Transcript Chapter One

Thinking
Geographically

On a piece of paper
 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
it –to make it the place it is today.
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Many people have
misconceptions
about geography
and think of the
discipline as simply
an exercise in
memorizing place
names.
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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.
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Geography exist in the
global issues receiving
attention at this time things
such as
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Population growth
Terrorism
Cultural diffusion.
 Diffusion is defined as the
spread of linguistic or cultural
practices or innovations within a
community or from one
community to another.
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Geography's
importance can also
be established by
looking at community
issues, such as:
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Water supply
Pollution
Growth management
Housing
Retail
 Openings
 Closures
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In addition to political rule, boundaries can be
drawn based on various components of culture
including language, religion, values.
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Where would the
most desirable
places to live be
located?
What impacts would
this population
increase cause?
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Consider natural events
and natural disasters.
Do humans choose to
live in harm’s way?
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Geography by its nature is a spatial science.
Geographers therefore study space in order to
locate the distribution of people and objects.
Geographers ask two main questions,
“where” and “why.” Spatial analysis is
concerned with analyzing regularities
achieved through interaction. Regularities
result in a distinctive distribution of a feature.
Distribution has three properties:
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Density
Concentration
Pattern
Fig. 1-1: National political boundaries are among the most significant
elements of the cultural landscape
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Maps
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Early mapmaking
Map scale
Projection
Land Ordinance of 1785
Contemporary Tools
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GIS
Remote sensing
GPS
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Map = FLAT
Cartographer = Map Maker
Cartography is the art/science of map
making.
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4 basic directions on earth
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North – Never
East – Eat
South – Soggy
West – Waffles
► Compass
Rose
 Directional marker, a map
symbol that tells you where
the four cardinal directions
are in relation to the map
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Hemi = half/one side
Sphere =
ball/globe
The equator divides
the earth into 2
hemispheres
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Everything north of
the Equator is in the
Northern Hemisphere
Everything south of
the Equator is in the
Southern Hemisphere
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Run parallel to the Equator north and
south
Start at the equator 0° Latitude
North of the Equator towards the North
Pole up to at 90°N
South of the Equator towards the South
Pole up to 90°S
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The Prime Meridian
divides the earth into 2
hemispheres
Everything WEST of the
prime meridian is in the
Western Hemisphere
Everything EAST of the
prime meridian is in the
Eastern Hemisphere
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Run East and West at equal intervals away
from the Prime Meridian
Start at the Prime Meridian 0° Longitude
Are numbered up to 180° Longitude at the
international dateline
Are designated as either East or West of
the prime meridian.
Fulfilling the duties of formal prayers and the
pilgrimage, Muslims need to find the direction and
routes leading to al Ka'ba from virtually any spot on
the globe. The Ka'ba is the house of Abraham in
Mecca. And it is the point at which Muslims must face
when they perform prayers.
Left - map of the
world in 1154 by
Idrissi
Right - map of
the world made
by the Muslim
geographer
Jihani in the 10th
century of the
Christian era.
Fig. 1-2: A Polynesian “stick chart” depicts patterns of waves on the sea route
between two South Pacific islands. Modern maps show the locations of
these Marshall Islands.
Fig. 1-3: The effects of scale in maps of Florida. (Scales from 1:10 million to 1:10,000)
Reference Maps
 Show locations of
places and geographic
features
 Absolute locations
What are reference maps
used for?
THEMATIC MAPS – depict characteristics of places
Categorical type
- Depict areas that are different in kind
- Use several distinct colors to show different categories
desert
forest
tundra
Examples: climates, religions
Choropleth type
- Depict areas that are different in amount
- Use shades of similar colors to show different values
high value
medium
Examples: population density, literacy rates
low value
Example of “categorical map”
Example of “choropleth map”
Human Development Index (HDI) Rankings
Includes GNI/PPP, Literacy, and Life Expectancy
Which regions have high HDI?
Which regions have low HDI?
Which places are exceptions?
Mollweid - Equal Area Map
http://www.nationalatlas.gov/articles/mapping
/a_projections.html
Fig. 1-4: Principal meridians and east-west baselines of the township system. Townships in
northwest Mississippi and topographic map of the area.
Fig. 1-5: A geographic information system (GIS) stores information about a location in
several layers. Each layer represents a different category of information.
