BASIC GEOGRAPHY

1. BASIC GEOGRAPHY • Geography is the study of the relationship between people and their physical environment • The name geography comes from GEO meaning earth and GRAPHICA meaning description.

2. Physical Geography Study of earth’s physical processes Geology – rocks and earth formations Environmental science – human interaction with the environment Topography – earth’s features Cartography – map making. Human (Cultural) Geography Characteristics of human activities Politics – governments History – significant events Economics – how use resources Sociology – human societies Urban – cities Demographics – human population statistics 2 Branches of Geography

3. 7 continents – Africa, Asia, Antarctica, South America, North America, Europe & Australia • 5 Oceans – Southern, Arctic, Pacific, Indian, Atlantic

4. Globe - Scale model of the earth. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL OF THE VOCABULARY ON PAGES 14 – 15!

5. Latitude AKA: Parallels Numbers get higher the further North or South you move away from the Equator Latitude lines measure North or South of the Equator Zero Degrees Latitude is the Equator 90 Degree North (North Pole) 90 Degrees South (South Pole)

6. MEMORIZE THESE LINES!! KNOW: Equator, 2 Tropics, 2 Circles, 2 Poles and their latitudes!!!!

7. Zero Degrees longitude is the Prime Meridian. 180 degrees East or West is the International Date Line By international agreement - 0 degrees longitude runs through the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England Numbers get higher the farther you move either East of West Longitude lines measure East or West of the Prime Meridian Longitude AKA- Meridians

8. Hemisheres If you cut the Earth through the Equator you would get two halves, the Northern and Southern Hemisphere If you cut the Earth through the Prime Meridian you would get two halves, the Western and Eastern Hemisphere The US is in the Western Hemisphere and the Northern Hemisphere Each degree of the earth is equal to 1/360 of the earth. Each degree is divided into 60 minutes (‘). Each minute = 60 seconds (“)

9. All maps have distortion because you are trying to take a 3-D sphere and make it into a flat map. Distance, direction, shape, and size of land masses can be distorted. Globes to Maps Cartographer- Mapmakers How do you make a sphere flat? (Go-cartographer) Three basic categories are; Planar, Cylindrical, Conic Goode’s Interrupted Equal-Area Projection Map

10. Pro’s- 1) Accurate at center 2) Every line is a line of true direction and represent the shortest distance Con’s- 1) Distorts shape Planar Projection (Azimuthal)

11. Pro’s- 1) Accurate near the equator 2) Shows direction and true shape Con’s- 1) Distorted near poles Cylindrical

12. Pro’s- 1) Limited east-west areas not too far from the Equator 2) Indicates distances and directions fairly accurately Con’s- 1) Distorts toward poles 2) Only shows one hemisphere at a time Conic

13. Common Map Projections • Winkle-Tripel Projection- good balance of size and shape of land areas. The poles have little distortion. National Geographic Society adopted this map type as the standard in 1998. Computer generated • Robinson Projection- Little distortion, most distortion appear at poles. More oval than Winkle-Tripel. Computer generated.

14. Goode’s Interrupted Equal-Area Projection- True size and shape of land, but distances are distorted Mercator Projection- Accurate at equator, but distorts size and distance as you move away from equator. Accurately shows true direction, good for sea travel and navigation.

15. Map Scale Small Scale Maps-Show large area with little detail Large Scale Maps-Show small area with a lot of detail

16. Large Scale Map

17. Small Scale Map

18. Types of Maps Reading a Map see Pg 8-9 General Purpose Maps Show a wide variety of information Physical Maps- Show topography (shape) of earths physical features Political Maps- Show boundaries between countries. Also may show cities, capitals, roads, railroads. Think man made! Special Purpose Maps Emphasize a single idea or a particular kind of information Economic Activity Map- Shows the distribution of land use and natural resources.

22. Where lines of latitude and longitude cross they form a pattern known as a GRID SYSTEM. A Grid System (a global address) Absolute Location- a place found at a precise point Ex.) Toyko, Japan is at 36 N Latitude and 140 E Longitude Relative Location- is the location of one place in relation to another Ex.) Sonic is across the street from Kroger

23. 0 30 04' 18.82" N 95 12' 59.89" W 0 Absolute Location

24. Relative Location Pizza Hut is near the pyramids in Egypt

25. Parts of the Map • T – Title (top of map – where, what type of map, and when it is showing) • O – Orientation (compass rose – n,s,w,e) • D – Date created (bottom right corner) • A – Author (who made it – bottom right corner) • L – Legend (key) • S – Scale (how big is the map compared to real life) • S – Source (where did you get your information) • I is index of all the places on the map and G is the grid.

26. Places and Regions Place- a particular space with physical and human meaning. Region- areas united by specific factors Formal (uniform)- common characteristic such as a product Ex.- The Cornbelt Functional- is an urban central point (core) and surrounding area (periphery) that are connected to it. Ex- New Caney is in Houston’s functional region Perceptual- is defined by popular feelings and images Ex.- “Heartland”

27. Great Circle Routes • Shortest distance between two points on a map! • Maps distort distance, for example it may look shorter to travel between two areas on a map than it really is.

28. Take notes on this link: • http://chnm.gmu.edu/worldhistorysources/analyzing/maps/analyzingmapsintro.html