Geographical Concepts UNIT 1: GEOGRAPHY: ITS NATURE & What is geography? Coined by Eratosthenes Geo= earth Graphy= the study of, to write Studying Human Geography Study of Geography Study of the earth as created by natural forces and modified by human action Physical Geography
Deals with the Earths natural processes and their outcomes. Concerned with climate, weather patterns, landforms, soil formation, and plant and animal ecology Studying Human Geography Human Geography Deals with spatial organization of human activities and with peoples relationships to their environments. Covers a wide variety of phenomena Example: agricultural production and food security, population change, ecology of human diseases, resource management, environmental pollution, regional
planning, and symbolism of places and landscapes War forces people to learn geography -example: Russian invasion of Georgia Geography and your community: Water supply Pollution Growth management Housing Example: Loudoun Water Look at environment/ water conservation
How does this connect to Ashburn? How affect you everyday? https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRV VZlGb7oc https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpE FjWbXog0 5 Themes of Geography Location Region
Place Movement Human Environment Interaction Absolute Location: a point or place on map using coordinates of latitude (degrees N or S of the Equator) and longitude (degrees E or W of the Prime Meridian) Absolute Location is written in notation or exact coordinates (degrees, minutes and seconds) New York Citys Absolute Location= 40, 42, 51 N latitude, and 74, 0 23 W longitude
Geographic Concepts: Location Location: Concerned with analyzing where something is on earth and the effects that position has on human life Sessi on Relative Location: location described in relation to places around itWe live about 50 miles outside of Washington D.C.
Site: the physical characteristics of a place Miamis site includes beaches, tropical climate, etc. Situation: interrelatedness with other places Shanghais situation near the East China sea makes it an important port Geographic Concepts: Location Location: Concerned with analyzing where something is on earth and the effects that position has on human life
Sessi on Site The site is the actual location of a settlement on the earth and is composed of the physical characteristics of the landscape specific to the area. Site factors include things like landforms (i.e. is the area protected by mountains or is
there a natural harbor present?), climate, vegetation types, availability of water, soil quality, minerals, and even wildlife. The equator sits at 0 latitude The poles sit at 90 latitude
Time zones are divided in 15 degree longitudinal zones Geographic Concepts: Location Prime Meridian run through Greenwich, UK at 0 Longitude on the opposite side is the international dateline
Sessi on Situation Limitations? Situation is defined as the location of a place relative to its surroundings and other places. Factors include: accessibility of the location, the extent of a place's connections with another, and how close an area may be to raw materials if they
are not located specifically on the site. Though its site has made living in the nation challenging, Bhutan's situation has allowed it to maintain its policies of isolation as well as its own highly separated and traditionally religious culture. STOP Discuss the difference between site and situation. As a group, come up with site and situation description
for Washington DC. There are three distinct categories of regions Formal Functional Vernacular Geographic Concepts: Region Region: Large area with some unifying social or physical character People, environment, & activities in a
region share similarities and differ in some way from other regions Sessi on U.S., U.K, Australia, etc. are all within the same linguistic regionwhen you stop hearing English you are out of the region Regional boundaries differ based on the type of formal region Cultural regions tend to have abstract/
fuzzy borders Political regions are finite and welldefined Environmental regions are transitional Boundary between to environmental regions (biomes) is called an ecotone i.e. the Sahel zone in Africa Geographic Concepts: Region Formal Regions: Defined by some homogeneous or uniform characteristic
Sessi on Geographic Concepts: Region Functional Regions: service coming out of a node or central place (newspaper, radio station, hospital) Nodal regions are measured often from a market area (city) and its area of influence The American South: country music, religious, uneducated, southern accents, etc. California: surfers, celebrities, etc. Vernacular regions can be unfounded, but can also be a point of pride for
residents living in that region Geographic Concepts: Region Vernacular/Perceptual Region: is based upon the perception of a collective mental map of a regions population Geographic Concepts: Place Place: the space given distinction by human activity and is given a toponym (name of a place) i.e. the space is a mountain range, the place is the name of that range, or the ski resort located there
Sessi on Place Place refers to all of the human and physical attributes in a location Human attributes of place include: religions, languages, political organizations, clothing, and artwork present in a location
Physical attributes include: Climate, terrain, and natural resources Human and physical traits in a location give it a sense of identity Movement Movement of information, people, goods, and other phenomena Spatial interaction Analyzing how places interact with each other
Absolute Distance: exact distance (Euclidean Distance) measured between point A and Bit is 50.1 miles from Purcellville to Washington D.C. Relative Distance: Friction of Distance (Toblers 1st Law of Geography): everything is related to everything else, but nearer things are more related than distant things (i.e. distance itself hinders interaction). Distance Decay: Contact between two places decreases as distance increases. Example: sound at a concert decreases as you walk away from the stage
Geographic Concepts: Distance Distance: is measured in both absolute and relative terms similar to location. Geographic Concepts: Distance Space Time Compression: Decreased time between two places due to improved travel methods & technology Driving to NYC and flying to NYC is the same distance, but have different time constraints.
Time or money to travel there Human Environment Interaction Describes how human activities affect their environment & how environmental changes impact human life Cultural ecology Study of human adaptations to social and physical environments. Human adaptation refers to both biological and cultural processes that enable a population to survive and reproduce
within a given or changing environment. Consider the following: As a group, think about the following in terms of Human-Environment Interaction:
Climate Vegetation Landforms Are humans causing more change to these environmental features, or are they affecting more change to humans? How sensitive should humans be? Lets discuss:
2 models: Netherlands South Florida Anywhere in Virginia? http://climateagenda.minie nm.nl /
