Download Ch_ 1

Introduction to Human
Geography
Chapter 1
Key Question:
Why do Geographers use Maps,
and What do Maps Tell Us?
Map Appendix A Notes
• Maps and their functions
• Map Scale
• Map Projections
• The Grid system
• Symbols on Maps
What are Maps and what are
their functions
• What can maps be used for?
• In what ways do maps distort?...Why?
• How do maps show bias?
Two Types of Maps:
Reference Maps
- Show locations of
places and geographic
features
- Absolute locations
Reference maps work well
for locating and navigating
between places, while
thematic maps display
one or more variables
across a specific place.
Thematic Maps
- Tell a story about the
degree of an attribute,
the pattern of its
distribution, or its
movement; display
one or more variables
across a specific place.
- Relative locations
Reference
Map
Thematic
Map
What story
about median
income in the
Washington, DC
area is this map
telling?
Maps and their functions
• Cartography = The art of map making
• Reference Map = that used for navigating…
ie. Road Map
• Thematic Map: One used to illustrate a
particular them
• Mental Maps: Those that exist in one’s mind
(Cognitive maps)
• Topographic Maps… use lines to show
contour.
Cartographic Scale vs. Attribute Scale
The cartographic scale (aka map scale) is the ratio
between the size of objects in the real world and their
representation on a map, making it a measure of
proportionality in the most central idea of space,
geographic space. The attribute scale (aka thematic
scale) is equally important to cartographers because it
is how the feature space is divided/measured for
representation in the map legend.
Map Scale
• Is the ratio between actual distance on the
ground and the length given on the map
– Which scale would show a smaller portion of
the earth, 1/1… or 1/1,000,000?
• Larger scale = more zoomed in
• Why are different scales needed in mapping
the world?
The Grid System
• What function does the Grid System Serve?
• What are the key aspects of the Grid
system?
Grid stuff to know…
• Parallel
• Latitude
• Equator (0º N. or S.)
• Tropic of Cancer (N)
• Tropic of Capricorn
(S)… 23.5º
• Arctic Circle
• 0º - 90º N or S
• Meridian
• Longitude
• Prime Meridian 0º E
or W
• International date
line 180º E or W
Map Projections
• Why are there different map projections?
• Which ones do I need to know?
– Azimuthal
– Peters
– Fuller / Dymaxion
– Robinson
– Mercator
• What are the strengths and weaknesses?
• For what are they most commonly used?
• Geographers use different projections because no
projection is ideal for the purpose of every map.
AZIMUTHAL
Azimuthal Projection
Useful map properties that all points on the map
are at proportionately correct distances from the
center point, and that all points on the map are at
the correct azimuth (direction) from the center
point. A useful application for this type of projection
is a polar projection which shows all meridians
(lines of longitude) as straight, with distances from
the pole represented correctly.
Peters
Peters Projection (aka Gall-Peters)
A configurable equal-area map projection
known as the equal-area cylindric or
cylindrical equal-area projection.
FULLER
Fuller Projection
A projection of a world map onto the surface of
an icosahedron, which can be unfolded and
flattened to two dimensions. The flat map is
heavily interrupted in order to preserve shapes
and sizes. Intended only for representations of
the entire globe. Less distortion of relative size of
areas, most notably when compared to the
Mercator projection; and less distortion of shapes
of areas, notably when compared to the Gall–
Peters projection.
ROBINSON
ROBINSON Projection
Map projection of a world map which shows the
entire world at once. It was specifically created in
an attempt to find a good compromise to the
problem of readily showing the whole globe as a
flat image. The meridians curve gently, avoiding
extremes, but thereby stretch the poles into long
lines instead of leaving them as points. Hence,
distortion close to the poles is severe, but quickly
declines to moderate levels moving away from
them. It is most commonly used by publishers
because it is versatile and aesthetically pleasing.
MERCATOR
MERCATOR Projection
Cylindrical map projection; although the linear
scale is equal in all directions around any point,
thus preserving the angles and the shapes of
small objects (which makes the projection
conformal), the Mercator projection distorts the
size of objects as the latitude increases from
the Equator to the poles, where the scale
becomes infinite.
Choropleth Maps
Highly valuable type of thematic map that
visually show the variation of a particular
quantity by shading or coloring different
regions.
Map Symbols
• Dots
• Tones/shades/colors
• Isolines (common to topographical maps to
portray elevation)
• Symbols
Mental Maps:
maps we carry in our minds of places we
have been and places we have heard of.
can see:
terra incognita, landmarks, paths,
and accessibility
Activity Spaces:
the places we travel to routinely in our
rounds of daily activity.
