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What is Geography?
Geography means earth writing. (Geo-earth; graphia-writing)
Location
absolute and relative location
Place
distinctive physical and human characteristics of a place
Human-Environment Interaction
How people interact with/shape the surrounding environment.
Movement
Mobility of people, goods, and ideas; patterns & changes in human spatial interactions; accessibility & connectivity of places.
Regions
Area that displays a selected criteria - one or more distinctive characteristics. (Ex: New England)
Geography
the study of where things are found on Earth's surface and the reasons for their locations.
Map
a 2-dimensional or flat-scale model of the Earth's surface
Cartography
the science and practice of mapmaking
Maps as Reference Tools
identify an object's absolute and relative location
Maps as Communications Tools
to convey the distribution of human activities or physical features
Examples of Maps as Communications tools
Illiterate women across the world, HIV prevalence, etc.
Projection
the scientific method of depicting Earth's round surface to a flat map
Types of Map Scales
ratio or fraction; written; graphic
Ways of Distortion
Shape; distance; relative size; direction
Mercator Projection
shows courses of constant bearing as straight lines
(transverse mercator projection is the same mathematically as the standard mercator but on a different axis.)
Robinson Projection
a compromise or equal-area and conformal area
Albers Projection
shows shape accurately, but distorts shapes
Miller Cylindrical Projection
maps the globe onto a cylinder
Map Scale
the level of detail and the amount of area covered on the map
Ration or Fractions Scale
Number on the left is one unit of distance on the map, while number on the right represents its equivalent on Earth's surface.
Ex: 1:24,000 or 1/24,000
Written Scale
Number on the left is a unit of measurement on the map while the number on the right represents its equivalent on the surface of the Earth.
Ex: 3 in = 10 mi
Graphic Scale
Consists of a bar marked on the map to show equivalent distance on the Earth's surface.
Small Scale (or small fraction)
maps that how a large area on the earth such as 1/1,000,000
(less detail)
Large Scale (or large fraction)
maps that show a small area on the Earth such as 1/25,000 or 1/1000
(more detail)
Meridians
lines of longitude (runs north/south from pole to pole.
Parallels
lines of latitude (runs east/west parallel to the equator
Absolute Location
exact location on earth's surface, told using coordinates
Ex: Denver is located at 40N, 105W
Relative Location
Location in relation to other nearby features
Ex: Denver is located at the foot of the Rocky Mountains on Interstate 70
How many time zones are there?
24 (each 15* longitude wide)
Space
the physical gap or interval between objects
Density
frequency with which something occurs in a specified area
(Arithmetic, Physiological, and Agricultural Density)
Concentration
extent of a feature's spread
Clustered
close together
Dispersed
Spread Apart
Pattern
Arrangements of objects in space
Isoline Map
map that uses lines of equal value to represent data
Ex: average temperature, mean annual precipitation
Choropleth Map
map where a specific variable is depicted with shading, patterns, or colors
Ex: population densities, motor vehicle theft by state, political states
Proportional (Graduated) Symbol Map
map in which the size of the symbol varies in proportion to the intensity of the mapped variable
Ex: traffic fatalities in the U.S. by state, capital population, total murders per state
Dot Map
thematic map in which a dot represents some frequency/occurrence of a variable
Ex: population
Cartogram
map using relative size of political units to convey a value
Ex: electoral votes, population,
Note
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