Why is Each Point on Earth Unique? pg13 - 28 Key Issue 2 Why is Each Point on Earth Unique? pg13 - 28

Regions: Areas of Unique Characteristics A region derives its unified character through the cultural landscape-a combination of cultural features such as language and religion, economic features such as agriculture and industry, and physical features such as climate and vegetation. Since the mid-1800s, geographers have used the term regional studies to argue that each region has its own distinctive landscape that results from a unique combination of social relationships and physical processes.

Place: Unique Location of a Feature – 23, 24, Location: 4 ways to identify Place names Toponym: Site: the physical characteristics of a place Situation: location of a place relative to other places (helps locate a location) Mathematical location:

Toponyms 1896 Mt. McKinley, Alaska 2015 Denali (The Tall One)

SITE - 25 physical characteristics of a place: climate, water sources, topography, soil, vegetation, latitude, and elevation. Humans have the ability to modify the characteristics of a site.

Palm Island Dubai

Situation: Location of a place relative to other places (helps locate a location)

Place: Mathematical Location – 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 Location of any place can be described precisely by a numbering system Meridians (lines of longitude) 74W Prime meridian (Greenwich, England) Parallels (lines of latitude) 41N The equator

Find the Latitude/Longitude

World’s Time Zones - 16

The Cultural Landscape A unique combination of social relationships and physical processes Each region = a distinctive landscape People/Culture = the most important agents of change to Earth’s surface

People/Culture is the Agent Nature the Medium Cultural Landscape the Result

Cultural Landscape Each person will be assigned a region. You must research and choose a famous man made structure found there and print a photo and tell us the following: 1) What is the name of the structure? (Toponym) 2) Which country is the structure located? 3) What was the original purpose of the structure and when was it built? 4) Describe the structure’s situation within the country. 5) What is the structure’s mathematical location? 6) When was it build?

Regions 1) South Asia 2) East Asia 3) Middle East 4) Sub-Saharan Africa 5) Latin America 6) Europe Nobody can pick the same country.

Types of Regions Regional Studies: approach to geography that emphasizes the relationship among social and physical phenomena in a particular study. Region can apply to any area larger than a point but smaller than the planet. Geographers try to sort out the associations among various social characteristics distributed around the world and the competition for resources

Types of Regions - 28 Formal (uniform) regions Example: political maps. Functional (nodal or focal point) regions Example: the circulation area of a newspaper Vernacular (perceptual) regions rather than a scientific model Example: Cultural Mental Maps

Vernacular Region by Mental Mapping

Spatial Association Spatial distribution of a region communicate useful info, but other factors need to be considered i.e. – cancer rates vary according to cultural, economic, and environmental factors.

Culture – 29 Origin from the Latin cultus, meaning “to care for”. Body of customary beliefs, material traits, and social forms that distinguish a group. Two aspects: What people care about Beliefs, values, and customs Three identifying factors of culture derive from: Language, Religion, & Ethnicity. What people take care of Earning a living; obtaining food, clothing, and shelter -

MDC & LDC - 31 Per capita income, literacy rates, technology, hospitals, life span.

Cultural Ecology The geographic study of human–environment relationships Two perspectives: Environmental determinism: how physical environment caused social development Possibilism: humans have the ability to adjust to their environment/ resources Determined by a group’s values Crop selection determine by environment Vegetarian vs Non-vegetarian Cremation versus burial

Physical Processes determined by human activity/ 4 types 5 Climates: Tropics, Dry, Warm, Cold, Polar Vegetation/Biomes: Forest, Savanna, Grassland Desert Soil: 12,000 soil types Landforms: flat to mountainous Climate, precipitation, temperature * Vegetation, plant life * Soil, nutrients to allow plant life to grow, erosion * Landforms, steepness measured by slope

Modifying the Environment Examples The Netherlands Polders: creating land by drainage The Florida Everglades Not so sensitive environmental modification/ unintended environmental/social consequences 13th century polder initiative. Dikes, Zuider Zee & Delta Plan to prevent flooding by the north sea. Leader in renewable energy and conservation Figure 1-21

Why Is Each Point on Earth Unique? Pg 13 - 28 Key Issue 2 Why Is Each Point on Earth Unique? Pg 13 - 28

Why Are Different Places Similar Pg 28 -38 Key Issue 3 Why Are Different Places Similar Pg 28 -38

33. Identify scale and explain the growing importance of this concept in geography. Large scale shows uniqueness of a place. Small scale shows broad patterns. Why is this important?

33. Scale: Local to Global Globalization: economically interdependent Transnational corporations: conduct research, operate facilities, and sell product Cultural globalization Uniformed global landscapes & cultural values The world is becoming smaller because we are becoming more connected… TC with brands and technology and Media help this happen…. Which regions has the most influence on the world? In what way? What about life style or culturally? Is this good or bad? Explain.

35. Provide examples of how globalization has the ability to threaten local culture. Entertainment, food, faith, language, fashion, beauty, consumer goods, skills, education… it never stops!

How would you feel if 75% of the movies/ tv shows that played in the US were Indian films with English subtitles?

Or 85% of fast food restaurants served Arabic cuisine?

Or 65% of the most admired women wore veils and the most respected men wore long beards?

Or if Wal-Mart started selling, whole ducks, alligators, frogs, turtles, and pig faces to eat?