Chapter One

Thinking

Geographically

Where are you?

Tell me where you are.

How do you know?

Important Terms

Map – two dimensional or flat scale model of the Earth.

Place – A specific Point on the Earth’s surface.

Region – an area of the Earth described by a distinctive

combination of cultural and physical features.

Scale – Relationship between a portion of the Earth and the

whole.

Space – physical gap between two objects.

Connections – relationships between people and objects

across space.

Key Issue # 1

How Do Geographers Address Where Things Are?

How Geographers Address Location

Maps

Early mapmaking

Map scale

Projection

U.S. Land Ordinance of 1785

Contemporary Tools

GIS

Remote sensing

GPS

Cartography

The science of mapmaking,

Early Mapmaking

Maps surfaced in 2300 BC.

Aristotle was the first to see the describe the earth was

spherical.

Map making and exploration were revived during the Age of

Exploration.

Maps of the Marshall Islands

A Polynesian “stick chart” depicts patterns of waves on the sea route between two South Pacific

islands. Modern maps show the locations of these Marshall Islands.

Polynesian

Stick Chart

Marshall Islands

depicted in stick chart

Marshall Islands in the South Pacific

World Political Boundaries (2007)

Fig. 1-2: National political boundaries are among the most significant elements of the

cultural landscape

Map Scale

How much of the map do you draw?

Once that question is answered we look for map scale.

Scale

Differences Maps of

Washington

State

Fig. 1-3: The effects of scale in maps of Washington State. (Scales from 1:10 million to 1:10,000)

Washington State (1:10 million scale)

Western Washington (1:1 million scale)

Seattle Region (1:100,000 scale)

Downtown Seattle, Washington (1:10,000 scale)

Projection

The problem with a map is that the Earth is round and maps

are flat.

The projection of maps to a flat surface gives us distortion.

Shape can be distorted.

Distance can be distorted.

Size can be distorted.

Direction can be distorted.

US Land Ordinance of 1785

Commissioned to Thomas Hutchins to map the US and

divide into sections to sell.

Surveyor General is in charge of any land mapping for the

US.

Township &

Range

System in the

US

Fig. 1-4: Principal meridians & east-west baselines of the township system. Townships in northwest

Mississippi & topographic map of the area.

Townships

A square 6 miles on each side (36 square miles)

The square has 36 sections.

Each section has 4 parts (NE, NW, SE, SW) of 160 acres, this

is how land was developed and sold.

Principal Meridians & Baselines U.S. Land Ordinance of 1785

Tallahatchie

River,

Mississippi

in Township

Sections

The Tallahatchie River is located in the southeast and southwest quarter-sections of Section

32, T23N R1E.

Tallahatchie River,

Mississippi

The topographic map of the U.S. Geological Survey

has a scale of 1:24,000

Contemporary Tools

GIS

Remote sensing

GPS

GIS – geographic information system

Computerized system that can store, query, analyze and

display geographic data.

Layers of

a GIS

Fig. 1-5: A geographic information system (GIS) stores information about a location in several

layers. Each layer represents a different category of information.

Remote Sensing

Satellites scan the Earth for a variety of applications.

Vegetation, temperature, population, pollution are possible

uses.

GPS – global positioning system.

Tells the exact location of something on Earth.

Google Map

Chicago pizza restaurants

Key Issue # 2

Why is Each Point on Earth Unique?

Uniqueness of Places & Regions

Place: Unique location of a feature Place names

Site

Situation

Mathematical location

Regions: Areas of unique characteristics Cultural landscape

Types of regions

Spatial association

Regional integration of culture

Cultural ecology

Place: A Unique Location of a Feature

Location is the position that something occupies on Earth’s surface.

A toponym is the name given to the location of the Earth.

Page 15 in your book.

Some name are more descriptive.

El Paso

Las Cruces

San Antonio

Baton Rouge

Boca Raton

Grand Teton National Park

Longest Town name in the World

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobewllllantysiliogogog

och.

The Church of St. Mary’s in the grove of the white hazelnut

tree near the rapid whirlpool and the Church of St. Tisilio

near the red cave.

Vocabulary

Site – the physical character of a place.

Situation – location relative to other places.

Site: Lower

Manhattan

Island

Fig. 1-6: Site of lower Manhattan Island,

New York City. There have been

many changes to the area over the

last 200 years.

