Unit 1 Geography Basics

Unit 1 - Basics of Geography

FIVE THEMES OF
GEOGRAPHY

​Day 1

​What are we learning today?

• What are the 5 themes of geography?

• What is location?

• What are the sub categories for location?

Where is it?
Two type of location

• Absolute (mathematical)

  • Exact location on Earth's surface

  • Uses Latitude and Longitude

• Relative (situational)

  • Describes a place in comparison to places around it

  • Ex: Library is three blocks west of the park

Theme #1: Location

What is a compass rose?

• A compass rose is one of the key elements of a map

• Definition: A compass rose is a tool that shows the four cardinal directions

• A compass rose must be on every map and will show a maps orientation

​

​A compass rose is...

• A compass rose will show you the four cardinal directions on the map

  • North

  • East

  • South

  • West

​

​Purpose of a Compass Rose

Multiple Choice

What is a compass rose?

• half of a circle that helps people find angles

• a drawing showing different directions on a map

• a device with a magnet that always points North

• a pretty flower on a map that is red

Multiple Choice

What cardinal direction goes in the yellow box?

• west

• east

• southeast

• northwest

Multiple Choice

What cardinal direction goes in the yellow box?

• northeast

• southwest

• north

• south

Multiple Choice

What cardinal direction goes in the yellow box?

• north

• south

• east

• west

Multiple Choice

What cardinal direction goes in the yellow box?

• east

• west

• south

• north

Multiple Choice

Michigan is _________ of Wisconsin.

• North

• South

• East

• West

Multiple Choice

California (CA) is ______ of
Colorado (CO).

• East
• Southeast
• West
• North

Multiple Choice

What direction do you need to travel to get from the swing set to the food market?

• East

• North

• Southeast

• West

Multiple Choice

What direction do you need to travel to go from the ferris wheel to the Food Market?

• South

• North

• Northwest

• East

What is intermediate direction?

Definition: Intermediate directions are the points on a compass that lie between the main cardinal directions (North, East, South, and West). They provide a more precise way to describe directions.

• North-East (NE): Halfway between North and East.

• South-East (SE): Halfway between South and East.

• South-West (SW): Halfway between South and West.

• North-West (NW): Halfway between North and West.

​Intermediate Directions

Multiple Choice

The directions that come between the cardinal directions are called ________?

• compass Rose

• intermediate directions

• cardinal directions

• lines

Multiple Choice

Which direction is circled?

• Northeast

• Northwest

• Southeast

• Southwest

Multiple Choice

Which direction is circled?

• Southwest

• Southeast

• Northeast

• Northwest

Multiple Choice

What direction would I go to get from the Black Hills to Salt Lake?

• northwest

• southwest

• northeast

• southeast

Multiple Choice

What direction would I go to get from Antarctica to Australia?

• northeast

• southeast

• northwest

• southwest

Stop here for today!

​Good work for today! We will continue on with our notes tomorrow.

FIVE THEMES OF
GEOGRAPHY

​Day 2

What is the grid system?

Definition: The grid system is a method used in geography to located and identify specific points on a map. It involves the use of a network of horizontal and vertical lines that form a grid over the Earths surface

​

​The Grid System

Components of the Grid System

• Latitude Lines - Horizontal lines

• Longitude Lines - Vertical Lines

• Equator - Horizontal line that splits the Earth in half

• Prime Meridian - Vertical line that splits the Earth in half
  
  

​The Grid System

How it Works
- Coordinates: Each location on a map is identified by a pair of coordinates expressed in degrees of latitude and longitude
- Grid Squares: Maps are divided into grid squares that help in pinpointing exact locations. Each square can be identified by a combination of letters and numbers

​

​The Grid System

Types of Grid Systems
- Geographic Grid: Based on latitude and longitude lines used for global positioning
- Military Grid Reference System: Used for more precise location finding, especially in military and map reading contexts

​

The Grid System

Uses for the Grid System
- Navigation: Determining exact locations and directions
- Map Reading: Interpreting maps and understanding geographic positions
- GPS Technology: Modern navigation systems use grid coordinates for accurate location tracking

​

​The Grid System

Multiple Choice

_{What is located at grid location 6E?}

• Waterhole
• Mine
• National Park
• Lake

Multiple Choice

Where is the bridge?

