The document provides an overview of geography, exploring its importance, five themes, and essential concepts such as spatial thinking, location, and the use of maps. It outlines various map types, including political, physical, and thematic maps, as well as discusses map projections and their distortions. The content emphasizes the significance of geography in understanding human and environmental interactions across different regions of the world.

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TThhee GGeeooggrraapphheerr’’ss
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2. Section 1 Objectives
 Understand spatial thinking and why it’s
important to geographers
 Know the five themes of geography and the
six essential elements
 Analyze the processes that shaped the
geographic regions of the world

3. What IS geography?
 GGeeooggrraapphhyy is the study of eeaarrtthh in all its
variety
– PPhhyyssiiccaall geography: Land, water, plants,
and animals
– HHuummaann geography: Society, culture,
customs, religion, environment
 Geography is both sscciieennccee and ssttoorryy.
 Geographers do work that tells the story of all
humankind!
 Let the Adventure Begin! (4:00)

4. Ask Geographic Questions
Geography is more than names of
places on a map. It involves spatial
thinking!
– Spatial thinking involves thinking about
the space of Earth’s surface, including
where places are located, and why they
are there!
– Geographers look at places and ask,
“Why is this location significant, or
important?”

5. Study Geographic Patterns
Geographic patterns are similarities
among places.
– Ex. Cities are often located near water.
Why?

6. Study Geographic Patterns
Many geographers
use computer-based
Geographic
Information
Systems, or GIS to
create maps and
analyze patterns with
data
 GPS and GIS Basics (4:07)

8. Five Themes of Geography
 1) Location
– Determining where you’re at on the planet
 Absolute location is the exact point where a place is
located (Ex. Kearney is located at 41°N, 99°W.)
 Global Positioning System, or GPS, uses satellites to
find absolute location.
 Relative location is where a place is in relation to other
places. (Ex. My house is three blocks from Sunrise.)

9. Five Themes of Geography
 2) Place
– Physical and cultural characteristics of each
location
 Ex. Steep rock walls in the Grand Canyon
 3) Human-Environment Interaction
– How humans impact each other and the
environment
 Ex. Changing rivers to build dams
 4) Movement
– How people, goods, and ideas move
 Ex. Settlement patterns, immigration, exile
 5) Regions
– A group of places that have things in common
 Ex. Central America, the Middle East

10. Memory
Helper:
MR. LIP!
Movement,
Regions,
Location,
Interaction,
Place!

11. World Regions
A region is a group of places with
common traits, like trade, culture or
climate
A continent is a large landmass on
Earth’s surface. A continent is often –
but not always – a region.
Name the seven continents: GO!
– Answer: North America, South America,
Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and
Antarctica!

12. World Regions
 North America
 Central America & the Caribbean
 South America
 Europe
 Russia and the Eurasian Republics
 Southwest Asia and North Africa
 Sub-Saharan Africa
 South Asia
 East Asia
 Southeast Asia
 Australia, the Pacific Realm, and Antarctica

13. Section 2 Objectives
 Understand the essentials of maps and how
they show geographic patterns
 Utilize longitude and latitude coordinates to
establish absolute locations
 Compare political and physical maps
 Understand map distortion, and analyze the
pros and cons of various map projections
 Identify various types of thematic maps and
the information they provide

14. Globes and Maps
A globe is a three-dimensional,
or
spherical,
representation of Earth.
– Pros: Very accurate!
Everything is in the right
place.
– Cons: NOT
PORTABLE! Also, it’s
hard to see the small
stuff.

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rreepprreesseennttaattiioonn ooff EEaarrtthh

16. Map and Globe
Elements
 Title - Tells the subject of the
map or globe
 Symbols – represent information
such as natural resources and
economic activities
 Labels – the names of places,
like cities, countries, rivers, and
mountains
 Colors – represent different kinds
of information. (Ex. Blue =
water)
 Legend, or Map Key = explains
what the symbols and colors
mean

17. Parts of Maps (cont.)
 Scale = shows how much
distance on Earth is
represented by distance on the
map or globe.
 Compass Rose – shows
directions on a map
– Cardinal Directions
 N, E, S, W
– Intermediate Directions
 NE, SE, SW, NW
 Locator Globe – shows the
specific area of the world
shown on a map
 How to Read a Map (3:43)

19. Latitude
 Intro to Latitude
& Longitude
(:58)
 Lines of
latitude run east
to west, parallel
to the Equator.
– They measure
the distance
North and
South of
Equator in
degrees.

