150 likes | 260 Views
THINKING GEOGRAPHICALLY: NATURE AND PERSPECTIVES. Human Geography. Physical Geography. Five themes of Geography 1. Location (absolute and relative). Movement (ideas, people, goods) Regions – what do areas have kin common. Place – what is unique about a location
E N D
THINKING GEOGRAPHICALLY: NATURE AND PERSPECTIVES Human Geography Physical Geography Five themes of Geography 1. Location (absolute and relative) • Movement (ideas, people, goods) • Regions – what do areas have kin common • Place – what is unique about a location • Human Environment Interaction • a. Modify b. adapt Famous Geographers: Erastosthones – Father of Geography – circumference of the Earth Ptolmey: Compiled first Atlas “ Guide to Geography”. It was Ptolmey’s incorrect map that Columbus used to determine he could sail around the world.
Location: Site: physical character of a place Situation: Relative location – location in relation to other places. Longitude, latitude ----meridians, parallels Prime Meridian, International Dateline Greenwich Mean Time Time Zones (degrees?) Country with no time zones?
MAPS AND MAP PROJECTIONS: All maps have distortion. The type of projection is determined by the projection. The Mercator projection distorts shapes around the poles. Perfect for ship navigation.
A Robinson projection distorts all features a little but is one with as little distortion as can be expected.
A Peter’s projection “spreads “ countries near the equator but squashes them near the poles. An azimuthal map shows the earth from a particular point. Doesn’t show all of the planet.
Map Scale Large scale map 1” = 5 miles. Would be used on a local map. Small scale map 1” = 500 miles. Would be used on a larger map.
Chloropleth Maps Cartogram
Dot Map Isoline map
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Satellite imaging takes photos of “layers” of the surface. These can be separated and studied for a particular purpose.
Scale can also be used to identify the importance of an occurance. If 25 people die in a flood in Burkina Faso, the scale of the tragedy is important there, but not on a world scale. If 250,000 people die in a Tsunami in the Indian Ocean, the scale is important on a worldwide scale. Think ZOOM
REGIONS Formal States, counties, countries Functional (nodal) The “range” of a central location (node.) The coverage of a radio station, newspaper Perceptual (Vernacular) A region that people know exists, although there are no formal boundaries. The South, East Texas, Cy-Fair
DIFFUSION RELOCATION DIFFUSION Spread of an idea from the physical movement of people. EXPANSION DIFFUSION Hierarchal Diffusion: spread of an idea from persons or nodes of authority to other persons or places. (top down diffusion) Contagious Diffusion: The rapid and widespread diffusion of a characteristic throughout a population. Stimulus diffusion: The spread of a principle even though the characteristic itself does not diffuse. Apple vs Microsoft
GENERAL INFORMATION Space-time compression The reduction in time it takes something to diffuse to a distant place. (technology) Toponyms: Place names San Antonio, Red Bluff Mountain, Houston Oaks Golf Club Sequent occupance The change over time as to what is “occupying” a particular space. Prairie to sod hut to house to apartments to vacant lot
Distance decay: the diminishing importance and eventual disappearance of a phenomena the further away it is from its origin. Environmental Determinism: the environment determines the relative success of failure of a group of people. The physical environment causes and restricts human development. Possiblism: the environment may set limits on development, but people have the ability to overcome their environments.
Density Pattern Arithmetic Concentration - regular Concentration-Irregular dispersed Linear or clustered? end