How are activity spaces and mental maps related?
Aspects of a Mental Map
• Nodes
• Edges
• Paths
• Districts
• Landmarks
Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
A collection of computer hardware and
software that permits spatial data to be
collected, recorded, stored, retrieved,
manipulated, analyzed, and displayed to the
user. Uses thematic layers to display multiple
spatial data sets.
Discussion Questions
• List as many type of maps and purposes for
maps as you can.
What is Human Geography?
The study of how people make places, how
we organize space and society, how we
interact with each other in places and
across space, and how we make sense of
others and ourselves in our locality, region,
and world.
Nomothetic v. Ideographic
Geography
The methods of investigation used by the nomothetic approach collects
scientific and quantitative data. To do this, experiments and observations
are used, and group averages are statistically analyzed to create predictions
about people in general. Geographical research that applies to many places
or regions; similarities between places can be explained using universal
laws.
The idiographic approach, unlike the nomothetic approach, focuses on the
individual. It suggests that everyone is unique and therefore everyone
should be studied in an individual way. Due to this, no general laws are
possible. Geographical research that applies only to one place or region.
Kenya’s Coffee and Tea
Production
• Kenya…a nation where food production is
low and starvation rates are high… produces
and exports coffee on some of its best farm
land.
• Neocolonialism=a relationship of economic
dependence where a former colony relies
on its former colonizer for economic
success through the continual trade of
colonial products
Globalization
A set of processes that are:
- increasing interactions
- deepening relationships
- heightening
interdependence
without regard to
country borders.
A set of outcomes that are:
- unevenly distributed
- varying across scales
- differently manifested
throughout the world.
It is estimated that 1/6 of
the world's population is
seriously malnourished
Time Space Compression
• What is it?
• How Does it impact us?
How are Globalization, neo-colonialism
and time-space compression
interrelated?
Discussion Questions
• Why does Kenya export coffee when its
people are starving?
• How does neocolonialism impact the
world… what are consequences?
Geographers use fieldwork to
understand linkages among places
and to see the complexities of issues
Why do
Kenyans
grow tea
and coffee
instead of
cash crops?
Modeling
Geographers use modeling to provide a
comprehensive and limited view of a
phenomenon while identifying the essential
components necessary to describe a
particular phenomenon.
Discussion Question
• Make a list of the way the world is more
globalized than when your parents were in
school?
• How does globalization impact your life?
Imagine and describe the most remote place on
Earth you can think of 100 years ago. Now,
describe how globalization has changed this
place and how the people there continue to
shape the place – to make it the place it is
today.
Key Question:
What are Geographic
Questions?
Geographic inquiry
focuses on the spatial:
- the spatial arrangement of places and phenomena (human and
physical)
- how are things organized on Earth?
- how do they appear on the landscape?
- why? where? so what?
Discussion Question
• What can be learned by using Spatial
Perspective?
• List examples of geographic questions
about spatial alaysis?
Spatial distribution--the arrangement and
organization of things on the surface to the
Earth
What processes create and sustain the pattern of a distribution?
Map of Cholera Victims
in London’s Soho District
in 1854.
The patterns of victim’s
homes and water pump
locations helped uncover
the source of the disease.
Five Themes of Geography
• Location
• Human-Environment
• Region
• Place
• Movement
Place
Sense of place: infusing a place with meaning
and emotion.
Perception of place: belief or understanding
of what a place is like, often based on
books, movies, stories, or pictures.
Perception
of Place
Where Pennsylvanian
students prefer to live
Where Californian
students prefer to live
Movement
Spatial interaction: the interconnectedness between places
depends upon:
Distance
Accessibility
Connectivity--degree of direct linkage between one particular
location and other locations in a transport network;
topological space--degree of connectedness between places
Barriers to spatial interaction: neighborhood where people
speak a different language than the surrounding
neighborhoods, a highway, an ocean, a different ethnicity,
etc.
Discussion Questions
• How do the five themes of geography
influence the way we study the world?
• What are some things that might influence
the spatial interaction between places?
Cultural Landscape (Carl Sauer)
The visible human imprint on the landscape.
Religion and
cremation
practices
diffuse with
Hindu migrants
from India to
Kenya.
Sequent Occupance
Layers of imprints in a cultural landscape that
reflect years of differing human activity.
Athens, Greece
ancient Agora
surrounded by
modern buildings
Sequent Occupance
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
African, Arab, German, British, and Indian layers to the city.
Apartment in Mumbai, India
Apartment in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Discussion questions
• How do humans impact landscape?
