Mapping & Geography “Writing the World” geo = world or earth graph = to write or to chart Part I Themes of Geography

What is geography? Geography is: the study or charting of the Earth Geography is much more than just knowing your states, continents or different countries. Those are just the basics of really learning about the geography of the world you live in. What are the 7 continents, 4 oceans, Hemispheres, Equator, Prime Meridian, North/South Pole. What is a compass rose?

The World “divided”

Geographers are guided by two basic questions: Where are things located? Why are they there? The answers to these questions can be organized according to the 5 themes: (MR LIP) movement, regions, location, interaction between man & environment, and place.

MOVEMENT How are people, goods, and ideas moved? Transportation (railroads, ships, planes) Communications (Twitter, telephones, computers, TV) Mass Migration

REGIONS How are areas linked together? (Unifying Common Characteristics) Political (Palestine, Middle East) Physical Features (climate zones, deserts) Cultural features (languages, religions)

What are the Regions?

LOCATION Geographers begin a study of a place by describing its location. There are two types of location: absolute and relative. Absolute location can be found by using latitude and longitude to pinpoint a place’s absolute, or exact, location. Relative location shows where a place is in relation to other places

INTERACTION (Human & Environment) How do people relate to their environment? How do people depend on their environment (farming, fishing, mining) How do people adapt to their environment? (igloos, irrigation, clothing) How do people change the environment? (roads, canals, harbors)

PLACE What is it like? Climate (humid, tropical) Physical features (mountains Mt. Everest, rivers Nile River, vegetation. Man-made features (buildings, dams, bridges) Hoover Dam Human characteristics (food, clothing, language) Navajo Code Talkers

A. Location B. Place C. Movement D. Region E. Interaction (human/Environment 1.____ Great Plains used to be a wide open area with no settlements or farms. Today towns and cities dot the Great Plains, and much of the land is used for farming 2. ____ Areas that receive very little rainfall are called deserts. 3._____ Texas is south of Oklahoma. 4._____ Hawaii is made up of islands and it offers a variety of tourist attractions 5. _____ Goods are shipped in large tractor-trailer trucks across interstate highways. 6. _____ Maine has many different economic areas including heavy forests and tourist areas. _____ The country of Guam is at 13 degrees N. Latitude, 145 degrees E. longitude 8. ____ One way to communicate information is to write letters to our friends And relatives. 9. ____ The building of new houses on areas that had always been forests frequently makes it difficult for animals to find homes 10.____ Swiss Chalets and high mountains called the Alps are two of the ways we can identify the country of Switzerland

Answers 1. E 2. D 3. A 4. B 5. C 6. D 7. A 8. C 9. E 10. B

Mapping & Geography “Writing the World” geo = world or earth graph = to write or to chart Part 2 Mapping and Location

Globes and Maps A globe is a round,3-d model of the earth that is spherical and 3-D Most accurate view of the Earth is a Globe but it is not practical A map is 2-dimensional view of the world. It is more detailed but is distorted (shapes change) Cartography or mapping is the study or practice of making maps. Cartographers or mapmakers are the people who do this

flat maps are forced to exaggerate some sense of scale, or size

Mercator’s Projection Map Mercator projection (method of putting a map of the Earth onto a flat piece of paper) still used by sailors today Geographer-Gerhardus Mercator created a flat map (in 1569) to help sailors navigate long distances around the globe. To make flat he expanded the area between longitudes near the poles. This distorts size, for example, on Mercator’s map, Greenland looks bigger than South America when it is only one eighth the size. (not)

Robinson’s Projection Map Arthur Robinson’s projection shows the size and shape of the land quite accurately. Some Geographers think it is one of the best World map’s available However, even a Robinson projection has distortions (in areas around the edges of the map).

Map Projections Other techniques have been tried but it’s like the ripped peel of an orange By creating gaps in the picture of the world, mapmakers showed the size and shape of land accurate, but the gaps made it impossible to figure distances correctly.

Effects of Latitude lines of latitude, are imaginary east-west circles around the globe. The lines divide the Earth into regions according to the amount of sunlight they receive. Equator is a latitude line that circles the Earth exactly halfway between the North and South Poles, or zero degrees Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn are at 23.5 degrees N. and S. These two lines are called the low latitudes, or the tropics. Because this region receives direct sunlight throughout the year, it is almost always hot.

High Latitudes high latitudes, or polar zones. Receive no direct sunlight, it is often bitterly cold there. far north of the Equator - Arctic Circle. Far south of the Equator lies the Antarctic Circle

Middle Latitudes In between is called Middle Latitudes of the northern and southern hemispheres, or temperate zones middle latitudes have seasons: spring, summer, fall, and winter. these areas receive fairly direct sunlight and at other times of year, they receive fairly indirect sunlight.

Vocab of Mapping Lines of latitude are also called parallels, because they are parallel to one another running east and west. Lines of longitude (imaginary lines that circle the globe from north to south) are also called meridians. All longitude lines begin and end at the North and South poles. The Prime Meridian, which runs through Greenwich, England, is 0 degrees longitude.

Parts of a Map compass rose, a figure on a map or nautical chart used to display the cardinal directions cardinal directions: north, south, east, and west scale - tells what a certain distance on the map stands for symbols are explained in the key, or legend. grid. uses lines to make rows and columns on a map Some maps use a grid of latitude and longitude lines

Types of Maps Political maps: No physical features. Includes state and national boundaries or countries boundaries. Road maps: show major—some minor highways—and roads, airports, railroad tracks, cities and other points of interest in an area. Topographic: includes shape and elevation of an area. steep or flat terrain.

Physical and Political Map of AZ