Important Concepts Unit I

Important Concepts Unit I

Distribution Density Concentration Pattern

Total population Density= Area

Density Case Study: Belgium Case study: Belgium Density= total population/ area 10.5 mil people /30,278 sq kilometers 345 Persons per square kilometer

A higher population doesn’t necessarily lead to a higher density. Let’s examine China as compared to Belgium China Population: Approx 1.3 billion Belgium Population: Approx 10.5 million This is NOT to scale!

Although China has 123 times more inhabitants than Belgium, it has more than 300 times the land. This affects the density calculation. Belgium Area: Approx 30,278 sq k China Area: Approx 9,352,517 sq k This is NOT to scale!

Concentration If objects in an area are close together they are clustered. If objects in an area are far apart they are dispersed. The extent of a feature’s spread over space is its concentration.

Examine the map of the United States below. Geographers use concentration to describe changes in distribution. Dispersed Clustered The distribution across the United States is increasingly dispersed

The land area of the United States has remained virtually unchanged. But the population distribution is changing from relatively dispersed in the Northeast to more evenly dispersed across the country.

Examine the map of US Baseball Teams in the 1950s versus the late 1990s. It illustrates the difference between density and concentration. Dispersed Distribution Major league teams expanded from 16-30 between 1960s and 1990s. So the density increases.

Alternate example to illustrate the difference between density and concentration. Elite housing development by the Potomac Baltimore City Clustered Dispersed.

Pattern

Regions Regions divide the world into manageable units for geographic study. Regions have some sort of characteristic that unifies the area. Formal Functional Vernacular

Overlapping: a single place can exist in several regions simultaneously. . The Everglades are part of the Southern U.S. Region, but are also considered a Wetland Region

Linguistic Regions: The U.S. and Australia are in the same linguistic region, but the two countries share little elsewhere in culture, economy, or landscape.

Formal regions are those that are designated by official boundaries, such as cities, states, counties, and countries. For the most part, they are clearly indicated and publicly known.

Formal Regions: area within which everyone shares in common one or more distinctive characteristics. When designating a formal unit, be aware of diversity.

Let’s begin with a political map of the Middle East. When the government draws imaginary lines around an area calling it a state or province, one state or province becomes distinct from another. On a smaller scale the formal region could be religious, focusing on the division of the area between inhabitants who are “Sunni” or “Shi’ite” Muslims

Functional Regions: area organized around a focal point. Functional regions are defined by their connections Functional Region based on television markets in the U.S.

Vernacular Regions: a place that people believe exists as part of their cultural identity. They are perceived and while they have no formal boundaries, are understood in our “mental maps” of the world. Cady’s Map from “Mean Girls.” There are no official boundaries, yet the mental map communicates a pretty segregated area.

Vernacular Regions: Dixieland

Class work: Write down Name three formal regions that this school is located within and give a reason for each. Do the same for functional and vernacular regions.

Culture: from Latin cultus, meaning to care for • What people care about • Their ideas, beliefs, values and customs • What people take care of • Their ways of earning a living and obtaining food, clothing and shelter

Speak with Conviction- Taylor Mali http://www.wimp.com/speakconviction/

Important Concepts Unit I