Chapter 1

Key Issue 2 Why is Each Point on Earth Unique Place: unique location of a feature Regions: Areas of unique characteristics

Place: Unique location of a feature What are the four ways to identify location? Place name Site Situation Mathematical location

Place Names Toponyms: Where does the name come from? People Religion Landscape/Environment Names can change Political reasons

DISCUSSION Where do names of some common places in this area come from? Your School? Your State? Your country?

Site Physical Character of a place Climate Water sources Topography Soil vegetation Latitude elevation

Site Physical characteristics important for settlement Islands Rivers Can be manipulated by man

Site: Lower Manhattan Island Fig. 1-6: Site of lower Manhattan Island, New York City. There have been many changes to the area over the last 200 years.

DISCUSSION Why do you think some people live in areas that are prone to natural disasters?

Situation Location of a place relative to other places 1) Helps us to find an unfamiliar place by comparing it to a familiar one “Across from the fire station” 2) Helps explain importance of location Metro-access

Situation: Singapore Fig. 1-7: Singapore is situated at a key location for international trade.

DISCUSSION How would you describe the “situation” of your school? Your house? Why would you do this instead of just giving the address?

Mathematical Location Precise location (longitude & latitude) Meridian (North-South poles) measure longitude Prime Meridian: Greenwich, England Parallel (Equator) measure latitude Lat Lines are the FLAT lines

Telling Time 24 time zones, one for each hour Separated by 15° longitude Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) 12pm in Greenwich 0° 7am in New York 75° West (-5hrs) International Date Line, 180° longitude http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wk4XArc1xf4

Regions: Areas of Unique Characteristics Cultural Landscape Combination of cultural, economic & physical features

Cultural Landscape Cultural Features Economic Features Language religion Economic Features Agriculture Industry Physical Features Climate vegetation How is the New York region different than the DC Metro region?

Cultural Landscape “Regional Studies Approach” Each region has its own distinctive landscape due to combination of social relationships & physical processes Similarities IN the region, differences OUT

Presidential Election 2004 Regional Differences Fig. 1-10: Presidential election results by county & state illustrate differences in regional voting patterns.

Types of Regions Area larger than a point, smaller than planet Three types Formal Functional Vernacular

Formal Region Uniform/Homogeneous Region Everyone shares distinctive characteristics Examples: Language Climate Political Ideology (Red Republican State) Used to describe patterns of a region

Functional Region Nodal Region Organized around a focal point (node) Reception of TV station Distribution of Newspaper (Gazette)

Formal and Functional Regions Fig. 1-11: The state of Iowa is an example of a formal region; the areas of influence of various television stations are examples of functional regions.

Vernacular Region Perceptual Region What people envision as a place

Vernacular Regions Fig. 1-12: A number of features are often used to define the South as a vernacular region, each of which identifies somewhat different boundaries.

Spatial Association Important to look at scale and characteristics within a region to understand factors Cancer rates United States: higher on East Coast MD: higher in Baltimore and East counties Baltimore: lower levels in Northern zip codes

Spatial Association at Various Scales Fig. 1-13: Death rates from cancer in the US, Maryland, and Baltimore show different patterns that can identify associations with different factors.

Regional Integration of Culture Culture: distinct tradition of group of people To care about Similarities in ideas, beliefs, values, customs To care of Production of Material Wealth Food, clothing, shelter How do they obtain these things? Human Geographers research differences in culture between: MDC: More developed country LDC: Less developed country

Cultural Ecology Geographic study of Human-environment relationships Environmental Determinism VS Possibilism Environmental Determinism Physical environment caused social development Possibilism People can adjust their environment Video 1

Cultural Ecology Human geographers study relationships between human activities and physical environment Why do we grow grass in the yard, use water to make it grow, then cut it??? Are we going to run out of food for our growing population??? What are we doing to our environment? What can be done?

Global Environment Climate Vegetation Soil Landforms

Climate Long-term average weather condition Koppen System Tropical Dry Warm Mid-Lat Cold Mid-Lat Polar

World Climate Regions Fig. 1-14: The modified Köppen system divides the world into five main climate regions.

Climate Humans have limited tolerance for extreme temperature and precipitation levels Who would want to live in these regions? DRY or POLAR??? Climate influences production of food Monsoons in Southern Asia Delay can cause wide-spread famine

Physical Processes: Vegetation Vegetation & soil influence types of agriculture Four main biomes: Forest: trees form canopy over ground Savanna: mixture of trees & grasses Grassland: covered by grass, lack of trees Desert: dispersed patches of plants

Physical Processes: Soil Soil contains nutrients  plants  humans Concerns with destruction of soil Nature & human actions Erosion Depletion of nutrients

Physical Processes: Landforms Geomorphology: study of Earth’s landforms Explains distribution of people & economic activities Topographic maps: show detail of physical features, ex: elevation

Topographic Maps How might you use a topographic map if you were selecting? 1. A route for a hike. 2. The best location for an airport. 3. A route for a new road

Environmental Modification in the Netherlands Fig. 1-15: Polders and dikes have been used for extensive environmental modification in the Netherlands.

The Netherlands “God made Earth, but the Dutch made the Netherlands” Polders: land created by draining water Dikes: walls built to keep ocean out Polder Dike Video

Florida Barrier Islands along coast Everglades Sea walls & Jetties built to prevent them from washing away. Erosion Everglades Modifications made to open up land Led to polluted waters

Environmental Modification in Florida Fig. 1-16: Straightening the Kissimmee River has had many unintended side effects.

C-38 Canal Florida The canal has carried water with agricultural runoff and pollution into Lake Okeechobee