Human Geography

Unit 1: Basic Concepts

Created by Daniel Eiland | http://www.mreiland.info

Unit Outline

Introductions

Geographic Tools

The Five Themes

Introduction

to

Geography

What is a geography?

“Geography is the systematic study of the spatial patterns of all phenomena on or near the Earth’s surface.”

Geography is:

A scientific and descriptive study of

the Earth’s surface.

Geography is:

Interactions between people and

their environment

Geography is:

A study of spatial and local

variation.

Geography is:

A

Study

Of

Spatial

Patterns.

What is the why

Of where?

What is the above a picture of? Why might it

have been built the way that it was?

In this night picture of the earth, why are some areas brighter

than others? How would it have looked 200 years ago?

Who are some important Geographers?

Aristotle (384 BCE – 322 BCE)

I was the first person to demonstrate that the Earth was spherical.

Eratosthenes (3rd Century BCE)

I accurately calculated the circumference of the earth using geometry and was the first known person to use the word geography.

Claudius Ptolemy (CE 90 – CE 168)

I wrote a book called Geography and designed the forerunner to longitude and latitude lines.

Abu Abd Allah Muhammad al-Idrisi al-Qurtubi al-Hasani al-Sabti

Al Idrisi (1099–1165)

I’m an Arabic geographer who worked for the King of Sicily to create an accurate representation of the world.

Abraham Ortelius (1527 – 1598)

I designed the first modern atlas: Theatre of the World.

George Perkins Marsh (1801-1882)

I first described how natural systems are impacted by human actions. I am considered the first modern environmentalist

Carl Sauer (1889-1975)

In 1925, I argued that cultural landscapes, the interactions between people and their environment, should be the focus of geographic study.

How did the maps change between

Eratosthenes and Ortelius? Why?

What fields of study exist in Human Geography?

What are W.D. Pattinson’s four traditions?

The Earth-Science Tradition

The Culture-Environment Tradition

The Locational Tradition

The Area-Analysis Tradition

What are the differences between Human and Physical geography?

What characteristics of this image would

a human geographer notice? A physical

geographer?

What characteristics of this image would

a human geographer notice? A physical

geographer?

Where are people located?

Human Geographers ask:

What are people like?

Human Geographers ask:

What are their interactions over space?

Human Geographers ask:

What kind of landscapes do they build?

Human Geographers ask:

What kinds of data do geographers use?

Examines cultural or regional geography.

Gathered through observations, interviews, and the interpretations of texts.

Uses rigorous mathematical techniques to examine hard numerical data.

Qu

alit

ativ

e D

ata

Qu

antitative D

ata

Facts and figures unique to a particular place or region

Concepts that are universally applicable

Idio

grap

hic

No

mo

thetic

Develop a qualitative, nomothetic question

about the populace of our school.

Develop a quantitative, idiographic

question about the populace of our school.

A

Geographers

Tools

What is cartography?

“Cartography is the science of making maps.”

What is a map-scale?

“A map-scale shows the relationship of a feature’s size on a map to its actual size on Earth.”

Map Scale

Ratio or Fraction

Written scale

Graphic Scale

1:24,000 1/100

1 inch equals one mile0|----------------|100km

Which would be a good scale for viewing a

classroom, a school, a parish, a country?

A) 1in:1000miles

C) 1in:100miles

D) 1in:10feet

E) 1in:100ft

What is resolution?

“Resolution is a map’s smallest discernable unit. In other words, it is the smallest item you can see on a map.”

What is projection?

“Projection is the scientific method of transferring location on Earth’s surface to a flat map.”

Distortion

Relative Size

Distance or

Direction

Shape

Mercator Projection

The standard map projection for nautical purposes.

Distortion:Size and Shape

Mollweide Projection

Primarily used where accurate representation of area takes precedence over shape

Distortion: Shape and Angle

Robinson Projection

Primarily used to create visually appealing maps of the entire world.

Distortion:Everything

in small amounts.

Azimuthal Equidistant Projection

Used when drawing Polar maps.

Distortion:Shape and distanceas one gets farther

from the center.

Fuller Projection

Distortion: Maintains the

accurate shape and size but rearranges direction.

Peters Projection

Often seen as a politically driven map.

Distortion:Retains the accurate

size of landmasses but sacrifices shape.

