GNP - The Field of Geography Lesson

The Field of Geography

Geography

  • Physical Geography is the study of the physical features of the earth
    • Geo = Earth
    • Graphy = Writing
  • Human Geography is the study of the people and processes that shape the Earth's surface (anthropogenic)
    • The "Why of Where"?
  • Geography makes use of models to attempt to explain and predict patterns

Five Themes of Geography

  • Place – Unique area on the Earth's surface
  • Region – Linking places together
  • Location – Where a place is
    • Relative
    • Absolute
  • Human-Environmental Interaction (Cultural Ecology)- How environment affects people and vice versa
    • "5 Toos" – Hot, Cold, Wet, Dry, Hilly represent locations that are "too" difficult to live in permanently
  • Movement (Spatial Interaction) – interaction between places

History of Cartography

History of cartography image

  • Map-making has been a practice of humans for thousands of years. Some of the early thinkers were:
    • Eratosthenes – He created the term "geography" and created a relatively accurate measurement for the circumference of the Earth
    • Ptolemy – Greek mathematician who believed the planets rotated around the Earth (not accurate), but he was one of the first people to think about the Earth and its surroundings in mathematical terms and pioneered the use of longitude and latitude to identify place
  • 14 century (1300s) Marco Polo to China – although historians question whether Polo actually made this trip, the maps and stories helped to connect Europe to Central and East Asia
  • 15th and 16th centuries
    • Columbus to North America
    • Magellan (his ship) circumnavigate the globe
    • Dias rounds the tip of Africa
  • Cartographers become important during this time frame
    • Gerardus Mercator (1500s) produced first relatively accurate continental outline

IMAGES CREATED BY GAVS