Geography

UNIT #1: WHAT IS GEOGRAPHY 


What is Geography?

Geo: Earth

Graphy: To write

Geography is the study of Earth’s Surface


What does geography tell us about?

Geography is studying maps and learning locations. It helps us understand places and the relationship between people, places, and the environment. 


Other Examples of Geography around us:

-Weather and climate (Physical)

-Roads and transportation (Human)

-Buildings and neighborhoods (Cultural) 



“6-5-4-3-2-1 of Geography”

6 Essential Elements:

  1. The world in spatial Terms

  2. Places and Regions

  3. Physical systems

  4. Human systems

  5. Environment and society

  6. Uses of Geography 


5 Themes of a Geographic Education: 

  1. Location

  2. Place

  3. Movement

  4. Human/ Environment interaction

  5. Region


4 Geographic Views: 

  1. Character of Places/ Regions

  2. Physical Science

  3. Spatial Analysis

  4. Human-Environment Interaction


3 Branches of Geography:

  1. Cultural

  2. Physical

  3. Technical


2 Perspectives:

The Science of space and place 

“The why of where”

Place becomes a meaningful space and a connection to us


1 Succinct Description:

Geography is the study of the Earth's surface. 





UNIT #2: THINKING LIKE A HUMAN GEOGRAPHER 


Culture:

A body of customary beliefs, material traits, and social forms that constitute a unique tradition within a group of people

“Human Learned Behavior”


How is culture used?

-Looking through different lenses, good and bad. 



Material vs. Nonmaterial Culture:

Material Culture: Tangible things that represent the traits of a group.

Nonmaterial Culture: Intangible things that represent the traits of a group. 



Human/ Cultural Geography: “The study of spatial variations among cultural traits and the spatial function of society.” 


Cultural Diffusion: The geographic spreading or dissemination of ideas, innovations, and other phenomena. 


Types of Diffusion: 

  1. Contagious Expansion Diffusion

  2. Hierarchical Expansion Diffusion

  3. Relocation Diffusion

  4. Stimulus Diffusion

  5. Covered Bridge Diffusion 


Distance Decay: The farther away (Friction of distance)


Absorbing Barriers: Those that largely, if not completely, halt the spread of a cultural trait 


Permeable Barriers: Those that limit an innovation or idea from full embrace in culture. 


Globalization: Increased linkages between cultures break down traditional barriers and make traditional barriers less meaningful. 


Culture Regions:

“The Essence of Geography”

Region= A division of the earth based on specific criteria that distinguish between cultures


Region notes, examples, and connections:

-Religious Region

-Fuzzy Boundaries


What is “landscape”

-Plants

-Environment

-Layout of the world


Natural Landscape: What we see outside that has not been affected by humans. 


Cultural Landscape: What we see outside that is/has been affected by humans. 


Examples and connections:

-Dessert

-Ocean 

-Amazon rainforest

-Great Canyon


Toponym: Place name


Site: A place’s absolute location 


Situation: A place’s relative location, or the location of a place in relation of people


Examples and connections:

-Heart of the Southwest

-Singapore



What can landscape tell us?

“Culture is the agent, the natural area is the medium, the cultural landscape is the result.” -Carl Sauer

The cultural landscape tells us about ourselves and the influence on everyone's lives. 


Cultural Ecology: The study of the interaction between people and the physical world.

Three Perspectives on Cultural Ecology:

  1. Relationship

  2. Patterns

  3. Possibilities 

Examples and Connections:

-Diffusion

-Sports


Physical Geography: The study of the natural or physical landscape and its processes and the roles it plays in the lives of humans. 


Why should we care about this perspective?

People live where they can live.


Human-Environment Interaction: 

Patterns:

-Climate

-Population Density

-Tornados 

-Earthquakes

-Fires 


Relationships:

-What are the two sides? = Humans and the environment 

-When do we get along? = There are resources, and we allow them to provide resources, or when humans take more resources away from the environment. 


Hazard: The potential threat to humans and their welfare (This possibly a cause of loss).

Examples and connections: 

-Natural Disaster (Tornado, Hurriance, Fire, etc.)

-Human caused (Pollution loss)

-abuse

-misues

-Resources= Petroleum & Rainforest

- Environmental Diseaters


Vulnerability: How susceptible humans are to an impact from natural disaster. 

Examples and connections:

What factors impact vulnerability? = Proximity, people near disaster

-Proximity

-Financial (Money) 

-Age people (Old people)

-Ecuaction/ Awareness

-Preparation

-Socio-economics

-Acess to resources (infrastructure, money, and information)


→ Climate Change- The Greenhouse effect: house allow sunto give in light for plants, since it glass it produce heat. The heat bounce back and fourth. 



Possibilities:

Mitigation: The act of reducing the impact from something harmful, such as a hazard (trying to present to change a future scenario.)

Examples of possibilities for mitigation: 

-What do we have in climate change?

→ Grow garden, less pollution and transportation of glass, change solar

→ Renewable energy


Adaptations: A modification of human vulnerability to minimize impacts from existing hazards (dealing with current / future circumstances).

Examples of possibilities for adaptation: 

-Natural Distearster Adaptation = Adaption through change

-Bp oil spill response

-What about energy possibilities? → Renweable energy

-Electrification of our movement = pros and cons, minerals, large vehicles



UNIT #4: THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA

Regions: “The essence of Geography”

A division of the the earth based on a specific criteria distinguish between one area and another.  


Three types of regions:

Formal Region: Uniform areas inhabited by people who have one or more culture traits in common (“Shared trait”).

Functional Region: Areas organized to operate around a common function (“Shared purpose”).

Vernacular Region: Areas perceived to exist by inhabitants (“Shared Perception”). 


Examples and connections:

-Graphic Boundaries of United States

-Different viewed of regions


Two classes of Formal Region - Traditional vs. Voluntary Region: 

Traditional Region: An area with shared traits that is “relatively self-contained, endogames [marrying with a clan or tribe], stable, and of long duration.”


Voluntary Region: An area with shared traits that is defined by “self-selected groups of like-minded, mobile, atomistic [ separated, disparate] individuals.”


Examples, categories, and connections:

-Military Towns: Norfolk, VA

-College Town: Lawrence, KS

-Amphibious Region: Galveston, TX

-Montane Region: Park city, UT

-Heliotropic (Sun-seeking) Regions: Phoenix, AZ

-Forbidden Fruitlands: Lake Tahoe, NV/ CA

-Equine Regions: Exurban Las Vegas, NV