• What are some benefits and consequences
of the interaction of humans with the
natural world?
Geographers who practice fieldwork keep their
eyes open to the world around them and through
practice become adept at reading cultural
landscapes. Take a walk around your campus or
town and try reading the cultural landscape.
Choose one thing in the landscape and ask
yourself, “what is that and why is it there?” Take
the time to find out the answers!
Geographic
Information
System:
a collection of
computer hardware
and software that
permits storage and
analysis of layers of
spatial data.
Remote
Sensing:
a method of
collecting data by
instruments that
are physically
distant from the
area of study.
Give a friend or family member a blank piece of
paper. Ask the person to draw a detailed map of
how he or she gets from home to the place
where most of his or her weekdays are spent
(work, school). Note the age of the person and
the length of time he or she has lived in the
place and traveled the route. Analyze the map
for terra incognita, landmarks, paths, and
accessibility. What does the map reveal about
the person’s lifestyle and activity space?
Key Question:
Why are Geographers Concerned
with Scale and Connectedness?
Scale
Scale is the territorial extent of something.
The observations we make and the context
we see vary across scales, such as:
- local
- regional
- national
- global
Scale
Scale is a powerful concept because:
- Processes operating at different scales
influence one another.
- What is occurring across scales provides
context for us to understand a
phenomenon.
- People can use scale politically to change
who is involved or how an issue is
perceived.
- e.g. Zapatistas rescale their movement
- e.g. laws jump scales, ignoring cultural differences
Regions
Formal region: defined by a commonality,
typically a cultural linkage or a physical
characteristic.
e.g. German speaking region of Europe
Functional region: defined by a set of social,
political, or economic activities or the
interactions that occur within it.
e.g. an urban area
Regions
Perceptual Region: ideas in our minds, based
on accumulated knowledge of places and
regions, that define an area of “sameness”
or “connectedness.”
e.g. the South
the Mid-Atlantic
the Middle East
Discussion Questions
• How does the use of scale assist in learning
the world?
• How does the use of regions assist in the
study of the world?
The meanings of regions are often contested. In Montgomery,
Alabama, streets named after Confederate President Jefferson Davis
and Civil Rights leader Rosa Parks intersect.
Photo credit: Jonathan Leib
Culture
Culture is an all-encompassing term that
identifies not only the whole tangible
lifestyle of peoples, but also their prevailing
values and beliefs.
- cultural trait
- cultural complex
- cultural hearth
Connectedness
Diffusion: the process of dissemination, the
spread of an idea or innovation from its
hearth to other areas.
What slows/prevents diffusion?
- time-distance decay
- cultural barriers
Distance Decay
describes the effect of distance on cultural or
spatial interactions; the distance decay effect
states that the interaction between two locales
declines as the distance between them
increases. Distance imposes a significant
barrier to spatial interactions.
Types of Diffusion
• Expansion Diffusion – idea or innovation
spreads outward from the hearth
• Contagious – spreads adjacently
• Hierarchical – spreads to most linked people or
places first.
• Stimulus – idea promotes a local experiment or
change in the way people do things.
Stimulus
Diffusion
Because Hindus believe cows are
holy, cows often roam the streets in
villages and towns. The McDonalds
restaurants in India feature veggie
burgers.
Types of Diffusion
• Relocation diffusion –
Paris, France
movement of individuals who carry
an idea or innovation with them to
a new, perhaps distant locale.
Kenya
Photo credit: H.J. de Blij
Photo credit: A.B. Murphy
Discussion Question
• Why do geographers study diffusion?
Once you think about different types of diffusion,
you will be tempted to figure out what kind of
diffusion is taking place for all sorts of goods,
ideas, or diseases. Please remember any good,
idea or disease can diffuse in more than one
way. Choose a good, idea, or disease as an
example and describe how it diffused from its
hearth across the globe, referring to at least
three different types of diffusion.
Key Question:
What are Geographic Concepts,
and How are they used in
Answering Geographic Questions?
Geographic Concepts
Ways of seeing the world spatially that are
used by geographers in answering research
questions.
Old Approaches to
Human-Environment Questions:
• Environmental Determinism (cultural changes were
strongly influenced by climatic change; has been rejected
by almost all geographers)
• Possibilism (less accepted today)
New Approaches to
Human-Environment Questions:
• Cultural ecology
• Political ecology
Create a strong (false) statement about a people
and their environment using either
environmental determinism or possibilism.
Determine how the statement you wrote is false,
taking into consideration the roles of culture,
politics, and economy in human-environment
relations.