1. PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY:
CONCEPTS AND PERSPECTIVES

3. Geography (geo, graphein)
– Study of locations and distributions of phenomena on earth, and their interrelationships.
What are geographic questions?
What (Classification),Where (Locations / Distributions) → Descriptive Geography
Why and How (Explanations, Generalizations, Theory) → Analytic Geography
What Implications/Consequences
(Finding Solutions) → Applied Geography

4. Geographic Questions? A Famous Illustration: (John Snow’s Map)
What?
Cholera cases
Where? (When?)
London’s Soho District, (1854)
Why?
Concentration around a particular Water Pump
How?
Association/Link : contaminated water and cholera incidence
What Implications?
Need to Fix Pumps
(Improve Sanitation)

5. Branches or
Subfields
of Geography:
Geographers study all kinds of phenomena, both Physical and Human

6. Physical Geography – Physical Sciences
Human Geography – Social Sciences
Regional Geography – Encompasses both Physical and Human Geography
Not defined by phenomena studied, but by the Spatial Approach
(Geography is a meta discipline like History, which is defined by its temporal approach)
Known as a holistic/integrative discipline

7. Major Perspectives and Concepts
Spatial Science Perspective → Spatial refers to the nature, character and attributes of physical or geographic space.
Location: Absolute Location, Relative Location
36◦ 59’ ” N
109◦ 02’ ” W

8. Area, Place, and Region:
Formal or Uniform Regions
(Single-feature, Multiple-feature)
vs. Functional or Nodal Regions

9. Spatial Distributions (Extent of Spread over an Area)
Spatial Distributions (Extent of Spread over an Area) ↔ implies Movement; of people, goods, ideas, etc.
Spatial Patterns
(Arrangements of
features in space)
→ Generalizations
about – regular,
random, clustered,
dispersed?

10. Spatial Interactions: Spatial Links among features and
Spatial Interactions: Spatial Links among features and phenomena, Interconnectedness, Mutual Impacts
→ also signifies Human-Environment Interactions
Changes
– Spatial and Temporal

11. of Geographic Science: 1. Location 2. Place 3. Region 4. Movement
Five Spatial Themes
of Geographic Science:
(NGS, 1986)
1. Location
2. Place
3. Region
4. Movement
5. Human-Environment
Interactions
(or Human-Earth Relationships)

12. Physical Science Perspective
Science… is the systematic and organized inquiry
into the natural world and its phenomena.
Science is about gaining a deeper and often
useful understanding of the world.
Emphasizes the
Scientific Method
– Observation
– Hypothesis
– Test Hypothesis
(Support/Reject)
– Explanation
– Theory

14. The Physical Science Perspective also views earth as –
a dynamic System → any ordered, interrelated set of things, linked by flows of energy and matter, as distinct from the surrounding environment.
– The Earth System – its components are variables (energy and matter)
that interact through various
processes, creating a
functioning unit ← Feedbacks
(negative & positive)
– Subsystems: Atmosphere, Lithosphere, Hydrosphere, Biosphere
– Overlapping subsystems, not discrete

15. Geographers use Models – Physical, Pictorial/Graphic,
Geographers use Models – Physical, Pictorial/Graphic, Mathematical/Statistical, Conceptual Models – to study and analyze Systems

16. Systems Theory and Systems Analysis to the Earth System
Geographers apply
Systems Theory and Systems Analysis
to the Earth System
Equilibrium in the Earth System
(The Hydrologic Cycle)

17. Open vs. Closed Systems
Planet Earth or the Earth System is essentially a Closed System
– so is the Hydrosphere
Most Earth Subsystems are Open Systems, e.g., a Stream

19. Environmental Science Perspective
Views earth as an Ecosystem (Ecological System) -- Human Ecosystem
Human-Environment Interactions (Earth Impacts, Human Impacts)
Combines Environmental Science and Systems Perspectives
Natural Events System vs. Human Use System (Hazards, Disasters)

20. A Life-support System – Human Use (natural resources) and Abuse (pollution, etc.) of the environment
– Need for Sustainable Development

21. Physical Geography and YOU
Characteristics of the Physical Environment Affect Our Lives Every Day
Physical Geography Knowledge Helps Us Make Informed Choices and Decisions:
in our personal situations, e.g., adjusting to anticipated weather conditions, and
in job situations where maps and spatial analytical skills are prized

22. Tools of the Physical Geographer
Data Gathering: surveying, fieldwork, aerial photos, GPS, Remote Sensing (Satellite and Radar Imagery)
Data Analysis and Display:
Physical Models
Pictorial/Graphic Models, including Maps and Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
Mathematical/Statistical/Conceptual Models

23. Incredible environmental diversity:
The Little Blue Planet
Incredible environmental diversity:
an oasis of life in the vastness of space!