Chapter 1

Key Issue 2 Why is Each Point on Earth Unique

Place: unique location of a feature Regions: Areas of unique characteristics

Place: Unique location of a feature What are the four ways to identify

location? Place name Site Situation Mathematical location

Place Names Toponyms: Where does the name come

from? People Religion Landscape/Environment

Names can change Political reasons

DISCUSSION Where do names of some common

places in this area come from? Your School? Your State? Your country?

Site Physical Character of a place

Climate Water sources Topography Soil vegetation Latitude elevation

Site Physical characteristics important for

settlement Islands Rivers Can be manipulated by man

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.

DISCUSSION Why do you think some people live in

areas that are prone to natural disasters?

Situation Location of a place relative to other

places 1) Helps us to find an unfamiliar place by

comparing it to a familiar one “Across from the fire station”

2) Helps explain importance of location Metro-access

Situation: Singapore

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

DISCUSSION How would you describe the “situation”

of your school? Your house?

Why would you do this instead of just giving the address?

Mathematical Location Precise location (longitude & latitude)

Meridian (North-South poles) measure longitude Prime Meridian: Greenwich, England

Parallel (Equator) measure latitude Lat Lines are the FLAT lines

Telling Time 24 time zones, one for each hour Separated by 15° longitude

Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) 12pm in Greenwich 0° 7am in New York 75° West (-5hrs)

International Date Line, 180° longitude

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wk4XArc1xf4

Regions: Areas of Unique Characteristics Cultural Landscape

Combination of cultural, economic & physical features

Cultural Landscape Cultural Features

Language religion

Economic Features Agriculture Industry

Physical Features Climate vegetation

How is the New York region different than the DC Metro region?

Cultural Landscape “Regional Studies Approach”

Each region has its own distinctive landscape due to combination of social relationships & physical processes

Similarities IN the region, differences OUT

Presidential Election 2004Regional Differences

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

Types of Regions Area larger than a point, smaller than

planet Three types

Formal Functional Vernacular

Formal Region Uniform/Homogeneous Region

Everyone shares distinctive characteristics

Examples: Language Climate Political Ideology (Red Republican State)

Used to describe patterns of a region

Functional Region Nodal Region

Organized around a focal point (node) Reception of TV station Distribution of Newspaper (Gazette)

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 Region Perceptual Region

What people envision as a place

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 Important to look at scale and

characteristics within a region to understand factors Cancer rates

United States: higher on East Coast MD: higher in Baltimore and East counties Baltimore: lower levels in Northern zip

codes

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.

Regional Integration of Culture Culture: distinct tradition of group of people

To care about Similarities in ideas, beliefs, values, customs

To care of Production of Material Wealth Food, clothing, shelter

How do they obtain these things?

Human Geographers research differences in culture between: MDC: More developed country

LDC: Less developed country

Cultural Ecology Geographic study of Human-environment

relationships Environmental Determinism VS Possibilism Environmental Determinism

Physical environment caused social development

Possibilism People can adjust their environmentVideo 1

Cultural Ecology Human geographers study relationships

between human activities and physical environment

Why do we grow grass in the yard, use water to make it grow, then cut it???

Are we going to run out of food for our growing population???

What are we doing to our environment? What can be done?

Global Environment Climate Vegetation Soil Landforms

Climate Long-term average weather condition Koppen System

Tropical Dry Warm Mid-Lat Cold Mid-Lat Polar

World Climate Regions

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

Climate Humans have limited tolerance for

extreme temperature and precipitation levels Who would want to live in these regions?

DRY or POLAR??? Climate influences production of food

Monsoons in Southern Asia Delay can cause wide-spread famine

Physical Processes: Vegetation Vegetation & soil influence types of

agriculture Four main biomes: Forest: trees form canopy over ground Savanna: mixture of trees & grasses Grassland: covered by grass, lack of

trees Desert: dispersed patches of plants

Physical Processes: SoilSoil contains nutrients plants

humansConcerns with destruction of soil

Nature & human actionsErosionDepletion of nutrients

Physical Processes: Landforms Geomorphology: study of Earth’s

landforms Explains distribution of people &

economic activities Topographic maps: show detail of

physical features, ex: elevation

Topographic Maps

How might you use a topographic map if you were selecting? 1. A route for a hike. 2. The best location for an airport. 3. A route for a new road

Environmental Modification in the Netherlands

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

The Netherlands “God made Earth, but the Dutch made

the Netherlands” Polders: land created by draining water Dikes: walls built to keep ocean out

Polder Dike Video

Florida Barrier Islands along coast

Sea walls & Jetties built to prevent them from washing away. Erosion

Everglades Modifications made to open up land

Led to polluted waters

Environmental Modification in Florida

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

C-38 CanalFlorida

The canal has carried water with agricultural runoff and pollution into Lake Okeechobee