The Concepts of Geography

Location: be able to give coordinates or a description of WHERE IT IS.

Absolute location: latitude and longitude, military grid, street address

Relative location: in relation to other places (beside the rink, 20 km from Debert, etc)

#1 - Location

Location – [city]

Flooding in Manitoba

Region: be able to give names to various areas. What characteristics do some areas have in common?

#2 - Region

Mountain Region

Desert Region

Economic Regions

REGIONS are defined as areas with similar characteristics. We name them as a way to help us in our study of the patterns we are studying.

Physical characteristics◦ Soil regions◦ Europe

Human characteristics◦ Religions

Multicharacter regions◦ Canada◦ Middle East

Regions (cont’d)

Activity:WORLD MAP. • Label clearly continents and major

oceans. Use map conventions (PRINT, use pencil or black/blue ink)

• Shade and label the following regions:• North America• Central America and the Caribbean• South America• Western Europe• Eastern Europe and CIS• Middle East• North Africa• Sub-saharan Africa• South Asia• East Asia• South east Asia• Australia and the South Pacific

#3 – Spatial Pattern Two examples 1] Wealthy people live away from industry 2] Air pollution – i] prevailing wind patterns push pollution in one

direction ii] distance decay pattern – the intensity of what

is being measured decreases the farther you move away from the source.

Spatial Pattern – [acid rain effects]

Spatial Pattern [wealthy]

Look for the ways things that are in one place might flow to another place. [i.e. Chemical spills, volcanoes, and earthquakes in one area of the world can have profound impacts on an area much further away]

Health concerns such as AIDS are no longer isolated events dependent upon a specific region. With increased interaction of the earth’s inhabitants, it is a global crisis

Spatial interaction also enables us to provide help more swiftly and to a much wider range of earth’s citizens.

ACTIVITY: Listen to the podcast on the spread of Japanese stillgrass in Pennsylvania. Answer the following questions:

How did Japanese stillgrass first come to Pennsylvania? Describe how Japanese stillgrass has spread throughout Pennsylvania? What are the implications of the continued spread of Japanese stillgrass?

What other methods might invasive species use to spread from one place to another?

#4 – Spatial Interaction

How can this picture be viewed as an example of spatial interaction?

Spatial Interaction

ACTIVITY: Listen to the podcast on the spread of Japanese stillgrass in Pennsylvania. Answer the following questions:

How did Japanese stillgrass first come to Pennsylvania?

Describe how Japanese stillgrass has spread throughout Pennsylvania?

What are the implications of the continued spread of Japanese stillgrass?

What other methods might invasive species use to spread from one place to another?

Spatial Interaction

How human activities affect the land, air and water and how they affect the way we live.

ACTIVITY List ways the environment affects the way you live. List ways you affect the environment around you.

THE LORAX ACTIVITY:

Read the handout Watch the video. Complete the questions. Work individually for about 10 minutes and

then partner up.

#5 Human/Environment Interaction

Environmental impact on Humans [Tornado]

Human impact on the environment [oil spill]

Human impact on the environment [open pit mine]

The customs or world view of any group of people.

Although environment can influence culture, two groups with different cultures might react to the same environment in different ways. They might have different social structures, different clothing, housing, etc. They might have different goals.

Culture includes but is not limited to religion, food, clothing, beliefs about right and wrong, manners, gender roles, etc.

EXAMPLE: FOOD

#6 - Culture

Farming in Indonesia

Farming in Canada

House in California

Zulu Hut in Africa

What is the cultural difference in resource use between the two pictures?

Millenium Geography Sustainable development Integrative discipline Geographic method Location Region

DEFINITIONS from the text Please know the meanings of these terms and be able to use them in the appropriate context.

Scale Spatial distribution Prevailing wind Distance decay

pattern Culture Human/environment

interactions

Well, surely you already believed that it was worth it to study global geography?

READ page 17 to see what you should gain from this course.

CONCLUSION