Foundations of Geography

What do geographers study?????

Answer….

Geographers want to know where are things located?? And why are they there???

The four most important directions are called the cardinal directions◦ North◦ South◦ East◦ West

• Intermediate directions are used to describe directions that are not exactly north, south, east and west Northeast Southeast Northwest Southwest

Directions

Geographers use a system of lines on a grid to determine location on the Earth’s surface◦ Lines that run left to right are lines of LATITUDE

To measure degrees North and South one would use lines of latitude O degrees latitude is known as the Equator There are 0-90 degrees of latitude

Latitude and Longitude

Lines that run top to bottom are called lines of longitude◦ To measure degrees East and West one would use

lines of longitude 0 degrees longitude is known as the PRIME MERIDIAN There are 0-179 degrees of longitude 180 degrees is known as the international date line

Longitude

Latitude and Longitude coordinates are used to find exact location

Latitude is always first and longitude second Parallel is a line of latitude Meridian is a line of longitude

Latitude and Longitude

Location Region Place Movement Human-Environment Interaction

◦ These five themes are used to help geographers organize information about Earth and its people.

The Five Themes of Geography

Geographers use location to find where an area is—latitude and longitude provide exact location

Cardinal and intermediate directions along with landmarks provide relative location

Now find an example in the book…

Location

Unifying physical or human characteristic such as population, history, climate, or landforms.

Now find an example in the book…

Region

Human and physical features that describe an area such as hot or cold climate, or land that is hilly

Now find an example in the book…

Place

How people, goods, and ideas get from one place to another.

Example- When people from other countries came to the United States, they brought traditional foods that enriched the American way of life.

How else is this theme important?? Use the book!!

Movement

Explores how people affect their environment, or their natural surroundings, and how their environment affects them.

Human-Environment Interaction

How would a description of your home town as a place be different from a description of your home town’s location?

Think About and Answer…

There are five different kinds of maps:◦ Political

Shows boundaries that people have set up to show the different countries and states

◦ Physical Shows natural features such as mountains, rivers, and forests

◦ Population Lets you see how many people live in a particular area, rural

and suburban◦ Economic

Shows how people make a living in a given area◦ Natural Resource

Provides a link between the resources of the land and they way people use them

Kinds of Maps