UNIT 1: GEOGRAPHY: ITS NATURE & PERSPECTIVES Geographical Concepts

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 Earth’s 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 people’s 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? h?v=pRVVZlGb7oc h?v=QpEFjWbXog0

5 Themes of Geography Location Region Place Movement Human Environment Interaction

Location: Concerned with analyzing where something is on earth and the effects that position has on human life 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 City’s Absolute Location= 40°, 42’, 51” N latitude, and 74°, 0’ 23” W longitude Geographic Concepts: Location Session 2

Location: Concerned with analyzing where something is on earth and the effects that position has on human life Relative Location: location described in relation to places around it…We live about 50 miles outside of Washington D.C. Site: the physical characteristics of a place…Miami’s site includes beaches, tropical climate, etc. Situation: interrelatedness with other places… Shanghai’s situation near the East China sea makes it an important port Geographic Concepts: Location Session 2

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.

Geographic Concepts: Location Prime Meridian run through Greenwich, UK at 0° Longitude on the opposite side is the international dateline The poles sit at 90° latitude The equator sits at 0° latitude Time zones are divided in 15 degree longitudinal zones Session 2

Situation  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. Limitations?

STOP Discuss the difference between site and situation. As a group, come up with site and situation description for Washington DC.

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 There are three distinct categories of regions Formal Functional Vernacular Geographic Concepts: Region Session 2

Formal Regions: Formal Regions: Defined by some homogeneous or uniform characteristic U.S., U.K, Australia, etc. are all within the same linguistic region…when 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 well- defined Environmental regions are transitional Boundary between to environmental regions (biomes) is called an ecotone…i.e. the Sahel zone in Africa Geographic Concepts: Region Session 2

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 Geographic Concepts: Region

Vernacular/Perceptual Region: is based upon the perception of a collective mental map of a region’s population 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

Place: the space given distinction by human activity and is given a toponym (name of a 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 i.e. the space is a mountain range, the place is the name of that range, or the ski resort located there Geographic Concepts: Place Session 2

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

Distance: is measured in both absolute and relative terms similar to location. Absolute Distance: exact distance (Euclidean Distance) measured between point A and B…it is 50.1 miles from Purcellville to Washington D.C. Relative Distance: Friction of Distance (Tobler’s 1 st 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

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 Geographic Concepts: Distance

Scale: is the relationship of an object or place to the earth as a whole. Scale: is the relationship of an object or place to the earth as a whole. Map Scale: describes the ratio of distance on a map and distance in the real world in absolute scale Map Scale: describes the ratio of distance on a map and distance in the real world in absolute scale Ratio between distance on map & distance on earth’s surface (ex: 1:24, 000) Ratio between distance on map & distance on earth’s surface (ex: 1:24, 000) Relative Scale (Scale of Analysis): describes the level of aggregation or the level at which you group things Relative Scale (Scale of Analysis): describes the level of aggregation or the level at which you group things Local-city-county-state-country Local-city-county-state-country Small scale maps = large region (world map), less detail (resolution), more generalizations Small scale maps = large region (world map), less detail (resolution), more generalizations Large scale map = smaller region, more detail Large scale map = smaller region, more detail Geographic Concepts: Scale Session 2

Geographic Concepts: Scale Small Scale Map Session 2

Geographic Concepts: Scale Larger Scale Map Session 2

Geographic Concepts: Scale Large Scale Map Session 2

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? Let’s discuss: 2 models: Netherlands South Florida Anywhere in Virginia? nm.nl/ nm.nl/