20. Longitude
 Lines of longitude
run north to south
from the North
Pole to the South
Pole.
– They measure the
distance East and
West of the Prime
Meridian, which
runs through
Greenwich,
England. It is O°.
 Standing on the
Prime Meridian
(1:47)

21. Grid System
 Absolute
location is the
exact position on
earth where
latitude and
longitude meet.
 Latitude and
Longitude Rap
(3:30)

22. Hemispheres
 A hemisphere is
half the earth.
 The Equator
divides the earth
into the Northern
and Southern
Hemispheres.
 The Prime
Meridian divides
the Earth into the
Eastern and
Western
Hemispheres.

23. MMaapp PPrroojjeeccttiioonnss
 TThhee wwoorrlldd iiss aa sspphheerree,, bbuutt mmaappss aarree ffllaatt..
TTrryyiinngg ttoo ffllaatttteenn tthhrreeee ddiimmeennssiioonnss iinnttoo ttwwoo
ccaauusseess ddiissttoorrttiioonnss..
 DDiissttoorrttiioonnss –– EErrrroorrss oonn mmaappss aass aa rreessuulltt ooff
ttaakkiinngg aa rroouunndd EEaarrtthh aanndd ppuuttttiinngg iitt oonn aa
ffllaatt mmaapp..
 TToo rreedduuccee ddiissttoorrttiioonn,, mmaappmmaakkeerrss uussee
pprroojjeeccttiioonnss,, oorr ddiiffffeerreenntt wwaayyss ooff sshhoowwiinngg
tthhee EEaarrtthh’’ss ccuurrvveedd ssuurrffaaccee oonn aa ffllaatt mmaapp..
 MMaappss aarree cchhoosseenn bbaasseedd oonn wwhhaatt tthheeyy aarree
ggooiinngg ttoo bbee uusseedd ffoorr.. CCeerrttaaiinn pprroojjeeccttiioonnss
wwoorrkk bbeetttteerr ffoorr cceerrttaaiinn tthhiinnggss..
 IItt iiss iimmppoossssiibbllee ttoo hhaavvee aa ppeerrffeecctt mmaapp
wwiitthhoouutt ssoommee ffoorrmm ooff ddiissttoorrttiioonn!!
HHeerree’’ss tthhee pprroobblleemm…… ((22::4477))

24. Map Projections
 Azimuthal Projection
– Created by projecting
part of the globe onto a
flat surface.
– Pros: Shows directions
accurately
– Cons: Distorts shapes
– Often used for polar
regions

25. Map Projections (cont.)
 Mercator Projection
– Pros: Continent
shapes are accurate
between the North
and South Poles,
good for navigation
– Cons: Major
distortions towards
N and S Poles

26. Map Projections (cont.)
 Homolosine Projection
– Pros: True size and shape of continents
– Cons: Splits up oceans and the North/South Poles,
does not show distance accurately

27. Map Projections (cont.)
 Robinson Projection
– Combines the strengths of other projections into one projection
– Pros: Shows shape and area of the continents and oceans with
reasonable accuracy
– Cons: North and South Poles still distorted

28. Map Projections (cont.)
Winkel-Tripel
Projection
 Modified version of
the Robinson
 Pros: Good overall
view of continent
shapes and size
 Cons: Some
distortion around the
outer edges
 Preferred by National
Geographic Society
since 1998.

29. So why
does this
matter?
Here's one reason. Are we sending
messages we don't intend to send?

30. What if you thought your
world looked like this?

31. But it really looked like this?

32. Or this?

33. Or this?

34. Or this?

35. Or this, which…

36. …once you do this, it looks like this!
What if Australia was at the North Pole? (3:03)

37. Or what if it looks like this?

38. THE BIG
QUESTION:
Do you think the way we
portray the world
impacts how we see ourselves?
Why? How?

39. Political and Physical Maps
CCaarrttooggrraapphheerrss, or mapmakers, create
different kinds of maps for different
purposes
Political maps show features humans
have created: countries, states,
provinces, and cities, etc.
– Weird Borders (5:06)

40. Physical Maps
Physical maps show natural features of
physical geography
– Ex. Mountains, plains, valleys, oceans, etc.
They also show elevation using color
– Elevation – the height of a physical feature
above sea level
– Relief – the change in elevation from one
place to another

41. Thematic Maps
 Thematic maps are
created around a
specific theme, or
topic
 Common thematic
maps include:
– Point symbol maps
– Dot density maps
– Proportional symbol
maps

42. PPooiinntt SSyymmbbooll MMaappss

43. DDoott DDeennssiittyy MMaapp

44. Proportional Symbol Maps

45. The World at Night:
A Manmade Population Density Map

46. Any questions?