• L9, M9
• 10L, ML
• 9L, 10L
• L10, M10

Multiple Choice

Where could you find the horse?

• C9
• D9
• 9C
• 9D

Multiple Choice

What is located in E5?

• Twizzles
• Ice Cream
• Chips
• Pizza Hut

Multiple Choice

_{What is the grid reading for the forest?}

• 6F
• 3B
• 7D
• 3F

What is absolute location?

• Latitude is the angular distance north or south of the equator

• It is measured using lines that run parallel to the equator

• Measured 0 to 90 degrees

• "Changes in latitude, changes in attitude"

​

​Latitude

Equator: Line of latitude at 0 degrees
North Pole: located at 90 degrees North
South Pole: Located at 90 degrees South
Tropic of Cancer: Located at 23 degrees North
Tropic of Capricorn: located at 23 degrees S

​

​Latitude

• Longitude is the angular distance east or west of the prime meridian

• It is measured using lines that run parallel to the prime meridian

• Measured 0 to 180 degrees

​

​Longitude

Prime Meridian: Line of longitude located at 0 degrees

International Date Line: Line of longitude located at 180 degrees

​

​Longitude

Time Zones

Multiple Choice

• The map show the lines of longitude.
• The map shows the lines of latitude.

Multiple Choice

Lines of ______ measure how far from the equator a place is located?

• Longitude
• Latitude

Multiple Choice

What is the name of the line at zero degrees longitude?

• Equator

• Prime Meridian

• International Date Line

• North Pole

Multiple Choice

• The map shows lines of longitude.
• The map shows lines of latitude.

Multiple Choice

What is the name of this line at 0 degrees latitude?

• Equator

• Prime Meridian

• International Date Line

• North Pole

Multiple Choice

Latitude and longitude are measured in ________.

• cups

• gallons

• degrees

• Fahrenheit

What are hemispheres?

Definition: Two halves of the Earth divided by the Equator and the Prime Meridian
Northern Hemisphere: All areas located above the Equator
Southern Hemisphere: All areas located below the equator
Eastern Hemisphere: All areas located east of the Prime Meridian
Western Hemisphere: All areas located west of the Prime Meridian

Hemispheres

Multiple Choice

Which hemisphere is highlighted in blue?

• Northern

• Southern

• Western

Multiple Choice

Which hemisphere is highlighted in blue?

• Southern

• Northern

• Western

Multiple Choice

Which hemisphere is highlighted in blue?

• Western

• Eastern

• Southern

Multiple Choice

Which hemisphere is highlighted in blue?

• Northern

• Southern

• Western

Multiple Choice

Based on this picture, which two hemispheres do we live in on North America?

• Northern and Eastern

• Northern and Southern

• Northern and Western

Multiple Choice

Which continent is in the Southern and Eastern Hemisphere?

• North America

• South America

• Australia

Stop here for today!

​Good work for today! We will continue on with our notes tomorrow.

FIVE THEMES OF
GEOGRAPHY

​Day 3

What is it like?

• Physical and cultural characteristics of a location

  • Climate

  • Landforms

  • Vegetation

  • Human Influence: Dams, HWYs, etc.

• A specific point on Earth distinguished by a particular characteristic

• Cultural Landscape

  • the visible features of an are of land as modified by humans showing the imprint of a cultural group
    

​

Theme #2 Place

Ways in which geographers describe place

1. Toponym - Name given to a place on Earth

   1. Named for person, religion, ancient history, physical environment, direction

2. Site - The physical character of a place

   1. Climate, water sources, topography, soil, vegetation, latitude, and elevation

   2. Essential in selecting locations for settlement

3. Situation - Location of a place relative to other places

   1. Identify other landmarks to direct people to the desired location

   2. Helps understand the importance of location

•Place Name: Atlanta, Georgia

•Site: Lies on the central piedmont which extends to the fall line of the rivers. South of the most southerly of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the northeast and north central portion of the state. Above and to the north of the coastal plain, which levels to the coastal flatlands.

