Introduction to Unit 1

1. Introduction to Unit 1 Geography…Its Nature & Perspectives

2. Where does Geography come from? • First named by Greek scholar Eratosthenes • Geo= “Earth” • Graphy= “to write”

3. Thinking Geographically • Geography is the study of the location of people and activities across Earth- and the reasons for their distribution • Geographers ask why & where

4. Early Geographers • Eratosthenes (100 BC) • Coined to term • First to measure the earth • Ptolemy (2nd century) • Created one of the first maps • Zheng He (mid 1400s) • Famous Chinese explorer • Gerardus Mercator (1512-1594) • First to produce world map, with relative accuracy and the general outline of the continents

6. Two Types of Geography • Human Geography • Where & why human activities are located where they are • Ex. Religions, cities, businesses • Focuses on the study of patterns and processes that shape human interaction • Populations • Economic activities • Migration • Political systems • Physical Geography • Where & why natural forces occur as they do • landforms • Plants • Animals • Climate • Weather • Bodies of Water • Atmosphere • Environment • Rocks & minerals

7. Where & Why • Space- patterns and regularities across Earth (depicted on maps) • Place- unique location of everything on Earth • Region- areas formed by distinctive combinations of features • Scale- the relationship between the size of an object or distance between objects on a map and the size of the actual object of distance on earth’s surface. • Connections- relationships of places and regions

8. 5 Themes of Geography

9. http://video.about.com/geography/Five-Themes-of-Geography.htmhttp://video.about.com/geography/Five-Themes-of-Geography.htm

10. Place • Site- the internal physical attributes of a place • Situation- the external attributes of a place

11. Spatial • Pertaining to the space on the earth’s surface • All geographers are interested in the spatial arrangement of places and phenomenon, how they are laid out, organized and arranged on the Earth and how they appear on the landscape • Mapping the spatial distribution is often the first step to understanding it

12. Pattern • By looking at a map of how something is distributed across space, a geographer can raise questions about, what processes create and sustain the particular pattern of distribution and what relationship exists between different things and places • Pattern- the design of spatial distribution • It will be scattered or concentrated

13. Cholera Pandemic • In 1854, Dr. John Snow mapped cases of cholera in London’s Soho district • Cholera was one of the world’s 1stpandemics (worldwide outbreak of disease) • No one knew what caused the disease or how to avoid it • When it reached London in the 1850’s Dr. Snow mapped the Soho district, marking all the areas water pumps and the residences where each person who died lived

15. 500 deaths occurred in Soho • As he created the map, Snow noticed especially large numbers of deaths clustered around the water pump on Broad street • At the Dr’s request, city authorities removed the handle from the pump making it impossible to get water from it • The results were drastic, almost immediately the number of reported cases fell to zero

16. Cultural Landscape • Landscape refers to the material character of a place, the complex of natural and human structures • Cultural landscape- visible imprint of human activity on the landscape • Term was coined by Carl Sauer, a professor at the University of California at Berkley • We can see the cultural landscape in the layers of buildings, roads, memorials, churches and homes that human activities overtime have imprinted on the landscape

17. Cultural landscapes have layers of imprints from years of human activity • Sequent occupance- the sequential imprints of occupants, whose impacts are layered one on top of the other