CHAPTER 1: EXPLORING GEOGRAPHY

Please Do Now:

In your PDN section of your binder answer the following with one or two sentences:

“What is Geography?”

What is Geography?

The study of where people, places, and things are located and how they relate to each other

This includes culture, climate, land formations, bodies of water, roadways, and many other features on the earth’s surface

How do we use Geography?

To travel from place to place

To plan vacations

To decide where to build homes and business

To study natural resources

What tools do geographers use? Maps, Charts, and Graphs

Sonar- an instrument that uses sound waves to chart a location, typically uses by ships to chart the bottom of the ocean

Global Positioning System (GPS) – a system of 24 satellites that provides very specific details on location

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) – Computerized resources that collect and use data to help solve geographic problems

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Example: If Gap Inc. wants to build an Old Navy store in northeast PA they might use data about population, economic opportunities, average income in an area, and location to interstate highways to decide where they will build their new store. All of this information can be found using a GIS.

What other ways might a GIS be useful?

Planning housing developments

Planning Electrical Plants

Farming

Hotel and Restaurant Management

Advertising

Highway Management

Forestry

Geographic Concepts

Ideas that help to organize information so that patterns can be detected and the information can be related to everyday life

Classwork Assignment:

Copy Geographic concepts and definitions #’s 1-10 on page 36 into your notebook under notes.

1. Geographic Tools

2. Physical Characteristics

3. Physical Processes

4. Climates

5. Ecosystems

6. Patterns of Settlement

7. Urbanization

8. Migration

9. Population Growth

10. Cultures

Homework:

In the homework section of your binder copy define the key terms from page 35

(There are 10 of them)

Also copy the “Main Idea” under the key terms into your notebook in the same spot

Please Do Now:

In your PDN section of your binder answer the following with one or two sentences:

“If you could vacation anywhere where would it be? Why?”

Key Terms (page 35)

Geography: the study of Earth’s Surface and the processes that shape it, the connections, between places, and the relationships between people and their environment

GIS: Geographic Information System which uses computer technology to collect and analyze data about the Earth’s surface in order to solve geographic problems

Absolute Location: The position on the Earth in which a place can be found (Map Coordinates)

Hemisphere: A half of the Earth, the Equator divides northern and southern hemispheres, the Prime Meridian divides the eastern and western hemispheres

Relative Location: The position of a place in relation to another place

Character of a Place: The physical and human characteristics that make a place different from other places

Perception: A view point that is influenced by a person’s own culture and experience

Formal Region: A group of places that have similar characteristics

Functional Region: A group of places connected by movement

Perceptual Region: A group of places that is defined by people’s feelings and attitudes

Geographic Concepts

Geographic Tools = Maps, Charts, GPS, Sonar, Ect…

Physical Characteristics = Mountains, Valleys, forests, Rivers, Lakes, Bays, Ect…

Physical Process = Acid Rain, Glaciers, Global Warming

Climate = Weather over time

Ecosystem= Plant and animal life, Rainforests, Swamps, Wetlands, Tidal Pools, Ect….

Where are the 5 Geographic Concepts we talked about today?

PDN

“Describe the Character of Place for Pennsylvania.”

PDN

“If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? Why?”

5 Themes of Geography

Location

Place

Regions

Movement

Human-Environment Interaction

Theme 1 = Location

Absolute Location: The position on the Earth in which a place can be found

This is given with latitude and longitude coordinates

Hemispheres

A half of the Earth

Northern Hemisphere

Southern Hemisphere

Eastern Hemisphere

Western Hemisphere

The United States is in the Northern and Western Hemispheres

Latitude

Imaginary lines that run East and West (Left and Right) on a map

The Equator is 0 degrees

Tropic of Cancer is 23 ½ degrees north

Tropic of Capricorn is 23 ½ degrees south

These are the lines that the sun hits directly at certain points of the year and are warmer than the rest of the earth

Latitude

90 degrees north is the north pole

90 degrees south is the south pole

These are the coldest points on earth because they are the most distant from the direct sun

These points have dark periods where the sun does not come out for months at a time

Longitude Imaginary lines that run North and South (up and

down) on a map

0 degrees is the Prime Meridian

Lines run from 0 to 180 degrees around the globe

The lines of longitude actually get closer at the poles and are the greatest distance at the equator

These lines are used to assign time zones

Relative Location:

The position of a place in relation to another place

A place can have many different relative locations and they can change

Examples: Pennsylvania is west of New Jersey Drums is close to Hazleton Philadelphia is about 2 hours away from

Hazleton

Theme 2 = Place

Character of a Place: The physical and human characteristics that make a place different from other places

Physical Characteristics – Landforms, Ecosystems, and climate ( things that are found in nature)

Human Characteristics – language, population, government, currency, religion

Population

Urban – cities

Suburban – small towns just outside of cities

Rural - country

Geographic Concepts

Patterns of Settlement (Rural, Urban, Suburban)

Urbanization (Growing Cities)

Migration (movement of People)

Population Growth (number of people goes up)

Cultures ( the way people act)

How Would you use the 5 Geographic Concepts that we talked about today to

study this picture?

PDN

“ On your way to school what examples of physical processes did you see?”

Theme 3 Regions:

A region is a group of places that have one or more characteristics in common

Three Types of Regions:

Formal Region

Functional Region

Perceptual Region

Formal Region

Areas that all share the same characteristics

Examples:

States – Every town is under the same laws

The Corn Belt - Corn is grown in this area of the Untied States

Chinatown – An area where many Chinese American settled

Functional Region

A central place and the areas surrounding it that are affected by that place

Example:

New York Metropolitan Area

Mississippi River Basin

Chesapeake Bay Watershed

Perceptual Regions

An area that is defined by the way people feel about an area

Examples:

The South

The Mid-West

Theme 4 = Movement

Places do not exist all by themselves there is movement between them

Examples:

A persons accent may travel with them when the move

Good that are produced in one region and sold in another

Theme 5 = Human-Environment Interaction

How people use their environment

Examples:

Clearing a forest for farming purposes

Drilling for oil

Planting flowers