A) B)

C) D)

What is a reference map?

“A reference map shows locations of places and geographic features.”

What is relative location?

“Relative location is the position on Earth's surface relative to other features.”

Where is Caddo Parish located

relatively?

What is absolute location?

“Absolute location is a point on the earth's surface expressed by a coordinate system such as latitude and longitude.”

What is longitude?

“Longitude is the numbering system that enumerates meridians, arcs that are drawn between the north and south pole.”

Longitude

0° Longitude runs through Greenwich, England and is known as the Prime Meridian

What is latitude?

“Latitude is the numbering system that enumerates parallels, circles drawn around the globe parallel to the equator and at right angles to the meridians.”

Latitude

0° Latitude is the equator.

90° north latitude is the north pole.

90° south latitude is the south pole.

What are time zones?

“A Time zone is a region on Earth that has a uniform standard time for legal, commercial, and social purposes.”

What is the international date line?

“The International Date Line is an imaginary line on the surface of the Earth, that runs from the north to the south pole and demarcates one calendar day from the next.”

A traveler crossing the International Date Line eastbound subtractsone day, or 24 hours, so that the calendar date to the west of the line is repeated.

What is a thematic map?

“A thematic map is a type of map or chart especially designed to show a particular theme connected with a specific geographic area.”

Choropleth Maps

Uses differences in shading, , or the

placing of symbols.

Dot Maps

Uses dots in a

specific area.

Each dot is a

specific quantity.

Isoline Maps

Uses continuous lines joining

points of the same value.

Mental Maps

Shows an person’s internal

perception of space.

Cartograms

Expands or shrinks the area of

locations to demonstrate different

types of data.

The World Population

What does this map show you about the world’s population?

What is GIS?

“GIS or a Geographic Information System is a computer system that stores, organizes, analyzes, and displays geographic data.”

Identify the feature above.

Identify this feature above.

Identify this above feature.

For Your Consideration

Imagine that you are a researcher using GIS to determine information. What is a question that

you might be able to answer using the technologies available?

What is GPS?

“GPS or a Global Positioning System determines the precise position of something on Earth through satellites, tracking stations, and receivers.”

What is remote sensing?

“Remote sensing is the acquisition of data about the Earth’s surface from a satellite orbiting the planet or from other long distance methods.”

What is a geographic model?

“A Geographic Model is a simplified way to explain complex patterns, make informed decisions and explain future behaviors.”

Part 3: The Five Themes of Geography

Theme 1: Location

What is site and situation?

“Site is describing a location of a place based on its physical characteristics. Situation is the location of a place relative to other places.”

Describe your town or city only by

discussing its location relative to other

places.

Describe your town or city only by

discussing its physical characteristics.

Is it Site or Situation?

Much of South Louisiana is made

up of swamp-land.

A. Site

B. Situation

Baton Rouge is next to the

Mississippi River.

A. Site

B. Situation

The first Woodlawn High School

was built on a fault line.

A. Site

B. Situation

The new Woodlawn High School

was built next to a church.

A. Site

B. Situation

What is a Toponym?

“A Toponym is the name of something on the Earth.”

Theme 2: Region

What is a region?

“A region is an area of Earth defined by one or more distinctive characteristics.”

“The physical features, economic features, and cultural features that make up a region are called its cultural landscape.”

What types of regions are there?

Formal Regions

Everyone shares in common one or

more distinctive characteristics.

Formal Regions

Borders are easy to track and slow to

change.

Formal Regions

Examples: Political regions and long

lasting economic regions.

Functional Regions

Organized around a central node.

Functional Regions

Tied to the point by transportation and communication

systems or by economic or functional associations.

Functional Regions

Examples: Subway Systems, Newspaper Distribution, Store

Distribution

Perceptual Regions

A place that people believe exists as part of their

cultural identity.

Perceptual Regions

Informal and varies dependent on who is defining

them.

Perceptual Regions

Examples: “The South” “The Country”

The next 10 slides ask you to

identify if the region shown is

formal, functional, or vernacular.

