1. Frameworks of Geography: What and Why of Geography
The North Carolina Geographic Alliance
PowerPoint Slide Presentations
2007

2. Geography - The study of:
What Is Geography?
Geography - The study of:
WHERE places are located,
WHY places are located
where they are,
HOW those places affect
the lives of people, and
HOW people interact with
their environment.

3. What Is Geography?
"Geography is the science of spatial relationships of humans and their environment. Geography encompasses the physical and human world by examining what is where, why it is there, and what we can make of it."
Daryl Byklum, Journal of Geography Vol. 103, No. 5 p. 221

4. What Is Geography?
Geography deals with the natural and the human world.
Geography is both a physical science and a social science.
Geographers seek relationships between people and the environment.

5. What Is Geography?
Geography often takes a regional approach with an emphasis on cultures and place
NC Standard Course of Study takes a regional approach in grades 4 – 7
Geography is locational. It asks "Where?" "Why there?" and "So what?"

6. What Is Geography? Geography is spatial
"Geography helps us identify patterns, distributions, diffusions, circulations, and interactions the ways in which the physical and human worlds are laid out, interconnect, and interact."
Harm diBlij, Why Geography Matters. p.8

7. What Is Geography?

8. The study of the characteristics that make one place
What Is Geography?
The study of the characteristics
that make one place
different from another place.
It’s Geography if you can map it!
(Speaking of maps . . .)

12. Why Geography?

13. Four Reasons
Why Geography
is Important

14. The Power of Geography Outsourcing Imports Exports Globalization
Economic Reason

15. The Power of Geography As America’s economic well-being is
increasingly dependent upon the
ability to compete successfully in a
global marketplace, a geographically
literate work force is more critical
than ever.
Economic Reason

16. Energy and the Environment
The Power of Geography
Global
Warming
Energy and the Environment
Environmental Reason

17. The Power of Geography As our nation and the world face
increasing environmental pressures, a
perspective in geography offers a
Critically needed understanding of the
relationships between human activity
and the condition of the planet.
Environmental Reason

18. The Power of Geography Diplomacy Terrorism U. S. Military
Geo-Political Reason

19. The Power of Geography
As our world becomes ever more interconnected, a practical knowledge of geography becomes more critical. Citizens need to understand people and cultures in order to make informed decisions about our role in world affairs.
Geo-Political Reason

20. The Power of Geography World Heritage Sites National Parks
Aesthetic Reason

21. The Power of Geography
Geography is visual. It captures the imagination and stimulates curiosity about the world; its diverse inhabitants and places, as well as about local and regional diversity. Often the classroom is a student’s first “window on the world.”
Aesthetic Reason