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Place: Unique location of a feature
Place names
 Site
 Situation
 Mathematical location
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Regions: Areas of unique characteristics
Cultural landscape
 Types of regions
 Regional integration of culture
 Cultural ecology
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Fig. 1-6: Site of lower Manhattan Island, New York City. There have been many changes to
the area over the last 200 years.
Fig. 1-7: Singapore is situated at a key location for international trade.
Fig. 1-8: The world geographic grid consists of meridians of longitude and parallels of
latitude. The prime meridian (0º) passes through Greenwich, England.
Fig. 1-9: The world’s 24 standard time zones are often depicted using the Mercator
projection.
Fig. 1-10: Presidential election results by county and state illustrate differences in regional
voting patterns.
Fig. 1-11: The state of Iowa is an example of a formal region; the areas of influence of
various television stations are examples of functional regions.
Fig. 1-12: A number of factors are often used to define the South as a vernacular region,
each of which identifies somewhat different boundaries.
Fig. 1-13: Death rates from cancer in the U.S., Maryland, and Baltimore show
different patterns that can identify associations with different factors.
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Your book defines
culture as a body of
customary believes,
material trades, and
social forms that
together constitute
the distinct tradition
of a group of people.
The Latin root of
culture is cultus,
which means to care
for. Example
Agriculture (term for
growing things)
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Geographers also consider environmental factors as well
as cultural factors, when looking at regions.
This is cultural ecology.
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Basically, this is the geographic study of human-environmental
relations.
In the 19th Century – some geographers said that human
actions were caused by environmental conditions.
(environmental determinism)
This is rejected by modern geographers that say some
environmental conditions limit human actions.
(possibilism)
Of course now we are realizing that humans can actually
adjust their environment. (For good or bad)
Fig. 1-14: The modified Köppen system divides the world into five main climate regions.
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This is the branch of
geology that studies
the characteristics
and configuration
and evolution of
rocks and land forms.
Fig. 1-15: Polders and dikes have been used for
extensive environmental modification
in the Netherlands.
View
of
Miami
Beach
The barrier
Island Orchid
Island – in
the town I
grew up in.
Fig. 1-16: Straightening the
Kissimmee River has had many
unintended side effects.
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Scale: From local to global
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Space: Distribution of features
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Globalization of economy
Globalization of culture
Distribution
Gender and ethnic diversity in space
Connections between places
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Spatial interaction
Diffusion
Fig. 1-17: The Denso corporation is headquartered in Japan, but it has regional
headquarters and other facilities in North America and Western Europe.
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What are the major Elements of culture?
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Affects of globalization of culture
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Customary beliefs
Social customs
Material traits
Fewer local differences
Enhanced communications
Unequal access
Difficulty in maintaining of local traditions
There is also globalization of environment
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Sensitive and insensitive environmental
modification
Housing density in Hong Kong
Fig. 1-18: The density, concentration, and pattern
(of houses in this example) may each
vary in an area or landscape.
Fig. 1-19: The changing distribution of North American baseball teams illustrates
the differences between density and concentration.
Fig. 1-20: The times required to cross the Atlantic, or orbit the Earth, illustrate how
transport improvements have shrunk the world.
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Interdependence exists among places based upon
the degree of spatial interaction.
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Spatial interaction is established through the movement
of people, ideas, and objects between regions.
For example, Travel has changed considerably over the
last 500 years.
In the past, most forms of interaction among
cultural groups required the physical movement of
settlers, explores, and plunders from one place to
another.
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Today travel by car or plane is much faster and
communication is instantaneous.
When places are connected to each other through a
network, geographers say there is a spatial interaction
between them.
Fig. 1-21: Delta Airlines, like many others, has configured its route network in a
“hub and spoke” system.
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Diffusion is the process by which a
characteristic spreads across space from one
place to another over time.
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The place of origin of the characteristic is called the
hearth.
 For example – US, Canadian, and many Latin cultures can be
traced back to the European Hearth.
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There are two basic types of diffusion:
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Relocation diffusion
Expansion diffusion
Expansion Diffusion includes
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Hierarchical diffusion
Contagious diffusion
Stimulus diffusion
Fig. 1-22: New AIDS cases were concentrated in three nodes in 1981. They spread through
the country in the 1980s, but declined in the original nodes in the late 1990s.