Situation: Singapore

Fig. 1-7: Singapore is situated at a key location for international trade.

Downtown Singapore

Mathematical Location

Meridian – arch drawn between North and South poles.

Parallel – circle drawn around the globe parallel to the

equator.

Longitude

Prime Meridian

Latitude

World Geographic Grid

Fig. 1-8: The world geographic grid consists of meridians of longitude and parallels of latitude.

The prime meridian ( 0º) passes through Greenwich, England.

World Time Zones

Fig. 1-9: The world’s 24 standard time zones each represent about 15° of longitude. They are often

depicted using the Mercator projection.

New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina

Fig. 1.1: Most of the area of New Orleans flooded after Hurricane Katrina was majority

African American. Physical and political geography intersect in analyzing the

impacts of the natural disaster

New Orleans

New Orleans after Katrina

Regions

Formal Region – uniform region or a homogeneous region

States

Agricultural regions

Voting patterns

Presidential Election 2004 Regional Differences

Fig. 1-10: Presidential election results by county & state illustrate differences in regional voting

patterns.

Presidential Election, 2004

Results by County

Presidential Election, 2004

Results by State

Functional Regions

Areas that are around a node or focal point.

Formal and Functional Regions

Fig. 1-11: The state of Iowa is an example of a formal region; the areas of influence of various

television stations are examples of functional regions.

Vernacular Regions

A place that exist as part of the cultural identity

Vernacular Regions

Fig. 1-12: A number of features are often used to define the South as a vernacular region, each of

which identifies somewhat different boundaries.

Spatial Association at Various Scales

Fig. 1-13: Death rates from cancer in the US, Maryland, and Baltimore show different

patterns that can identify associations with different factors.

Cancer Death Rates in the U.S.

Cancer Death Rates in Maryland

Cancer

Death

Rates in

Baltimore

Culture – to care for

Body of customary beliefs, material traits and social forms

that together constitute the distinct tradition of a group of

people.

Language

Religion

Ethnicity

Wealth

Political Institutions

Cultural Ecology

Environmental determinism – how the physical environment

caused social development.

World Climate Regions

Fig. 1-14: The modified Köppen system divides the world into five main climate regions.

Environmental

Modification in

the

Netherlands

Fig. 1-15: Polders and dikes have been used for extensive environmental modification in the

Netherlands.

Environmental

Modification in

Florida

Fig. 1-16: Straightening the Kissimmee River has had many unintended side effects.

C-38 Canal

Florida

The canal has carried water with

agricultural runoff and pollution into

Lake Okeechobee

Similarity of Different Places

Scale: From local to global

Globalization of economy

Globalization of culture

Space: Distribution of features

Distribution

Gender and ethnic diversity in space

Connections between places

Spatial interaction

Diffusion

Globalization of the Economy

Fig. 1-17: The Denso corporation is headquartered in Japan, but it has regional headquarters

and other facilities in North America and Western Europe.

Distribution:

Density,

Concentration, &

Pattern

Fig. 1-18: The density, concentration, and pattern (of

houses in this example) may vary in an

area or landscape.

Density and Concentration of Baseball

Teams, 1952 & 2007

Fig. 1-19: The changing distribution of North American baseball teams illustrates the

differences between density and concentration.

U.S. Baseball Teams, 1952

Fig. 1-19: Baseball teams were highly concentrated in the Northeast and Midwest

in 1952.

U.S. Baseball Teams, 2007

Fig. 1-19: By 2007, U.S. baseball teams were much more dispersed than in 1952, and their

number and density at a national level had increased.

Space-Time Compression, 1492-1962

Fig. 1-20: The times required to cross the Atlantic, or orbit the earth, illustrate how transport

improvements have shrunk the world.

Airline Route Networks

Fig. 1-21: Continental Airlines, like many others, has configured its route network in a

“hub and spoke” system.

AIDS

Diffusion in

the US, 1981-

2002

Fig. 1-22: New AIDS cases were concentrated in three nodes in 1981. They spread through the

country in the 1980s, but declined in the original nodes in the late 1990s.

New AIDS Cases, 1981 (per 100,000 population)

New AIDS Cases, 1993 (per 100,000 population)

New AIDS Cases, 2002 (per 100,000 population)

Cumulative AIDS Cases, 1981-2002

The AIDS

Memorial

Quilt

Big Mac Geography