•Situation: Urban Metropolis which is centrally located in the southeast portion of the United States, in an ideal location for trade and travel.

•Mathematical Location: Location: 33.76290 N, 84.42259 W

•Place Name: The most straightforward way to name a location. A toponym is the name given to a place on Earth. Names are vast and based on many factors.

•Site: The physical character of a place.

•Situation: The location of a place relative to other places.

•Mathematical Location: Describes a precise location that is drawn by a formula that pinpoints a specific point on a meridian and a parallel.

Place Comparison

•Place Name: Atlanta, Georgia

•Site: Lies on the central piedmont which extends to the fall line of the rivers. South of the most southerly of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the northeast and north central portion of the state. Above and to the north of the coastal plain, which levels to the coastal flatlands.

•Situation: Urban Metropolis which is centrally located in the southeast portion of the United States, in an ideal location for trade and travel.

•Mathematical Location: Location: 33.76290 N, 84.42259 W

​

Atlanta, Georgia

2 Aspects of Place

• Physical

characteristics

• Landforms

• Bodies of water

• Climate

• Vegetation

• Animal life

• Cultural

characteristics

• Population settlement

• Agriculture

• Industry

• Religion

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For the following places, produce a list of at least 3

physical and 3 cultural characteristics you can identify

by looking at the pictures

Atlanta, GA

2 Aspects of Place – Atlanta, GA

• Physical characteristics

• Landforms (Piedmont)

• Bodies of water (Chattahoochee

River)

• Climate (Ex. humid subtropical)

• Vegetation (Deciduous Forest)

• Animal life (Deer, bears, hawks)

• Cultural characteristics

• Population settlement

(Hartsfield-Jackson airport)

• Businesses (Home Depot, Coca-

Cola)

• Religion (Baptist Churches)

• Food (Varsity)

• Recreation (Centennial Olympic

Park)

• Education (Georgia Tech)

FOR THE FOLLOWING PLACES,
PRODUCE A LIST OF AT LEAST 3
PHYSICAL AND 3 CULTURAL
CHARACTERISTICS YOU CAN IDENTIFY
BY LOOKING AT THE PICTURES

Your Assignment

Pittsburgh, PA

Venice, Italy

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Tunisia

India

Bringing it all together

• After looking at the physical and cultural

characteristics you listed for the international
locations (NOTPittsburgh), if you had to pick one to
live in, which would it be?

• What aspects of this place led you to this decision?

• Why is this the best choice for YOU?

Maps vs. Globes

• Maps = 2 dimension (all maps are distorted and don’t

accurately represent the earth’s surface)

• Globes = 3 dimension

• Map Projection - a systematic transformation of the

latitudes and longitudes of locations on the surface of a
sphere or an ellipsoid into locations on a plane. Map
projections are necessary for creating maps. All map
projections distort the surface in some fashion.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVX-PrBRtTY

Theme #3: Region

• How are places similar or different?

• Area of the earth distinguished by a distinctive combination of

cultural and physical features

• Different types of regions

• 1. formal

• 2. functional

• 3. perceptual

Formal Region

• Formal Region: An

area within which
everyone shares in
common one or more
distinctive
characteristics.

Formal Region (21)

• Limited number of regional characteristics

• Generally defined by continental area and cultural styles

or predominant characteristincs

• Examples:

• United States and Canada
• Latin America (Spanish/Portuguese speaking)
• Europe
• Southwest Asia (Islam and desert regions)
• South Asia (Hinduism and Aryan/Dravidian descent)
• East Asia (Buddhism and Asian descent)

•OR

• The Wheat Belt
• Republican/Democratic States
• Bible Belt

• Can be determined by the scale at which you view an area

(Country, state, county, city, etc.)

Gore Vs. Bush
What regional characteristics appear on these maps?
What conclusions can you draw?

Functional Regions (21)

• Organized around a set of interactions and connections

between places

• Characterized by a hub or central place/focal point

• Examples:

• New York City
• Metro Atlanta
• MDJ/AJC
• 11 Alive
• AM 750/95.5

Functional Region

• Functional Region: Also called a nodal region,
is an area organized around a node or focal
point.

