Today we are going to introduce some basic …snappington.com/aphg/basics/basics1.pdfToday we are going to introduce some basic concepts associated with the study of geography. Geography

Todaywearegoingtointroducesomebasicconceptsassociatedwiththestudyofgeography.Geographyisobviouslythestudyofspace,ofplace,ofloca;on–butgeographyisprimarilyconcernedwithissuesofWHYspace,placeandloca;[email protected],therewouldbenoscienceofgeography.ThinkaboutwhereyouaresiDngintheclassroomrightnowandWHYyouchosetositthere–allthosechoices,allthoseordinaldecisionsfallunderthestudyofgeography.

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Reliablemapsandaccuratedescrip;onsofdistantlandswereprizedbytheancientGreeksandRomansnotjustforthesakeofknowledge,butbecausesuchgeographicalknowledgecouldbeusedforcommercialprofit.Herodotus,workingabout400BCE,givesusthefirsthistoryandsemi-accuratedescrip;onofforeigncultures(althoughitshouldbenoted,manyofhisstorieswereexaggera;onsoroutrightfalsehoods).Eratosthenes,ageometer,provedtheEarthwasroundcirca200BCE.AndtheRomangeographerandastronomerPtolemycreatedaccuratemapsofEurope,AfricaandAsiaabout200ADincludinginven;nggridlinesofla;tudeandlongitudetomakecalcula;ngdistancespossible.

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Ourcourseisconcernedwiththeinterac;onbetweenhumansandtheirphysicalenvironment.Thisinterac;on,thiscause-and-effectrunsinbothdirec;ons.Theenvironmentencouragesandrewardshumanadapta;onstoit–whethertheybephysicalorcultural.InthecaseofInuit,over;metheircoldclimatehasreinforcedcold-resistantadapta;onslikeshorterlimbs.Theirculturehasalsoadapted–developingdozensofnewwordsthatdescribevarioustypesofsnow.AndtheInuitchangetheirenvironment–buildingigloostoshelteragainsttheextremecold.TheInuitareanexampleofadapta;onstoanextremeenvironment,butthisinterac;onbetweenhumansandthephysicalworldhappensineveryenvironment.HowhaveyouadaptedtotheenvironmentofSRMHS?

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Geographyisanintegra;vescience,aholis;cdisciplinethattouchesuponalmosteveryaspectofra;onalinquiry.Physicalgeographyandgeographictechniques(andtechnology)areconcernedwithdescribingallaspectsofthephysicalworld.Humangeographyconcernsitselfwithhumanityandtouchesuponhistory,poli;calscienceeconomics,anthropology,psychologyandsociology.Anoteonfields:itmaysoundatouchcynical,buto^enbehavioraleconomists,sociologistsandanthropologistsareallconcernedwiththesamethings,theprimarydifferencebeingthatonauniversitycampus,theirofficeswillbelocatedindifferentcolleges.Inotherwords,there’salotofoverlap.

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Withtheno;onofspace,weintroducetheconceptsof“absolute”and“rela;ve”whichwillshowupoverandoveragaininourstudyofgeography.Absolutespaceisapreciseagreed-uponmeasurementofarea(squaremilesorsquarekilometers)thatwillnotvaryover;meorchangebasedonyouraudience.Rela;vespacedependsonhowspaceisperceived.InNYC,asquaremilecontainsvastamountsofpeopleandinfrastructure–it’stoobigtogetyourheadaround.AsquaremileinMontanamightjustbeonepartofacowpasture,easilyunderstood.Ifspaceisarea,thenplacereferstoloca;onandtoallthea@ributesweassociatewiththatloca;on.Weo^encallthesea@ributesa“senseofplace”andthankstoculture,wecanhaveasenseofplaceaboutaplacewe’veneveractuallyvisited.

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Thesystemofla;tude(measuringyourprogressasyoutravelnorthandsouth)andlongitude(measuringyourprogressasyoumoveeastandwest)isanchoredontwomainlines.First,thereistheequatorwhichcirclestheearthrunningfromeasttowestandisequidistantfromeachpole.Wemeasurela;tudefrom0degreesattheequatorto90degreesateachpole.Next,thePrimeMeridianoflongituderunsnorth-souththroughtheGreenwichObservatoryjustoutsideofLondon.Wemeasurelongitudefromoto180degreesfromthisPrimeMeridian.Itsan;pode(the180degreemark)isontheoppositesideoftheEarth,runningthroughthePacificOcean(thismeridianisalsoknownasthe“DateLine”).Regardingrela;veloca;on–wenormallythinkofRussiabeingveryfarawayfromus,asitappearsonmostconven;onalmaps.Butlookatthepolarprojec;onseenhereandRussiaisactuallymuchclosernorth-souththanitiseast-west.Itsrela;veloca;ondependsuponwhichviewyouuse.

