Chapter 1: The Power of Geography: Geographic Thinking PDF

Chapter 1: The Power of Geography: Geographic Thinking © National Geographic Learning, a Cengage Company 1.1 What Is Human Geography? Studying Human Geography Physical geography is the study of natural processes and the distribution of features in the environmen...

Chapter 1: The Power of Geography: Geographic Thinking © National Geographic Learning, a Cengage Company 1.1 What Is Human Geography? Studying Human Geography Physical geography is the study of natural processes and the distribution of features in the environment. landforms plants and animals climate Human geography is the study of the events and process that have shaped how humans understand, use, and alter Earth. how people organize themselves socially, politically, and economically the impact of humans on the natural environment © National Geographic Learning, a Cengage Company 1.1 What Is Human Geography? Geographic Perspectives Spatial perspective refers to where things are located and why they are located there. Geographers study how people live on Earth, how they organize themselves, and why the events of human societies occur where they do. Ecological perspective refers to the relationships between living things and their environments. Geographers study the interactive and interdependent relationships among living things, ecosystems, and human societies. © National Geographic Learning, a Cengage Company 1.1 What Is Human Geography? Geographic Perspectives The essential elements of geography can be summed up by three questions: Why? Why there? Why care? © National Geographic Learning, a Cengage Company 1.1 What Is Human Geography? Geographic Perspectives Location is the position that a point or object occupies on Earth. Absolute location is the exact location of an object. It may be expressed in coordinates of latitude and longitude. Relative location is a description of where a place is in relation to other places or features. © National Geographic Learning, a Cengage Company 1.1 What Is Human Geography? Geographic Perspectives A place is a location on Earth that is distinguished by its physical and human characteristics. Physical characteristics of a place include climate, landforms, soils, water sources, vegetation, and animal life. Human characteristics of a place include languages, religions, political systems, economic systems, population distribution, architecture, and quality of life. © National Geographic Learning, a Cengage Company 1.1 What Is Human Geography? Geographic Perspectives Site refers to a place’s absolute location and physical characteristics, such as landforms, climate, and resources. Situation refers to a place’s connections to other places, such as transportation routes, political associations, and cultural and economic ties. © National Geographic Learning, a Cengage Company  1.1 What Is Human Geography? Geographic Perspectives A mental map is an internalized representation of a place such as a school, neighborhood, or town. People generally have a clearer mental map of where they live than of a place that is far away. © kyoshino/Getty Images © National Geographic Learning, a Cengage Company 1.1 What Is Human Geography? Geographic Perspectives Space refers to the area between two or more things on Earth’s surface. Distribution is how things are arranged within a given space. Density is the number of things in a specific area. Pattern is how things are arranged in a particular space. Flow is the movement of people, goods, and information from one place to another. © National Geographic Learning, a Cengage Company 1.1 What Is Human Geography? Human–Environment Interaction Distance decay is a principle that says the farther away one thing is from another, the less interaction the two things will have. Friction of distance is the concept that distance requires time, effort, and cost to overcome. Time–space compression describes the shrinking of relative distance between places due to advances in transportation and communication. © National Geographic Learning, a Cengage Company 1.1 What Is Human Geography? Human–Environment Interaction Environmental determinism is a discredited theory that behavior is largely controlled by the physical environment. Possibilism, a theory favored by modern geographers, argues that humans are active agents in determining their behaviors. © National Geographic Learning, a Cengage Company 1.1 What Is Human Geography? Human–Environment Interaction Sustainability is the use of Earth’s land and natural resources in ways that ensure they will be available in the future. focus on renewable resources © National Geographic Learning, a Cengage Company 1.2 Spatial Patterns: Scale and Region Zooming In and Out Scale refers to the area of the world being studied. global regional national state local Analyzing an issue, such as climate change, at different scales can lead to deeper understanding and help inform decision making. © National Geographic Learning, a Cengage Company 1.2 Spatial Patterns: Scale and Region Unifying Features A region is an area of Earth’s surface with certain characteristics that make it distinct from other areas. Regions are human constructs. The boundaries of a region are typically not clearly defined and are often transitional, overlapping, or contested. Regions serve as an organizing tool for framing knowledge of the world, asking geographic questions, and making comparisons. © National Geographic Learning, a Cengage Company 1.2 Spatial Patterns: Scale and Region Unifying Features Types of regions: Formal: an area with one or more shared traits shared trait may be physical such as a landform or climate area shared trait may be cultural, such as a language or religion Functional: an area organized by its function around a node node may be central business area or transportation hub Perceptual or vernacular: a region defined by people’s feelings or attitudes about the area © National Geographic Learning, a Cengage Company 1.3 Globalization and Sustainability Global vs. Local Globalization is the expansion of economic, cultural, and political processes on a worldwide scale. Factors contributing to globalization include: lower production costs advances in transportation technology the rise of the internet and social media apps trade deals and government policies favorable to trade © National Geographic Learning, a Cengage Company 1.3 Globalization and Sustainability Global vs. Local Wallerstein’s world system theory was introduced in the 1970s to describe the spatial and functional relationships among countries in the world economy. It seeks to explain the history of uneven economic development. It is based on the idea that the interdependence among countries has created an economy that is a single entity within a single market and division of labor. It explains the long-standing economic dominance of certain countries. It divides countries into three tiers within a power hierarchy: core at the top, periphery at the bottom, semi-periphery in between. © National Geographic Learning, a Cengage Company 1.3 Globalization and Sustainability Global vs Local © National Geographic Learning, a Cengage Company 1.3 Globalization and Sustainability Sustainability In 2015, the United Nations launched its 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with 17 goals to increase peace, freedom, and prosperity around the world. Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It includes: consideration of the availability of natural resources innovations to make better use of renewable resources efforts to reduce pollution and waste © National Geographic Learning, a Cengage Company Chapter 1 Key Vocabulary absolute location friction of distance core functional region density globalization distance decay human geography distribute location ecological perspective mental map environmental model determinism node flow pattern formal region © National Geographic Learning, a Cengage Company Chapter 1 Key Vocabulary perceptual region situation periphery space physical geography spatial perspective place sustainability possibilism sustainable development region theory relative location time–space compression scale vernacular region semi-periphery world system theory site © National Geographic Learning, a Cengage Company