Unit 1: Nature & Perspectives

1. Unit 1:Nature & Perspectives

2. Site & Situation • Site • Refers to a physical description of a place • This can involve absolute location, and physical characteristics of place • These are things that are unlikely to change, such as geological formations, soil, or structures.

3. Site & Situation • Situation • Situation refers to a description of a place, based on its relationship to something else • This can involve relative location, and other cultural elements. • Situation is dynamic, and can change when something else changes.

4. Site of NYC & Situation of Singapore, pg. 17

5. Slide #1 Site factors Describe Site factors of the city: Physical character of the place Include some characteristics such as: climate, water sources, topography, soil, vegetation, latitude and elevation (not all) Why was this a good location for this settlement? (based on site factors, be as specific as possible) Any modifications to improve the location?

6. Slide #2: Situation factors: location of a place relative to other places • List three significant relative locations • Other Ideas: • What is important about its location based on the surrounding area? • What formal regions is it a part of? • What functional regions is it a part of? • What is the perception of this city?

7. Slide #3 Give the name of the city • List the absolute Location • List population of the city • List the area of the city DUE Sun. 8/19 by 11:59 PM via EMAIL Dallas.killingsworth@fortbendisd.com IMAGE

8. Grading Requirements • Must have three slides only • Have all students names and period on email subject line…NOT in PowerPoint. • No paragraphs or complete sentences • Do not cut and paste from internet • Put in your own words • Use correct grammar (usage of words, capitalization, etc) 5 point deduction for EACH infraction

9. Historical Foundations • Evidence of early maps: • Babylonians- earth as flat circular disk on clay tablets • Pre-Columbian maps in MX- footprints to rep. roads • Inuit/Eskimos- coastal maps • Incas- relief maps of stone and clay • Chinese- lit. refers to maps 7th century BCE • Plato- 1st to say world is round • Aristotle- proved it w/ Earth’s shadow crossing the moon

10. CARTOGRAPHY • Hipparchus- 1st grid system, but lines followed natural features • Eratosthenes: • 1st to coin term “geography” • Determined Earth’s circumference using the angle of the sun and two points on Earth • 99.5% correct! • Divided Earth into 5 climate regions

11. CARTOGRAPHY • Ptolmey- Compiled first atlas for library in Alexandria (“Guide to Geography”) • Remained geocentric  • Calculated Earth to ¾ actual size • Fixed Hipparchus’ lines

12. 14th century- Marco Polo inspired others • 16th century- Mercator Projection for mariners • 17th century- continents/oceans correctly displayed • 19th century- • Nat’l Geographic Society formed • Metric System simplified, universal • Prime Meridian estab. • 20th century • Aerial photographs, remote sensing, GIS, GPS, etc.

13. Modern Tools • Remote Sensing- acquisition of data about Earth’s surface from a satellite orbiting • Used primarily for environmental applications • Global Positioning System- determines precise location of something on Earth • Used primarily of navigation • Geographic Information Systems

14. Map Scale • Map scale – tells us relationship between distance on map and distance on earth’s surface • Ratio scale = ratio of map distance to earth distance. • 1:10,000 means that one inch on the map equals 10,000 inches earth’s surface; one centimeter represents 10,000 centimeters so how many feet on earth is 1:24,000 inches on a map? • Recall a small fraction has a large denominator so that 1:100,000 is a smaller scale than 1:25,000. • A large-scalemap depicts a small area with great detail. • A small-scale map depicts a larger area with little detail. Distortion is especially severe here.

15. Spatial Scale (pg. 23) Always take into account the scale of analysis before making generalizations!

16. Distortion • Distortion occurs when a three-dimensional object (Earth), is put on a two-dimensional map • The larger the scale, the less distortion (zoomed in) • City maps have little distortion • The farther one goes from the Equator, the greater the distortion

17. Thematic Maps • A thematic map depicts a single feature: • climate, population, landform or land use. • Types of thematic maps: • Isoline – connects points of equal value • Choropleth – puts features into classes and then maps classes for each region • Proportional symbol – size of the symbol corresponds to the magnitude of the mapped feature http://flutracker.rhizalabs.com/ • Dot – each dot represents some frequency

