Geog 101 8/16/16
Instructor: Pesses 1
01| Introducing Geography
Part I – Introducing GeographyGeography 101
Physical Geography: Earth’s Surface LandscapesM. Pesses, Antelope Valley College
Today
õ Definitionofphysicalgeography
õ “Spatial”
Physical Geography
õ Geographyliterally“towriteabouttheEarth”
õ Weareinterestedinthespatialrelationships betweenthingsontheplanet
“Spatial”
“of,pertainingto,relatingto,occupying,existingin,occurringin,orcausedbyspace”
ParaphrasedfromthePenguinDictionaryofGeography,1993
“Spatial”
Wearespatialactorsô Wemove(mobility)ô Weunderstanddirection,distance, etc.
ô Newtechnologychangesthis
ó Maps,GPS
Geog 101 8/16/16
Instructor: Pesses 2
“Spatial”
Wevalue landbasedonspatialpropertiesô Coastalhomesô Scenicviewsô Abovethefloodplain
Geog 101 8/16/16
Instructor: Pesses 3
“Spatial”
Weorganize ourhomes&officesaccordingtospatialpatterns
ô Bedroomsvs.diningrooms
Spatial Analysis
õ Exploringthepatternsbetweengeographicphenomena
õ Whatisthere?ô WhatplantsdowefindintheAmazonJungle?ô WhattypeofrocksareatthetopofMt.Everest?
Spatial Analysis
Whyisitthere?ô WhydoesCaliforniahavesomanyearthquakes?ô Whydowefinduniqueanimalsonislands?ô WhydoestheMiddleEasthavesomuchoil?
Spatial Analysis
Howdoesx influencey?ô HowdoeshumanactivitychangeEarth’sclimate?
ô Canweengineerawaytobringmorewatertothedesert?
Spatial Analysis
PhysicalgeographyusesspatialanalysistounderstandhowtheEarthworksô WeviewtheEarthasasetofprocessesô Wewanttoseethedifferences&similaritiesbetweenplaces
Geog 101 8/16/16
Instructor: Pesses 4
Physical Geography
õ InterestedinhowrelationshipsbetweentheEarth’snatural systems existoverspaceorinaplace.
Cultural Geography
õ InterestedinhowrelationshipsbetweentheEarth’speopleexistoverspaceorinaplace.
Overlap?
Geographers
õ Geographersareoftenenvironmentalists
õ Geographersareexplorers
Geographers“Whatattractedmeaboutthetorridzonewasnolongerthepromiseofawanderinglifefullofadventures,butadesiretoseewithmyowneyesagrand,wildnaturerichineveryconceivablenaturalproduct,andtheprospectofcollectingfactsthatmightcontributetotheprogressofscience.”
-AlexandervonHumboldt,JaguarsandElectricEels,1800
Geog 101 8/16/16
Instructor: Pesses 5
Geology
õ Theorigin&structureoftheEarth
õ Wewilldealwithalotofgeologictopicsô Butalsobiology,hydrology,meteorology,etc.
Next time
Science!ô Whatitis&whatitisn’t
