1. How big is the Universe? Hubble Deep Field View http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/releases /2004/07/image/ahttp://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/releases /2004/07/image/a The Hubble Telescope was pointed at a ‘dark’ part of the sky Located in the constellation Fornax, the region is so empty that only a handful of stars within the Milky Way galaxy can be seen in the image. http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/java/scienceopticsu/powe rsof10/http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/java/scienceopticsu/powe rsof10/

3. The Great galaxy in Andromeda… a spiral galaxy similar to our own

4. Our sun is but one single middle sized and middle aged star hanging out along the edge of average sized galaxy

5. Our Sun, the source of life on Earth is but one of millions…. X-ray image from Dec. 2002

7. Our Earth is planet # 3 in a system of Nine Planets

8. Comparative orbits of the local solar system. Between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter is a broad band of material, the asteroid belt.

9. Images of the ‘inner’ planets… relative sizes are shown. The image of Venus is from a RADAR mapping mission as the Venusian surface cannot be seen through the thick atmosphere.

10. Comparatively, we are dealing with a very small part of a very big system…..

11. The atmosphere behaves like a fluid, with currents and eddies. Weather is a product of these atmospheric movements.

12. The Atmosphere of the Earth is only about 20 miles thick. Were the Planet the size of a peach the lower atmosphere (3 miles) would be thinner than the ‘fuzz’ of that peach. The Earth's atmosphere is 77% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, with traces of argon, carbon dioxide and water.

14. The lower atmosphere is where life is possible and where weather occurs.

16. Hydrosphere: 71 Percent of the Earth's surface is covered with water. Earth is the only planet on which water can exist in liquid form on the surface.

17. Beneath the surface the Earth is believed to contain an extremely hot core…. This heat extends upward into the mantle where the heat is sufficient to produce ‘plastic’ behavior. Lithosphere

18. Unlike the other rocky planets, the crust of the Earth is divided up into a number of ‘plates’ that appear to ‘float’ on the plastic mantle below.

19. Collisions between tectonic plates cause the crust to fold

20. Or force magma to the surface forming volcanic landforms

22. At ‘diverging’ margins… new crust is being created. At converging margins the crust is re- melted. The continents ‘float’ like chocolate chips on the tectonic ‘cookie’

23. The Biosphere consists of all living organisms on Earth. Animals exist in very close relationship with plant communities

24. Vegetation of the conterminous United States as shown in a false color infra-red (healthy vegetation is shown in shades of red) AVHRR composite.

25. So here we have our Earth, fundamentally the only planet we have explored… GEOGRAPHY Is the science of describing this planet… literally, “Writing about Earth”

26. SUBJECT MATTER From the Greek Language “geo” = Earth “graphia” = description or depiction Eratosthenes, a 3rd century B.C. Greek Scholar and chief librarian at the famous Library of Alexandria was perhaps the first person to use the term “Geography.”

27. DEFINITIONS The world and all that is in it. Spatial perspective on people, places and environment. Geography is a social science that focuses on the spatial distribution of human and physical phenomena. The science and art of understanding the spatial relations among people, place, and environment. Geography is the study of pattern and processes associated with the Earth. The focus of the geographer is on spatial patterns and how phenomena that share common space interact spatially.

28. DEFINITIONS The world and all that is in it. Spatial perspective on people, places and environment. Geography is a social science that focuses on the spatial distribution of human and physical phenomena. The science and art of understanding the spatial relations among people, place, and environment. Geography is the study of pattern and processes associated with the Earth. The focus of the geographer is on spatial patterns and how phenomena that share common space interact spatially.

29. DEFINITION Geography is the study of people, places and environments. But more than that, it is a way of looking at the world and asking why it works ( or doesn’t work ) and the way it does work. It is more than where, but why there. It is looking at issues from a spatial perspective and inquiring about them.

30. Why What is Where? and Who Cares? An alternative definition of ‘geography’ developed by Dr.s McKnight and Strong during a snowball fight along the empty streets of Washington DC.

31. The “geographic eye” Learning to SEE space and spatial relationships. An important part of training this skill is learning to communicate spatial relationships….

32. Sketch Mapping A sketch map gives a geographer the opportunity to selectively present information. A sketch map can easily be seen as a perceptual map… how does one perceive the world?… this is embodied in a sketch map.

33. Sketch mapping is graphic communication in its purest form. Although very rarely considered, the basic rules of cartography should be remembered. Scale, direction, angular fidelity, symbolism, simplicity are all useful to remember. These are the maps you sketch on the back of a napkin to give someone directions….

34. A sketch map follows some basic procedures… –establish the limits of the area to be mapped –Layout a basic referencing system and make sure the map follows these references –Focus on the vital elements and make these the primary focus of the map –Label features

35. The Hundred Acre Wood

36. Your assignment: your very own autobiographical map

37. Auto-biographical map by LKM… (from her web site)

38. Auto- biographical Map by GGG