1. Spatial Thinking Thinking About © 2009 Phil Gersmehl
Michigan Geographic Alliance
New York Center for Geographic Learning

2. Eight ways of thinking about locations, conditions, and connections
Spatial Thinking
Eight ways
of thinking about locations,
conditions, and connections

3. Location The idea of location is the “entrance ticket”
to a geographic inquiry.
- Where is it ?
- Why is it there ?
- Why is that important ?

4. Location Place Movement The conditions “right there” at a location
The connections
a location has
with other places

5. Location Spatial Thinking Place Movement How the brain organizes
information about locations,
their conditions, and connections.

6. Spatial
Comparison
comparing this place
to another one
I already know

7. Are places the same or different?
Spatial
Comparison
Are places the same or different?
Does one place have more or less than another place?
List two ways the Upper Peninsula and the Lower Peninsula are the same. List two ways the UP and the LP are different.
Which city has more people – Detroit or Lansing?
Which city on average is colder – Ann Arbor or Marquette?
What places are higher (mountainous), larger, wetter, drier, nicer, colder, safer?

8. How are places similar or different?
Comparison
How are places similar or different?
Which Great Lake is home to the largest urban area?

9. Which is bigger, the Upper Peninsula or the Lower Peninsula?
Comparison
What is
another way
they are different?
Which city on average is cooler – Ann Arbor or Marquette?

10. How are places similar or different?
Comparison
How are places similar or different?
Where are most of the large cities located?

11. How does this place influence other places?
Spatial
Aura
finding places that
have an influence
over this place
How does this place influence other places?
Why are there more highways around Detroit than Gaylord?

12. How does a big city influence nearby places?
Spatial
Aura
How does a big city influence nearby places?
What kinds of businesses might grow up around a big city?
What kinds of businesses might locate near a body of water?
How does Lake Michigan influence weather on the west coast of Michigan?
How does a body of water influence nearby places?

13. Aura Why are there more highways around Detroit than Gaylord?
What kinds of businesses might grow up
around a big city?
How does Lake Michigan influence weather on the west coast of Michigan?

14. putting similar places
Spatial
Region
putting similar places
together in a group

15. What places are near each other and are alike in some way
Spatial
Region
What places are near each other and are alike in some way
(have similar conditions)?
What are two physical and two human characteristics of mid-Michigan?

16. What groups of nearby places
Region
What groups of nearby places
are similar?
What geographic characteristics do each language group region have in common?

17. What human regions are evident?
Can you draw
a mental line
around a region
of high land?

18. Region Do language regions coincide with country boundaries?
Paris Metro (Transit) Region
Do language regions coincide with country boundaries?
What groups of
nearby places have similar characteristics
or connections?

19. Spatial
Transition
arranging places
in a sequence

20. How do conditions change as we move along a journey?
Spatial
Transition
How do conditions change
as we move along a journey?
What comes earlier,
and what comes later?
Is the change gradual,
or is the change abrupt?
How does the scenery change as one drives north on US 127 from Coldwater to the Mackinac Bridge?

21. How do conditions change as you travel from one place to another?
Transition
How do conditions change as you travel from one place to another?

22. What other physical changes might you see on this route?
Transition
Based on this map, can you predict how the scenery would change as you drive from Lansing north on US 127/I75 to Sault Ste. Marie?
What other physical changes might you see on this route?

23. What other physical changes might you see on this route?
Transition
Based on this map, can you predict how the scenery would change as you drive from Lansing north on US 127/I75 to Sault Ste. Marie?
What other physical changes might you see on this route?

24. Spatial Hierarchy putting small places Inside of large places
Moscow is inside Russia;
Russia is inside Eurasia.

25. are inside a larger piece?
Spatial
Hierarchy
Is a place a part
of something larger?
What smaller pieces
are inside a larger piece?
Is a smaller river part of (connected to) a larger river?
put the following places in order from inside to outside: Michigan, Ingham County, Wisconsin, Lansing, Midwest. (Lansing, Ingham County, Michigan, Midwest)

26. How are smaller places related to larger ones?
hierarchy
How are smaller places related to larger ones?

27. Put the following places in order from inside to outside.
Michigan
Ingham County
Lansing
Midwest
hierarchy

28. smaller entities related to and tributaries help show boundaries
hierarchy
How are
smaller entities related to
larger ones?
How do rivers
and tributaries help show boundaries
of watersheds?

