· Discover the scope, methods, and perspectives of geography.
· Introduce the basic topics of Physical and Cultural Geography
· Explore the locational and physical bases of human activities.
· Demonstrate a stronger knowledge base of place-name geography by using an atlas.
· Examine the relationship between geography and economic development.
- Geography is the study of the interaction between humans and the physical environment.
- Specifically spatial distributions and relationships
- How and why things differ from place to place on the surface of the earth
- How observable spatial patterns evolved through time
- Focus on the interaction of people and social groups with their environment and with each other
- Ancient Greeks and Romans
- Eratosthenes
- Coined the name around 2200 years ago
- Developed the concept of latitude and longitude
- Measured the diameter of the earth with fairly good accuracy
- Herodotus
- Greek Geographer, prior to Eratosthenes – Persian Wars
- Strabo
- 2000 years ago helped to define the discipline
- Humans as active elements in the human-environment text
- Ptolemy
- Wrote the Geographia
- Main source for much of Medieval European Geography
- Mis-measured the earth’s diameter (smaller)
- Medieval
- Loss of much of the Greek and Roman texts and knowledge
- Preservation of texts through The Church
- Knowledge defined by Theological arguments
- Muslim and Chinese Scholars
- Muslim’s preserved Greek and Roman knowledge and texts
- Chinese used geography for exploration and Imperial control
- Modern Geography
- Emerged out of the Enlightenment and the 17th Century exploration
- Defined by Environmental Determinism through the 19th and early 20th Centuries
- Backlash against Environmental Determinism and development of modern Geographic Thought
- Begins in the early 20th Century does not become the dominant paradigm until after 1945
- Continental Drift and Tectonic Plates
- Alfred Wegener around 1905
- Complete Paradigm reversal between 1960 and 1970
- Understand why and how cultural and physical phenomena differ from place to place.
- Climate and Weather
- Volcanoes
- Culture and Language
- Understand national and international issues
- Economic Development
- Globalization
- Global Warming
- Useful for a great diversity of jobs both within and without the discipline.
- Cartographer
- US Geological Survey and other government agencies
- Defence Mapping Agency and other military and intelligence units
- Local agencies such as Harris County Flood Control
- Private firms as GIS mappers (Google Earth)
- Weather Forecaster
- National Hurricane Center/NOAA
- Weather persons (CNN, local news)
- Tornado Chaser
- Cultural advisors
- Community Relations specialist
- CIA and other intelligence agencies
- CDC and other health agencies
- Economic advisors
- Site selection specialists
- Market researcher
- Real estate agent
- Urban and Regional Planning
- Urban and Community Planner
- Housing, Traffic, Recreation, Health, Emergency, etc…
- Regional Specialists
- Travel agent or writer
- Government/Private specialist or consultant
- Education
- Teacher
- Professor
- Spatial
- The manner in which things are distributed
- The way things move or travel
- The way processes operate over the whole or parts of the earth
- Spatial Science, Spatial Distribution, Spatial Behavior, Spatial Relationships, Spatial Diffusion, etc…
- Location
- Absolute Location
- Mathematical Location
- Longitude and Latitude
- Other coordinate systems
- Relative Location
- The location of a site in relation to other sites/regions
- Site and Situation
- Site
- The Physical and Cultural characteristics of the place itself
- Situation
- Relative location of a place with specific reference to those things important to the place
- Direction
- Absolute Direction
- N – E – S – W
- Relative Direction
- Relational Direction
- Out West
- Back East
- Distance
- Absolute Distance
- Given in units of measurement (miles, kilometers, leagues etc…)
- Relative Distance
- Time
- How long does it take to get there
- Cost
- Fuel, tickets, time, etc…
- Psychological
- Familiar or unfamiliar
- Scale
- Degree of generalization represented
- Local
- Regional
- Global
- Physical and Cultural Attributes
- Physical Attributes – the Natural Landscape
- Climate, soil, water, mineral resources, terrain features, etc…
- Presents the advantages and disadvantages with which humans must deal
- Cultural Attributes – the Cultural Landscape
- Language, religion, ethnicity, agricultural practices, music, food practices, etc…
- Place
- Attributes of place are always changing
- Both physical and cultural attributes change
- What are some of the changes geographers consider
- Interrelations between places
- The processes and patterns of Spatial Interaction
- Accessibility – how easy or difficult it is to move through time and space
- Connectivity – how places are connected
- Spatial Diffusion
- The movement of things/ideas/people across space
- Migration, international business, memes
- Globalization
- Increasing interconnectedness of people, places, and information
- Regions
- Regional Boundaries are generally not uniform or sharp
- Regional boundaries will vary depending upon the questions asked and the criteria used to define them.
- Can be physical or cultural or both
- All regions have area, boundaries, and location
- Formal Regions
- Marked by homogeneity in one or several phenomenon
- Also called a homogenous or uniform region
- Functional Regions
- A region marked less through homogeneity then through its dynamic internal structure
- Generally focused on a central core
- Formed from a set of sites and their functional interaction
- Also called a nodal region
- Perceptual Regions
- Mental or cognitive maps
- Less rigorously structured than formal or functional regions
- Five Fundamental Themes
- Location
- Absolute and Relative
- Place
- The distinctive and distinguishing physical and cultural characteristics
- Relationships within and between Places
- The development and consequences of cultural and human-environment relationships
- Movement
- Patterns of change in the cultural environment
- Regions
- Formation and change
- The World in Spatial Terms
- How to use maps and other geographic tools and technologies
- How to use (mental) maps to organize information
- How to analyze the spatial organization people, places, and environments
- Places and Regions
- Physical and Cultural characteristics of places
- Regions are created by people to aid understanding and interpretation
- How culture and experience influences people’s perceptions of places and regions
- Physical Systems
- The physical processes that shape the earth
- The characteristics and distribution of ecosystems
- Human Systems
- The characteristics, distribution, and movement of people/populations
- The characteristics, distribution, and complexity of Earth’s cultures
- The patterns and networks of economic interdependence
- The process, patterns, and functions of settlements
- The influence of cooperation and conflict between people and cultures
- Environment and Society
- How people modify the physical environment
- How physical systems affect cultural systems
- The changes that occur in the meaning, use, distribution, and importance of resources
- The Uses of Geography
- How to apply geography to interpret the past
- How to apply geography to interpret the present and plan for the future
- Earth Science
- Physical Geography
- Culture-Environment
- How the environment is perceived (physical and cultural)
- Locational
- Distribution of cultural and physical phenomena
- Area Analysis
- Relationships and diversity of regions
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