19. Dasymetric

24. Place • What is a place like? • Feelings that contribute to the distinctiveness of a spot on Earth • Toponym- place’s name • Named for person, religion, history, prospective goals, etc. • Site & Situation- physical characteristics of itself and “neighbors” • Location- where is it (absolute & relative) • Time Zones

25. Arctic Circle, 66 1/2ºN North Pole, 90ºN Tropic of Cancer, 23 1/2ºN Tropic of Capricorn, 23 1/2ºS South Pole, 90ºS Antarctic Circle, 66 1/2ºS

26. Absolute location is a latitude and longitude (a global location) or a street address (local location). • Latitude runs across the globe and is determined by how many degrees north or south of the Equator (0) the location is. • Longitude runs up and down the globe and is determined by how many degrees East or West of the Prime Meridian (0) the location is. • Hudson Falls, NY 43° N latitude and 73° W longitude • Paris, France is 48° N latitude and 2°E longitude

27. Relative locations are described by landmarks, time, direction or distance from one place to another and may associate a particular place with another. Could you give me directions to the mall from here?

28. Time Zones

29. What is a time zone? • A timezone is a region of the Earth that has adopted the same standard time, usually referred to as the localtime. • Most time zones are one hour apart, and follow the UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) match with Greenwich Mean Time • Est. 10/13/1884 @ Internat’l Meridian Conf. in Washington, DC

30. Standard time zones: geometrically dividing the Earth's 24 sections, bordered by meridians each 15° apart (Fleming)

31. The local time in neighboring zones would differ by one hour. • However, due to geographical and political reasons, not all countries practice this. • Daylight savings is also a factor.

32. Before Time Zones • Solar Time (high noon) • Mass transit (19th c.) railway time • Not good for locals • Time zones = universal pattern + approx. solar time

33. The increase in worldwide communication has further increased the need for people to have an understanding of time zones. Why would a Houstonian not schedule a telephone conference with Japan at 2:00 pm, Houston time?

34. Time Zone Anomalies France previously used GMT, but was switched to CET (Central European Time) during German occupation during World War II and did not switch back after the war. China has only one time zone. There are 40 time zones instead of 24.

37. Regions • “Sense of place” for a larger area • Attachment to Houston? Texas? The South? • Landscape- cultural or natural • Attributes that influence the overall appearance of an area “Culture is the agent, the natural area the medium, the cultural landscape is the result”- Carl Sauer

38. Cultural Ecology • Regions can be defined by human-environment relationships cultural ecology • Von Humboldt & Ritter: environmentaldeterminism- • Cultures are a direct result of where they exist • Huntington: climate is a major determinant of civilization (NW Europeans are more productive b/c in moderate climate)

39. Cultural Ecology • Determinism rejected by modern geographers • Possibilism- environment may limit but people have ability to adapt and modify • Choose which crop grows best in your climate (rice vs. wheat) • Terracing/Air Conditioning • Culture differences

40. Formal regions are those defined by governmental or administrative boundaries • These regional boundaries are not open to dispute, therefore physical regions fall under this category • Functional regions are those defined by a function • If the function ceases to exists, the region no longer exists. • Vernacular regions are those loosely defined by people's perception; part of cultural identity

41. REGION Formal (uniform) regions: Defined by govn’t. (USA, Brazil, Texas) Or physical features (Rockies, Great Lake States) Or common characteristic (Corn Belt, Rust Belt)

42. REGION Functional regions: organized around a set of interactions and connection between places (usually characterized by a hub, or central place, and links to the central place) a newspaper’s distribution route

44. REGION Vernacular/Perceptual regions: people perceive the characteristics of the region in the same way (loosely defined) The Middle East (what countries are actually included? Is it linked b/c of oil? Islam?) Bible Belt – southeastern states in U.S. = strict Protestants

46. Perceptual Region • The states in dark red are almost always included in modern day definitions of the Southern United States, while those in medium red are usually included. Those cross-shaded are sometimes included due to their historic connections to the South.

48. Globalization The increasing interconnectednessof different parts of the world through common processes of economic, political, and cultural change. Economic globalization is happening fastest.