Vernacular Regions (22)

• AKA Perceptual Regions

• Region in which people perceive the characteristics;

however, sometimes they can be disagreed upon

• Ex: What states would you consider to be in the southeast?

Vernacular Regions Cont’d (22)

• Place that people believe exists as part of their

cultural identity
• Example: Mental map- internal representation of the

Earth’s surface

• Example: “The South”

• High cotton production
• Low graduation rates
• States in the Confederacy
• Baptists

• Southerners and other Americans share a strong

sense of the American South… some pride it…
some avoid it

What type of region would you consider this to be?

Theme #4: Human Environment
Interaction (25)

• How do people relate to the physical world?

• The study of human environment relationships is cultural

ecology

• People learn to use what the environment offers them and to

change that environment to meet their needs

• Examples: dams, roads, highways, cities, slash-and-burn,

deforestation, etc.

Types of Cultural Ecology

• Environmental determinism

• States physical environment causes social development

• Climate

• Precipitation

• Topography

Types of Cultural Ecology

•

Possiblism
• Physical

environment can
limit human
action, but people
have the ability to
adjust to the
environment
•People learn what
crops thrive

•Technology… air
conditioning

Theme #5: Movement (86)

• How do people, goods, and ideas move from one

location to another?

• Human geography focuses on how people

migrate and spread their ideas

• Ex: immigrations from Europe to the U.S…. Why

leave? What factors caused this?

Diffusion – 2 different types

• Relocation Diffusion – The spread of an idea through

the physical movement of people from one place to
another.

• Variety of reasons for relocation such as political, economic, and

environmental

Diffusion – 2 different types

• Expansion Diffusion

• Three Types

• Hierarchical Diffusion – From persons of
authority or power

• Contagious Diffusion – Rapid, widespread

• Stimulus Diffusion – underlying principle

Globalization

• Globalization: A force or process that involves

the entire world and results in making
something worldwide in scope.
• Uniform
• Integrated
• Interdependent

• Completive
Nature

Globalization of Culture

• Increasingly uniform

cultural preferences
produce uniform global
landscapes of material
artifacts and of cultural
values.

• Transnational

corporations –
companies located in
more than one country
(McDonald’s)

Space: Distribution Of Features

• Distribution – The arrangement of a feature

on Earth’s surface.

• May be close together, or far apart

• History vs. Geography

• Three Main Properties

• Density

• Concentration

• Pattern

Density

• Arithmetic Density – The total number of objects in the area, often total population divided

by its area.

• Physiological Density – The number of people per unit of arable land (land suitable for

agriculture).

• Agricultural Density – The number of farmers per unit of farmland.

Concentration: The
extent of a feature’s
spread over space.

• Comparing the Concentration

• Clustered – When the objects in an

area are closer together.

• Dispersed – When the objects in an

area are farther apart.

Pattern: The geometric arrangement of
objects in spaces/regions.

• Grid Patterns/Town Squares
• Land Ordinance of 1785
• Distribution - Density/Concentration/Pattern

GLOBALIZATION
AND
SPATIAL INTERACTION
OF PLACES

Connections
Between
Places

Space-Time Compression – Used to describe the

reduction in the time it takes for something to reach
another place.
• Growing or Shrinking?
• Technology – Communications and Transportation
• Culture and Economy

Space-Time Compression

• Places seem closer because of increased technology and

the ability to access/travel to them quicker

Spatial Interaction

Communication has made it possible for people in distant
places to be aware of other people with different cultural
beliefs, customs, and traits.

• Networks – Computer, Television, and Transportation

• Barriers – Physical and Cultural

Distance Decay

• The decreasing and

eventual
disappearance of a any
aspect or event.

• Opposite of space-time

compression. “The
farther you are away
from something the
less likely it is to impact
you”.

Connections Between Places

• Diffusion – Process by which a characteristic spreads across

space from one place to another over time.

•There are two basic types –

• Relocation
• Expansion

• Hearth - The place (region) from which an innovation originates.