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Exploring the World
Around Us
I. What is GEOGRAPHY?
The study of how the natural environment
influences people, how people’s activities
affect Earth, and how the world is
changing, both physically and culturally.
 Two types of Geography?

A. The Five Themes of Geography
1. Location
--Every place on Earth has a location.
 --Location is defined in terms of
ABSOLUTE and RELATIVE location.

a. Absolute Location

--DEFINITION: the EXACT spot on Earth
where something is found. A precise
place.

Absolute location uses a grid system to
accurately locate places.
--Example: the latitude-longitude
system
Latitude/Longitude System
Lines of LATITUDE are drawn in an eastwest direction
 These lines measure distance north and
south of the EQUATOR

 The
EQUATOR is an imaginary line that
circles the globe half-way between the North
Pole and South Pole.
--Lines of LATITUDE are called PARALLELS.
--they are always parallel to the
EQUATOR.
PARALLELS north of the EQUATOR are
labeled with an N
 PARALLELS south of the EQUATOR are
labeled with an S

…Longitude
 Lines
of LONGITUDE are drawn in a northsouth direction
 Longitudinal
lines measure distance east and
west of the PRIME MERIDIAN
 The PRIME MERIDIAN is an imaginary line
that runs thru Greenwich, England from the
North Pole to the South Pole.
b. Relative Location
--DEFINITION: the position of a place in
relation to other places
 Example: St. Louis is in extreme eastern
Missouri on the west bank of the
Mississippi River.

Drawbacks of Relative Location
Relative location is very imprecise and
only gives a general idea about location.
 It relies on prior knowledge.

 The
relative location given for St. Louis is
ONLY useful if the person told knows the
location of Missouri and the Mississippi River.
2. Place

Every place on Earth has unique
characteristics that make it different from
every other place.
Types of places

1. Every place can be described in terms
of its PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS.
 These
include mountains, rivers, soil,
beaches, and wildlife.
Place described by Physical
Characteristics…

Example: the Sahel: a hot and dry place
along the southern edge of the Sahara
Desert in Africa.

2. Every place can be described in terms
of its HUMAN CHARACTERISTICS.
 These
are derived from the ideas and actions
of people that result in changes to the
environment, such as buildings, roads,
clothing, and food habits. Also, people’s way
of life, activities, religion, and language.
3. Human-Environment Interaction

How people relate to their environment &
how they are affected by it.
Types of Human-Environment
Interaction
1. People ADAPT to their environment.
 2. People DEPEND on their environment.
 3. People CHANGE their environment.

4. Movement



Transportation of people, goods, and ideas.
WHY & HOW? EXAMPLES?
Migration. What & Why?
Trade---Movement of goods betw. areas.



EXPORTS?
IMPORTS?
Interdependence: dependence of countries for
goods, resources, and knowledge from other
countries. (Trade partners? Examples?)
(Tariffs?)
Examples of Movement…

1.TRANSPORTATION of people, goods,
and ideas.

Information/ideas (music)
 Fashion
 Goods (food, material objects)
 People (travel, move to another location)
 Others?
5. Region

Geographic area displaying some type of
unity: landforms, govt., language, religion,
industry, vegetation, climate, etc.
(Physical or Cultural features)

Regions can be defined by more than one
characteristic…
 Physical
characteristics
 Language
 Religion
 Others?
NOTES ARE FINISHED FOR THE DAY…
 20 August 2010

MAP ELEMENTS

All maps should contain the four basic
elements.
1. Direction

Direction is indicated on a map in one of
three manners…
 Direction
Indicator
 Compass Rose
 Use of Latitude and Longitude Lines
A. Direction Indicator
A DIRECTION INDICATOR is simply an
arrow that describes location.
 Usually the DIRECTION INDICATOR will
point north.

B. Compass Rose
A COMPASS ROSE should display the
4 CARDINAL DIRECTIONS (North,
East, South, and West)
 “Never Eat Soggy Waffles”
 “Never Eat Shredded Wheat”

--A compass rose may have 4, 8, 16, 32, or
64 points.
--8 point compass rose has the four basic
intermediate directions.

Intermediate directions are located
halfway between the cardinal directions

Simply combine the 2 cardinal directions
starting with North or South first

Ex: halfway between North and East is
Northeast. Not Eastnorth!!!!

16-point compass rose shows directions
that are halfway between cardinal and
intermediate directions.

Halfway between North and Northeast is
determined by combining the cardinal
direction (North) and the intermediate
direction (Northeast).
-Stating the cardinal direction
first, we have North Northeast.
--this can be written Nne.

This direction is also considered an
intermediate direction…
 …some
call it an inter-intermediate direction.

32 and 64-point compass roses continue
combining directions, but are seldom used
in class.
23 August 2010
Notes are finished for today.
 Please work on homework assignment.

2. Scale

Scale helps the map-reader determine
distance. There are 3 types:
 Written
Scale
 Graphic Scale
 Fractional Scale
A. WRITTEN SCALE

Ex: 1 inch equals 5 miles
1
inch on the map represents 5 miles in the
REAL world.
B. GRAPHIC SCALE

The Graphic Scale is important when
enlarging or reducing maps by photocopy
techniques because it changes with the
map.
C. FRACTIONAL SCALE
This uses a Ratio in determining distance.
 Ex: 1:316,800 (This is the same as 1/316,800)

 316,800
is the number of inches in 5 miles.
 Note: 1 mile = 5280 feet
1 mile = 63,360 inches

Once the scale is expressed as a ratio,
any unit of distance can be used…
 OTHER




EXAMPLES:
1 INCH ON THE MAP = 316,800 INCHES IN THE REAL WORLD.
1 FOOT ON THE MAP = 316,800 FEET IN THE REAL WORLD.
1 METER ON THE MAP = 316,800 METERS IN REAL WORLD.
1 PENCIL LENGTH ON THE MAP = 316,800 PENCIL LENGTHS
IN THE REAL WORLD.
EXAMPLES OF FRACTIONAL
SCALE…

1. “One inch equals one mile”
 We
have inches on one side so we must have
inches on the other:
 One mile is 63,360 inches so the ratio is
1:63,360

2. “One foot equals one mile”
 We
have feet on one side so we must have feet on
the other:
 There are 5,280 feet in a mile so the ratio is
1:5,280
That’s all folks. 24 August 2010
 Homework.

3. Key/Legend

The key/legend helps the reader interpret
a map by using symbols/colors to
represent actual objects on the earth’s
surface.
Examples of Keys/Legends

These symbols may change from map to
map, so it is important for the reader to
acquaint himself/herself with the
legend/key.
4. Title

The title describes the PURPOSE of the
map.
Examples of Titles
Chicago Road Map
 Hiking Trails of Bermuda
 Natural Springs of Arkansas

THE END
25 August 2010
Homework