Modern communications and technology have fostered globalization, pulling people into greater culture.
And economic interaction with others. Geographers trends of globalization and local diversity are in the problems that geographers study such as political conflicts, economic uncertainty, and environmental management. D. Human geography and physical geography divided into to different categories.Human geography- is the study of where and why human activities are located where they are- for example, regions, businesses, and cities Physical geography- studies where and why natural forces occur as they do- for example, climates, landforms and types of vegetation. Geography is the study of where things are found on earths surface and the reasons for their location E.
Human geography concentrates on two main features of the human behavior- culture and economy. Map- is a two dimensional or flat-scale model of earths surface, or a portion of it.Geographers use two basic concepts to explain why certain places are unique- place and region Place- is a specific point on Earth distinguished by a particular characteristic. Every place occupies a unique location, or position, on the earths surface, and geographers have many ways to identify location.
Region- is an area of Earth distinguished by a distinctive combination of cultural and physical features. Human geographers are especially concerned with cultural features of a group of people in a region- their body of beliefs and traditions, as well as their political and Economic practices.Scale- is the relationship between the portion of Earth being studied and Earth as a whole. Although geographers study every scale from the individual to the entire Earth, increasingly they are concerned with global-scale patterns and process. Space-Refers to the physical Gap or interval between two objects.
Geographers's observe that many objects are distributed across space in a regular manner, for discernable reasons Connection-Are relationships among people and objects across the barrier of space. Geographers are concerned with the various means by which connections occur.2. Key issue 1: How do geographers describe where things are? A. Map- A map is a scale model of the real world, made small enough to work with on a desk or computer. It can be hasty here's how to get the party sketch, an elaborate work of art, or a process computer-generated product.
a map serves two purposes: it is a tool for storing reference material and a tool for communicating geographic information. Cartography- the science of mapmaking As a reference tool- a map helps us to find the shortest route between two place and to avoid getting lost on the way.As a communication tool- a map is often the best means for decipicting the distribution of human activities or physical features. Placing info on a map is a important way that geographers share data or results of scientific analysis 3. Early Map making- earliest maps were drawn in the Middle East 7th or 6th century.
Miletus, turkey center for geographic thought and mapmaking Thales-applied principles do geometry to measuring area. Axmainder- made a world map based on info from sailors and thought earths shape was a cylinder. Hecateus- made the first geography book around 500bcAristotle-first to discover that the earth was spherical Eratosthenes- first person to record the use the word geography, accepted that the earth was spherical, and calculated its circumference within a remarkable 0. 5 percent accuracy. He made a map that divided earth into 5 climatic regions- a torrid zone across the middle, two frigid zones at the extreme north and south with two temperate bands in between.
The Greek Ptolemy wrote an eight volume guide to geography. Phei Hsui father of Chinese cartography made a elaborate map of the country in AD 247 Al- idrisi prepared a world map and geography text in 1154 building on Ptolemy.Ibn-Battutah- wrote Rihlah(travels) based on 30years of journeys through the Muslim world of northern Africa, Southern Europe and a lot of Asia. by the 17th century maps accuretly displayed the outline of most continents and the positions of oceans.
Bernhardus varenius produced geographica generalis. A. Map scale is presented by 3 ways. A ratio or fraction- shows the numerical ratio between distances on the map and Earths surface. The unit chose. For distance can be anything, as long ad the units of measure on both the map and the ground are the same A written scale- describes the relation between map and earth distances in words.
The first number always refers to map distance and the second to distance on earths surface A graphic scale-usually consists of a bar line marked to show distance on earths surface. The number on the bar line is equivalent distance on earths surface. at the scale of a small portion of earths surface such as the downtown area the map provides the details of the place. B. Projection- the scientific method of transferring locations on earths surface to a flat map. The shape of an area can be distorted so that it appears more elongated and squat then reality.
The distance of two points can become increased of decreased. The relative size of different areas may be altered, so that one area appear larger than another on a map but is in reality smaller . The direction from one place to another can be distorted. The eastern and Western Hemisphere are separated into two pieces, a characteristic known as interruption. The meridians(vertical lines) which converge at the north and south poles do not form right angles with parallels ( horizontal lines) the Robinson projection- is useful for displaying information across the oceans.Is major disadvantage is that by allocating space to the oceans, the land areas are much smaller than on interrupted maps.
The Mercator has several advantages: shape is distorted very little, direction is consistent and the map is rectangular. Greatest disadvantage is that area is grossly distorted towered the poles, making high latitude places look much larger then they actually are. C. U. S Land Ordinance of 1785- divided much of the country into a system of townships and ranges to facilitate the sale of land to settlers in the west.
The initial surveying was performed by Thomas Hutchins. Township- a square 6 miles on each side Some of the north-south lines separating townships are called principal meridians. Base lines- some easy-west lines are designated are base lines Each township has a number corresponding to its distance north or south of a particular base line. Each township has a second # aka the range, corresponding to its location east or west of a principal meridian.
Township is divided into 36 sections, each of which is 1 mile by 1 mile Each section is divided into 4 quarter sections . 5 mile by.Township and range is important in understanding the location of objects throughout the US. 4. Contemporary tools- GIS ( geographical information Science) key is geo coding GIS can be used to produce a map it is a lot easier than to make spit with paper and pen.
It is all on the computer. GIS allows construction of much more complex maps you can include layers Layers can be compared to show different kinds of information like farming practices on water pollution. Ian Mcharg made a technique of comparing layers of different physical and social features to determine where new houses and roads should be built.GIS allows geographers to calculate whether relationships between objects on a map are significant or coincidental. API application programming interference- is the language that links a database such as an address list with software such as mapping.
Mash up- overlaying data from one source in top of one of the mapping services. Location - the position that something occupies on earths surface and in doing so consider four ways to identify location: place name, site,situation and mathematical location.Satellite based Imagery GIScience is made possible by satellitesin orbit above the earth sending information to electronic devices on earth to record and interpret information. GPS- the system that accuretly determined by precise position of something on Earth is GPS(global positioning system) B.
remote sensing- the acquisition of data about earths surface from a satellite orbiting earth or from other long distance methods The resolution of the scanner determines the smallest feature on earths surface that can be detected by a sensor.
