GEOG 1 - Midterms

• Geography


  Study of the Earth as the home of the people (Yi Fu-Tuan, 1991)
• Key Concepts from Yi-Fu Tuan's View of Geography

  • Earth
  • Humans
  • Home
• Geography


  Science that studies the features of the Earth and its connection to people and the environment
• Geography is said to be the mother of all sciences
• Branches of Geography


  • Physical Geography
  • Human Geography
• Physical Geography


  • Structure of the environment including climate, landforms, and other natural patterns
• Human Geography


  • Effects of human behavior on the environment – cultural, economic, and political impacts
• Traditions of Geography


  Introduced by William D. Pattison during the 1963 National Council for Geographic Education Conference
• Goals of Traditions of Geography

  • Create a lexicon of basic geographical concepts
• Traditions of Geography


  • Spatial Tradition
  • Area Studies
  • Man-Land
  • Earth Science
• Spatial Tradition


  • In-depth analysis of a place – spatial distribution of different features on the Earth's surface
  • mapping/GIS
  • spatial analysis and patterns
  • densities
  • aerial distribution
  • movements and transport
• Area Studies


  • Define, describe, and differentiate areas from other regions or areas
  • Nature of places
  • Differentiation
  • World regional geography
• Man-Land


  • Studying the relationship between humans and the environment they live in
  • Environmental determinism – environment shaping human cultures and politics
  • Possibilism – impacts of people on their environment
• Earth Science


  • Studying natural phenomena from a spatial perspective
  • Spheres of the Earth
  • Physical Geography
• Location


  Where is expressed nominally (in terms of names)
• Accessibility


  • Measure of "friction of travel' between locations
  • Proximity or nearness
  • Connectivity
  • Function of economic, social, and cultural factors
• Spatial interaction


  • All kinds of movements and flows involving human activity
  • Complementarity (exchange of good and ideas)
  • Transferability (feasibility of movement of goods, services, ideas)
  • Intervening opportunities (pattern of movement)
  • Spatial diffusion (how things spread through space)
• Time-Space Convergence


  • How places become "closer" together
  • Decrease in friction of distance
  • Efficient transportation <- advanced technology
• Types of Spatial Diffusion

  • Expansion
  • Hierarchical
• Expansion Spatial Diffusion


  • "Wavelike" spread of ideas without regard to hierarchies
• Expansion Spatial Diffusion


  • KPop culture, memes
• Hierarchical Spatial Diffusion


  • Major trends or ideas leapfrog from one important authoritative person/one urban center to another
• Hierarchical Spatial Diffusion


  • Fashion trends
• Maps


  • Symbolic representation of a place on a flat surface (National Geographic Society)
  • Important sources of data and analysis (Knox & Marston, 2016, p. 30)
  • Navigation, information, and communication tool
  • Are "social products" (Knox & Marston, 2016)
• Characteristics of a Map (ICSM)

  • Accurately (as much as possible) portray spatial relationships between features
  • Drawn to scale
  • Emphasize and omit certain features
  • Usually a two-dimensional representation
  • Have reference system to allow description of the location of a feature
• Elements of a Map (TALDOGS)


  • Title
  • Author
  • Legend
  • Date
  • Orientation
  • Grid
  • Scale/Source
• Types of Thematic Maps

  • Dot Distribution Map
  • Choropleth Map
  • Isoline Map
  • Graduated Symbol Map
• Dot Distribution Map


  • Map using a point symbol to depict geographic distribution of a particular phenomena
• Choropleth Map


  • Each unit area in the map is shaded or colored to suggest the magnitude of the event
• Isoline Map


  • These maps are showing lines that join points of equal value
  • Example: Topographic map, climate map
• Graduated Symbol Map


  • Use circles of different size to show frequency of occurrence of an event in different places
  • Larger circle means the level of frequency of the level incidence is high
• Both maps and globes represent the Earth's surface
• Map


  Layed out on a flat surface, usually a two-dimensional figure
• Globe


  Illustrated on a spherical surface imitating the curve of the Earth
• All maps are wrong
• Distortions from "Squeezing the globe"


  • Shape
  • Size
  • Distance
  • Direction
• Map Projections


  • Mollweide Projection
  • Mercator Projection
  • Gall-Peters Projection
  • Robinson Projection
  • Azimuthal Projection
• Mollweide Projection


  • Equal area, pseudocylindrical projection
  • Relative sizes are true, shapes are distorted
• Mercator Projection


  • Cylindrical projection
  • Compass directions + shapes of land masses are true
  • Relative size of land masses are distorted
• Gall-Peters Projection


  • Rectangular, equal-area map projection
  • Most shapes of land masses are distorted
  • Named after James Gall and Arno Peters