projection known as the equal-area cylindric or cylindrical
equal-area projection.
© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
U.S. Land Ordinance of 1785
• Township and range system to help
facilitate the selling of land westward
– Township = 6 sq. miles on each side
• North–south lines = principal meridians
• East–west lines = base lines
– Township: T1 (distance north or south on a
particular baseline
– Range: R1 (distance east or west on a
particular meridian line
– Sections: each township is divided into 36
sections, each of which is 1 mile by 1 mile.
© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Contemporary Tools
• Geographic
Information Science
(GIScience)
– Global Positioning
Systems (GPS)
– Remote sensing
– Geographic
information systems
(GIS)
© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Figure 1-7
Contemporary Tools
• GIS-computer program that can capture,
store, query, analyze, and display
geographic data.
– GIS uses geocoding to create maps from info
that has been recorded and stored online about
Earth.
– Each type of info is stored in layers that can be
added or taken away. Layers can be compared
with each other to show their relationships.
– It allows for very complex maps to be created
and for geographers to see if items on maps are
significant or coincidental.
© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Contemporary Tools
• Remote sensing-the acquisition of data
about Earth’s surface from a satellite orbiting
Earth.
– Geographic uses are primarily environmental.
© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Contemporary Tools
• GPS-system that accurately determines
the precise position of something on
Earth.
– Most commonly used in navigation of aircraft
and ships.
© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
How is GIS used?
• Spatial patterns
• data
• Point patterns
• Line patterns
• Area patterns
© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
A Mash-up
Figure 1-8
https://developers.google.com/maps/
© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Key Issue 2
Why is Each Point on Earth Unique?
pg13 - 28
© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Regions: Areas of Unique Characteristics
• A region derives its unified character through
the cultural landscape-a combination of cultural
features such as language and religion,
economic features such as agriculture and
industry, and physical features such as climate
and vegetation.
• Since the mid-1800s, geographers have used
the term regional studies to argue that each
region has its own distinctive landscape that
results from a unique combination of social
relationships and physical processes.
© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Place: Unique Location of a Feature – 23,
24,
• Location: 4 ways to
identify
– Place names
• Toponym:
– Site: the physical
characteristics of a place
– Situation: location of a
place relative to other
places (helps locate a
location)
– Mathematical location:
© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Toponyms
• 1896 Mt. McKinley, Alaska
• 2015 Denali (The Tall One)
© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
SITE - 25
• physical characteristics of a
place: climate, water sources,
topography, soil, vegetation,
latitude, and elevation.
• Humans have the ability to
modify the characteristics of a
site.
© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Palm Island Dubai
© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Situation:
• Location of a place relative to
other places (helps locate a
location)
© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Place: Mathematical Location – 11, 12, 13,
14, 15
• Location of any place
can be described
precisely by a numbering
system
– Meridians (lines of
longitude) 74W
• Prime meridian (Greenwich,
England)
– Parallels (lines of latitude)
41N
• The equator
© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Find the Latitude/Longitude
© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
World’s Time Zones - 16
© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
What is Remote Sensing/ Ground
Truth? 18, 19
• The scanning of the
earth by satellite or
high-flying aircraft in
order to obtain
information about it.
• Ground truth is a
term used in various
fields to refer to the
absolute truth of
something.
© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
The Cultural Landscape
• A unique combination of
social relationships and
physical processes
• Each region = a
distinctive landscape
• People/Culture = the
most important agents of
change to Earth’s
surface
© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.