Geography

The seven key concepts in geography are:

• Space: geographers use space to investigate the way things are arranged on the Earth’s surface. Geographers look for patterns in the way features and structures are arranged, which space helps them to do. The three main concepts of space are: 1) location, where things are located on the Earth’s surface, 2) organisation, how and why things are arranged and managed on the Earth’s surface by people and 3) spatial distribution, the shapes and patterns in which things are arranged on the Earth’s surface.

• Place: a place is a part of the Earth’s surface that is identified (named) and given a meaning by people. Places can be natural or built. Each place has its own unique set of characterisitics. The life of every person and animal on Earth is influenced dby place. Places determine our relationships with one another.

• Interconnection: nothing on Earth exists in isolation. All environments and every living and non-living thing are connected. Geographers use interconnection to understand the links between places and people and the effect these have on the environment and the way we live. These connections can be local or global. Natural processes link places and people. Links between places and people can affect the way people live and vice versa.

• Change: the Earth is always changing. Some changes occur rapidly and are easily observible, and some changes take place over millions of years and are almost undetectable. Change can be the result of natural forces and human activity. Changes can be positive and negative.

• Environment: the living and non-living components and elements that make up an area, and the ways they are organised into a system. Geographers are interesting in investigating and the describing the relationship between people and the environment. In particular the ways in which different groups of people interact with the environment and why it might be different to another groups, the ways people change the environment and how they can be managed and the impact of environmental hazards on people and how the impacts of these hazards cna be reduced.

• Sustainability: relates to the ongoing capacity of the Earth to maintain all life. This means developing new ways to ensure the Earth’s resources are used and managed responsibly to allow for future use.

• Scale: the size of events, such as local, national/regional and international/global efforts to improve sustainability.

There are four key parts of reading a map, they are:

• Border

• Orientation

• Legend

• Title

• Scale

• Source

A sixteen-point compass

Natural features are features on the Earth’s surface that occur naturally and would still be there without humans. Cultural features are features that are only present because of human interaction. They are to do with people and/or made by them.

Topography is the study of physical features in an area.

The changes to vegetation are a cause of human alterations. Land-clearing for farming leads to deforestation. 5 million hectares of forest are converted to farmland each year. The grazing animals in Africa and South America cause damage to the tropical forests’ undergrowth. The planting of monocrops (e.g. palm trees for oil) reduces vegetation variety. Crops that are planted and eaten (grains from grasslands) do not return the correct nutrients into the soil, therefore reducing its fertility. Pesticides/herbicides damageand kill native flora and fauna. Soil that is exposed due to land clearing becomes vulnerable to erosion.

The changes to water are also a result of human alteration. Fertilisers leeching into water bodies leads to algal bloom. Herbicides/pesticides pollute and destroy native plant and animal life. Dams reduce the flow of rivers, impacting downstream use and therefore increasing the salinity of fresh water. Pumping water for irrigation from aquifers leads to drops in the water table.

Desertification (another changed due to human alteration) is the process of a region gradually become drier, losing bodies of water, vegetation and wildlife. Overuse of grazing, farming and land clearing are the leading cuases of desertification. It increases the amount of sandstorms, crop losses, famine, conflict and loss of plant and wildlife.

The changing of soil (another human alteration) is split into three categories. Salinity, Soil degradation and terracing. Increasing the salinity destroys plant life (secondary salinity is caused by humans). An increase of salinity is caused by removing plants with deep roots from the waters, which leads to the water table rising and a collection salt in the soil, which builds up over time. Soil degradation is caused by human actions, such as deforestation, increasing farm density and poor irrigation practices, reduces soil health and productivity. Erosion leads to loose fertile soil, which gets washed and blown away. Overfarming also depleted nutrients. Terracing changes the shape of the land to make it more productive. It can lead to rain saturation and can cause erosion.

An area reference is a 4 digit number that tells the general area of something on a map. A grid reference is a 6 digit number that tells more specifically what the area of something on a map. Latitude are the horizontal lines across a map. Longitude lines are the vertical lines along a map. The spot height on a map shows the height of a point. Height above sea level shows the height of a point above the sea level. Contour lines are the lines on a map that show the different heights. The distance betweent them is known as the contour interval.

Shortened guide to biomes:

Terrestrial biomes are biomes found on land. Aquatic biomes are biomes found in water.

Polar lands are very cold and dry. They have very little animal life and almost no vegetation. They are located near upwards or the arctic circle and downards on the antarctic circle.

The tundra is cold, with short growing seasons and no trees. They are located at the top of Earope, Asia and North America (around the arctic circle).

A boreal forest is cold, wet and is filled with coniferous trees. Threats to these types of biomes include a loss of trees for wood and paper, forest clearing for oil and gas, insect plagues, acid rain, bushfires and deforestation. Climate change is also causing forests to spread further north, replacing the tundra in some places. They are located underneath tundras and throughout Euroasia and North America.

A temperate forest has mild temperatures and wet weather, with lots of trees and animal life. They are mostly located in the bottoms 2/3s of Eurasia and North America and sometimes along the coasts of other continents.

Mountain vegetation is on cold and windy land, with vegetation that won’t be blown over. Mountain vegetation can be found in the middle of Asia and Africa and along parts of the coast of North and South America.

Grasslands have mainly grass vegetation that supports many different species of animals. They can be very wet or very dry, depending on the location. They can be found mainly through the middle of Africa, but they are generally found along the equator.

Deserts are very dry and have almost no plants, they are often located in the centre of continents, away from coasts. They are found around the equator and the tropics of cancer and capricorn.

Tropical forests are warm, wet and have lots of plant and animal life. THey are found along the equator

Freshwater biomes have low/no levels of salt, they support animals and some aquatic plant life. They are found in the middle of continents.

Marine biomes are made up of three zones that get colder and darker as the water gets deeper. Most marine life exists closer to the surface.

Coral reefs are found in warmer waters, often close to the land and are filled with coral and aquatic life that depends of coral (such as fish).