29. Spatial Analogy identifying places in similar positions Traverse City
is to the Boardman River
and Grand Traverse Bay
as Saginaw
is to the Saginaw River
and the Saginaw Bay

30. What features or conditions tend to occur in similar positions?
Spatial
Analogy
What features or conditions
tend to occur in similar positions?
Why were the following good places to put sawmills in the late 1800’s? Muskegon, Alpena, Traverse City, Bay City, Ludington (end of river, on a Great Lake. Easy to get logs, ship out lumber)
As a result, do they have
other features in common?

31. Why do places with similar locations have similar characteristics?
Analogy
Why do places with similar locations have similar characteristics?

32. What do these towns have in common?
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Why were they good places to put sawmills in the late 1800’s?
Escanaba
Analogy
Alpena
Manistee
Cadillac
Ludington
Bay City
Which of these 4 additional towns would also be a potential site for a sawmill in the late 1800’s?
Muskegon
Lansing

33. and other arrangements
Spatial
Pattern
noting alignments,
arcs, clusters, rings,
and other arrangements
that are not random

34. Are features arranged in a line or in a cluster?
Spatial
Pattern
Are features arranged in a line or in a cluster?
Are features spread out
evenly vs. randomly?
Are features spread out in a balanced way or are they unbalanced with more on one side?
Is there a pattern to the high areas of Michigan (all inland, mostly north)
What is the population pattern in Michigan?

35. Why are features arranged in clumps, lines or patterns?

36. Pattern Is there a pattern to the high areas of Michigan?
Is the population pattern in Michigan spread out or clustered?

37. Spatial Association noting features that tend to occur together
(in the same places)

38. What features or conditions tend to occur together?
Spatial
Association
What features or conditions
tend to occur together?
Why are there more state parks in the lower peninsula?
What human features tend to occur near our inland lakes, rivers, and forests?
What physical features are associated with winter sports?
Why do they occur together?

39. Why do some features usually occur together
Association
Why do some features usually occur together
in the same places?

40. Association That’s why we call it Lake Effect Snow.
Red areas have abundant snowfall. Are these areas associated with the Atlantic Ocean, the Great Lakes or the Mississippi River?
Why do they occur together?
What else occurs in these areas?
Map showing some of the lake-effect snow areas of the United States

41. Why do some features usually occur together in the same places?
Association
Why do some features usually occur together in the same places?
Earthquakes
Plate Boundaries
Volcanoes

42. those 8 ideas over lunch one day.
We didn’t just think up
those 8 ideas over lunch one day.
They are based
on a huge amount
of neuroscience research

43. One important conclusion from research in neuroscience
and developmental psychology:
1. The human brain appears to have
some specific structures that “do”
each kind of spatial thinking.

44. Recent research (Three thousand studies since 1995)
shows that old ideas about
“stages of development” (Piaget)
“cycles of learning” (Kolb)
“left brain, right brain” (Edwards)
or “frames of mind” (Gardner)
are just that – old ideas.

45. Recent research (Three thousand studies since 1995)
Identify
analogous
places.
Assess influences
that a place has
on nearby places.
Compare one place with another.
Find close-together places that have
similar conditions.
Notice transitions. Do conditions change gradually or abruptly?
Describe the non-random arrangements of features.
Discover correlations (features that occur together).
Identify smaller sub-areas within larger areas.
shows that the human brain has several “regions”
that do specific kinds of spatial thinking.

46. from research in neuroscience and developmental psychology:
Two more conclusions
from research in neuroscience
and developmental psychology:
2. People are different – some people
are genetically or experientially predisposed
to use specific modes of spatial thinking.

47. from research in neuroscience and developmental psychology:
Two more conclusions
from research in neuroscience
and developmental psychology:
2. People are different – some people
are genetically or experientially predisposed
to use specific modes of spatial thinking.
3. People can learn – an expert map reader
uses more different modes of spatial thinking,
and uses them more effectively, than a novice.

48. Remember –
the “purpose” of
these various modes
of spatial thinking
is to make it easier
for us to remember
facts about places.
We’ve known this
for a long time.
What’s the big deal ?

49. Just this – the human brain has specific “regions” that are structured
to do each kind
of spatial thinking.

50. Scientific conclusion : The human brain has a number
of separate, independent structures
that help us organize geographic information
Important take home message
for educators/administrators:
There are significant individual differences
In student inclination and ability to use
different modes of spatial thinking.

51. Our goal is to design teaching materials
that enable all students to improve
all of their spatial-reasoning skills –
in geography, history,
economics, earth science,
even reading and math.