2. Definition
Origin of Geography
- geo” = earth+ “graphia” = to draw or graph
1. A study of relationships between humans and their environment
2. A study of why, what, where and how come it is located there or
how did it get there
- WHY: Glaciers dominate Northern Canada
- WHERE: Glaciers located
- HOW: Glaciers get there
3. Nature of Geography
Physical Geography
Human Geography
(internal and external of the earth)
- Earth as the home of humans (ex.
- Processes that shape and reshape population, food availability,
the surface of the earth (ex.
resources, problems for humans on
Earthquakes, volcanoes)
earth and solutions)
- Environmental geography
- Hydrology
- Biogeography
- Meteorology
- Climatology
- Social Geography
- Political Geography
- Cultural Geography
- Economic Geography
- Historical Geography
4. Maps
Physical Characteristics
1. Physical/ Natural Characteristics (bodies of water, mountains, valleys)
2. Human Characteristics (buildings, roads, railway)
Features/Essentials of a map
1. Legend- explains symbols
2. Compass/ direction – N, S, W, E
3. Title – “specific”
4. Scale –ratio (distance on a map : actual distance)
- large scale map – small geographic area in a great amount of detail
- small scale map- large geographic area in a small amount of detail
Classification
1. Political maps – divisions between communities, provinces or country
2. Physical maps – mountains, bodies of water, glaciers
- colors of shading
3. Topographic maps – physical and human aspects of the world (natural features and human
characteristics)
4. Map projections
5. Air photographs / aerial photos
- taken from airplanes
- records ever-changing natural and human features
5. 5 Themes of Geography
Location
- Means a position on the globe (ex. latitude, longitude)- absolute location
- Specific relationship to other places (ex. distance away from other places)- relative location
Place (Physical and cultural characteristics of a place)
Physical Characteristics: - Climate (temperature, precipitation) - Landforms - Bodies of water - Soil and mineral deposits
Cultural Characteristics: - Cultural landscape/ Cultural Environment (human impacts on the physical environment)
Change
- Places are affected or changed by politics, constructions, etc
- Cities grow and expand and sometimes even disappear
- Mother Nature and forces of natural world keep the earth in motion
- Examples of changes: industry, real states, vegetation
Interact with other places
Past: the size and location of a place determined its level of contact with other places
Recent: communication and new transportation technologies allows bigger impact on and other places
Ex) People, animals, natural and manufactured products, travel all around the globe
People communicate use information and ideas from around the globe
Regions
- It is a concept to organize information about the great diversity of the Earth’s surface
- Different places within a certain region share enough similarities but do not exactly match in characteristics
- Natural regions: classified by climate, landforms, vegetation, etc
- Economic regions: classified by industries
- Government regions: as large as a province or as small as a school board
6. Climate
Continental climate: the climate of a continent's interior
Maritime climate: a coastal climate, usually referring to the West Coast
Factors Affecting Temperature
OLAMPNAS
1. Ocean currents
- Either warm ocean currents or cold ocean currents (depends on the origin)
- warms or heats the air blowing over a land
2. Latitude
- distance of an area from the equator determines the amount and intensity of sunlight it receives
3. Altitude
- higher altitude means colder temperature
- (+150 meters) = (-1 degree Celsius)
4. Mountain barriers
5. Prevailing winds (pressure belts) / Wind direction
6. Nearness to water/ Distance from the sea
- further from the sea: extreme temperature, high in the summer, low during winter
- closer to the sea: moderate temperature due to water that heats and cools more slowly
7. Amount of Cloudiness
8. Slope (aspect) north- south facing
7. Climate
Precipitation
- determined by its location from the sea and the prevailing winds
- three basic types of precipitation: orographic, convectional, and frontal
3 Types of precipitation
1. Orographic precipitation
- When the rain cloud from the ocean is blocked by a mountain, it tires to go over the mountain
- When the cloud goes up to higher altitude, it cools and rains on the ocean side of the mountain
- When the cloud reaches the other side of the mountain, it rains none of a little amount (rain shadow)
2. Convectional precipitation
- Caused by convection currents in atmosphere
- as the ground heats throughout the day, it heats the air
- This warm air expands and rises, and meets cool air, which also warms and rises and cools
- eventually a cloud of rain or hail forms
3. Frontal precipitation
- Where the two air masses (cold polar air and warm tropical air) meet is called a “front”
- warm tropical air is less dense than the cold polar air and rises over the cold polar air
- As warm tropical air rises, it condenses and forms clouds
8. Physical Regions
Based primarily on:
Age
Topography
3 rock types
Igneous: rock that has been formed by the solidification of
molten material
Sedimentary: rock made up of sediment laid down in layers
which have grown together
Metamorphic: rock changed from its original form into
another form through heat and pressure
9. Natural Regions
- defined as the conditions under which plants and animals lives in relation each other
and with the non-living parts of the environment
Biomes
- an ecological community of plants and animals extending over a large area
- contains a number of smaller ecosystems
- usually named for the dominant vegetation type of a region
Ecosystem
- "system" - a group of things that interact with each other and together form a whole
- Natural areas where the life cycles of plants, animals, and other organisms are linked
to each other and to their physical surroundings
- made up of habitats
10. The Cultural Landscape/ The Cultural Envrionment
Cultural landscape or cultural environment: environments that have been used and altered by humans
- Culture determines how people view and use the land
Settlement and population
- physical environment and its economic possibilities decide where people want to settle
- idealistic landforms and climate (physical environment)- good soil, adequate precipitation, mild
temperature, flat land
- where people can find work / economic possibilities - go through boom and bust
Boom: healthy economy
Bust: slow economy
population distribution: where people live within a given area
population density: the average number of people in a given area
Rural vs Urban
Rural: country; countryside
Urban: city; town