The Corn Belt

A. Formal

B. Functional

C. Vernacular

The South

A. Formal

B. Functional

C. Vernacular

Kentucky

A. Formal

B. Functional

C. Vernacular

A county in Kentucky

A. Formal

B. Functional

C. Vernacular

Breckenridge County

Eastern Kentucky

A. Formal

B. Functional

C. Vernacular

Eastern Kentucky

A. Formal

B. Functional

C. Vernacular

Chicagoland (Chicago and all the areas served by the city)

A. Formal

B. Functional

C. Vernacular

The Deep South

A. Formal

B. Functional

C. Vernacular

Theme 3: Movement

What is movement?

“Movement is the way that people, products, information and ideas move from one place to another.”

Compare how long it would take you to get

from school to the mall (6.2 Miles) using

the following forms of transportation.

1) Walking (3.1 MPH)

2) Horse (15 MPH)

3) Car (45 MPH)

4) Helicopter (100 MPH)

How has the time it takes to travel

changed through the years? Why?

What is distance-decay?

“Distance Decay is the lessening interaction between places as the friction of distance increases.”

What is friction-of-distance?

“Friction of Distance is the effect of distance on interaction between places.”

Distance-Decay Models for Stores

What is space-time compression?

“Space-Time Compression is the reduction in time it takes for something to reach another place because of a change in technology.”

1500-1840

1850-1930

1950s

1960s

1980s

What determines the interaction between

places?

Proximity

The nearness to important features.

Connectivity

Directness of routes linking pairs of

places.

Accessibility

The relative ease with which a destination may

be reached from other locations.

What is the Gravity Model?

“The Gravity Model says that the interaction between two places is equal to the product of the places’ population divided by the square of their distance apart.”

The Gravity Model

1) Larger cities have greater gravitational pull than small ones.

2) Two large cities like Los Angeles and New York can still pull on each other even with the distance between them.

Insights from the Gravity Model

What is diffusion?

“Diffusion is the process by which a characteristic spreads across space from one place to another over time.”

What is the a Cultural Hearth?

A hearth is the place which an innovation or cultural change originates.

How do cultural elements diffuse?

Core: The “most pure” area that possesses all cultural traits used to define a region.

Domain: The area in which the culture is dominant but less intense.

Sphere: The zone of outer influence where people with the culture traits can even be a minority in another region.

Relocation Diffusion: The diffusion of a characteristic as people move from

place to place.

The rapid, widespread diffusion of a characteristic through the population.

Can you tell where the cholera outbreak started?

The spread of an idea from persons or nodes of authority or power to other persons or places.

Stimulus Diffusion: Spread of an idea after reestablishing it after initial failure.

For Your Consideration:

The next few slides will ask you to identify what type of diffusion is

being discussed.

Fashion Trends from cities to surrounding areas.

A. Contagious

B. Hierarchical

C. Stimulus

D. Relocation

Christianity not being adopted by its initiating group (the Jews)

A. Contagious

B. Hierarchical

C. Stimulus

D. Relocation

The serving of Lamb Burgers at McDonalds in India

A. Contagious

B. Hierarchical

C. Stimulus

D. Relocation

When missionaries try to convert kings first to spread their religion.

A. Contagious

B. Hierarchical

C. Stimulus

D. Relocation

The spread of Islam from Mecca from individual to individual

A. Contagious

B. Hierarchical

C. Stimulus

D. Relocation

Italians teaching Americans to make pizza when they moved to North

America.A. Contagious

B. Hierarchical

C. Stimulus

D. Relocation

Theme 4: Place

“Place is an area that is defined by everything in it.”

How do geographers analyze space?

Scale Asks

How does the big affect the

small?

How does the small affect the

big?

What characteristics of the big are

part of the small?

What characteristics

of the small are characteristics

of the big?

How does your perception of cancer rates change when you look at a country and state level map?

What is distribution?

Density

How many things are in one square unit of

space?

Concentration

How closely are things related to one

another in a space?

Pattern

How are things arranged in a space?

How does this image

demonstrate the properties of

density, concentration, and

pattern?

Describe this classroom using the words

density, concentration, and pattern.

Theme 5: Human/Environment Interaction

“Human-Environmental Interaction is how humans modify, adapt to, and depend on their environment. Cultural Ecology is the study of human-environment relationships.”

How a physical environment causes social development.

People have the ability to adjust to their environment.En

viro

nm

enta

l Det

erm

inis

mPo

ssibilism

End of Unit 1