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Itisimportanttonotethattheloca;onoftheequatorhasgeometricsignificance(equallydistantfrombothpoles)butthePrimeMeridianisarbitrary.ItrunsthroughLondonbecauseitwasinGreatBritainthatthissystemofla;tudeandlongitudewereestablished,forusebytheRoyalBri;shNavyandandtheBri;shcommercialfleet.

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Examplesofsiteandsitua;on–thesiteofNewOrleansislocatedbelowsealevel,thismakesitapoorsiteforacityasitispronetoflooding.Thesitua;onofNewOrleans,neartheGulfofMexicoandatthebaseofthemightyMississippiisanexcellentsitua;onasitenablescommerceandgrowth.No;cethatsiteandsitua;onareteleological–weneedtoknownthepurposeofthethingweareassigningthea@ributesofsiteandsitua;ontofortheterms“site”and“situa;on”tomakesense.Anexcellentsiteforafortmayindeedbeabadsiteforacity.Iwouldusemilitaryconceptstorelatethesitua;onofafort,thoseconceptsmakelesssenseifIamrela;ngthesitua;onofacity.

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Anotherlookatsiteversussitua;on–sitecontainsthephysicala@ributesofaloca;on–andnothingelse.Situa;oncontainsthe“everythingelse”–itdescribeshowtheloca;onisconnectedtothesurroundingenvironment.

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Weareveryfamiliarwithcardinalorabsolutedirec;ons(thenorth-south-east-westofthecompass)andabsolutedistanceastypicallymeasuredinmilesorkilometers.Rela;vedirec;onmeansweareusingculturalorpoli;calreferences.Example:the“MiddleEast”or“DownSouth”.Asfordistance,itbecomesrela;vewhenpsychologicalorculturalfactorsareaccountedfor.“Nearby”meansdifferentthingsforarancherinMontanaversusastockbrokerinManha@an.Aseeminglyshortwalkinaparkinggarageintheday;mecanseemmuchmoredistantifyouaremakingthewalkatnight,inabadneighborhoodwithmanyofthegaragelightsflickering…

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The1stLawofGeography(fromTobler)isthateverythingisconnectedandeveryplaceaffectseveryotherplace–buttheseinterac;onsbecomelesssignificantasdistancebetweenplacesincreases.Thisidea,thattheinterac;onbetweenplacesdeclinesasdistanceincreasesiscalled“distancedecay”.Therelatedtermsaccessibilityandconnec;vityareusedtodescribemodifiersthatcanincreaseordecreasetheimpactofdistancedecay.Accessibilitydescribeshoweasilywecanovercomephysicalbarriersof;meandspaceorthe“fric;on”ofdistance.Thinkofhowinterstatehighwayshavetransformedinterac;onsbetweenformerlyquitedistantloca;ons.Withoutinterstates,ifIworkindowntownRaleigh,wherecanIlive?“Connec;vity”isaverysimilarconceptbutincludesculturalandtechnologicalbarriers.Geographerswouldsayroadsareanaccessibilityissuebutcellphonesrelatetoconnec;vity.Globaliza;onisatermusedtodescribeincreasingconnec;vityamongstthena;onsoftheworld.Finally,geographersusethetermdiffusiontodescribewaysinwhichacentralloca;on(calleda“node”)canconnecttootherloca;onsandexchangegoodsorinforma;onorevenpeople.

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Theregionalconceptiscri;calforgeographers.Ifspaceandplacearemytwomostimportantgeographicideas,thenIcanselectcriteriabywhichplacescanbesorted,orderedandconnected.Aspaceorareathatcontainstheserelatedplacesisthencalleda“region”.The“ResearchTriangle”isaspacecontainingthreecommuni;es,Raleigh,DurhamandChapelHill,thatareallrelatedinthattheyhostmajorresearch-baseduniversi;es(thecriteria).The“BibleBelt”isaregionoftheUSwherewefindmostofourcountry’sevangelicalChris;ans(thecriteria).Agreatfirstques;ontoaskaboutanyregionis–whatisthecriteriaweareusingtoconnecttheloca;onswithinthespace?Anotherwayoflookingatregionsisthattheyaretogeographerswhateras(GildedAge,RoaringTwen;esetc.)aretohistorians.

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Anexampleofaformalregionthatweareallfamiliarwithwouldbeastate.Thereisnosenseofastate’scenter.You’reeitherinNorthCarolinaornot.Thequalitythatmakesitaregionstaysthesamethroughout(itishomogeneous).Formalregionscanbebasedonculturalcharacteris;cs,likethe“BibleBelt”oronclimatelikethe“SunBelt”.Afunc;onalregionisnothomogeneousthroughout.Thereisacenterornodeandasyoumoveawayfromthatcenterandtowardstheperiphery,thecharacteris;csthatdefinethatregiontendtoweaken.Thinkabouttherecep;onrangeforacellphonetowerortheregiondefinedbyreasonablecommu;ngdistancetoanearbycity.Finally,aperceptualregionisbasedonfeelingsandothersubjec;vecriteria.Whereis“Dixie”?IsNCpartofDixie?Whereisthe“Midwest”?IsNebraskaintheMidwest?

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