Chapter One Thinking Like a Geographer Looking at the Earth Chapter One Thinking Like a Geographer

What is Geography? Geography is the study of the Earth and all its variety. There are two main types of geography Physical Geography (the study of land, water plants and animals) Human Geography (the study of people and where and how they live).

How Geographers look at Place!! When geographers look at a place they tend to focus on major problems and issues that affect the civilians. They look at big things like volcanic eruptions and little things like where is the best place for a company to build a new store in town.

Physical Geography “What features make a place similar to or different from other places?” ~ Landforms~ individual features of the land, such as mountains and valleys. Geographers also look at the location of water features, the access to raw resources.

Human Geography This includes the social characteristics of the people living in the place. How many people live in an area? What type government do they have? What religion if predominant? What languages do they speak?

Human Interaction with their Environment Geographers are especially interested in how people interact with their environment, or natural surroundings. People can have a major impact on the environment. For ex: In many parts of the world people have built dams along rivers that change the way those rivers behave. Where people live used to be based on their trade but with technological advances trade has less of an effect on where people reside.

Regions… A region is several places that share common characteristics. Regions can be small like your state, town or school district or they can be huge and can include several countries like the region of the Middle East. Ex: Countries can make up a region if they have similar environments or ways of life as well as if they speak the same language.

Tools of Geography How do geographers collect data for mapping the earth? Take photos from high above the earth (land sat images) The images show details such as the shape of the land, what plants cover an area etc. Radar cameras can even reveal hidden information (Ex: Antarctica's hidden rivers)

How do geographers accurately label the exact locations of places on a map? By GPS system… a group of satellites traveling around the earth. When a receiver is placed at a location the GPS satellite can tell the exact latitude and longitude of a location. By GIS system… computer software that layers collected information.

Uses of Geography Governments can use it to plan new services as well as to plan for emergencies. (EX: Hurricane Katrina) Businesses study population trends. Management of vital resources. Clues to our past…

Home Work Turn to Pg. 27 Answer Question #5 . Write at least one paragraph.