Introduction+to+Geography

 **Introduction- By Kendal Riner and Steven Madrid** Human Geography deals with the world as it is and what it may become. It's main focus is the people. Where are people located? What are people like? How do people interect over a certain space? What landscapes do people build on the natural landscape? These are a few questions geographers ask themselves when studing a certain area. Human geography serves as a source for many social sciences (behavioral, political, economic, or social geography).

1.** The Greeks were the first soceity to introduce geography as a subject. "Geo" meaning Earth and "graphy" meaning to write.
 * SIX MAIN THINGS TO LEARN-
 * 2.** The five themes of geography allow geographers to make each location unique and locate them into regions.
 * 3.** The Roman empire saw cartography become more of an art.
 * 4.** Diffusion is the spread or movement of a principle or phenomenon. Relocation, expansion, contagious, stimulus, and hierarchical are the ways things spread.
 * 5.** There are 3 types of regions: formal, functional, and perceptual or vernacular.
 * 6.** There are 3 main aspects of distribution: density, concentration, and pattern.

See vocabulary for definitions.
 * Five Themes of Geography**-
 * 1.** Place
 * 2.** Region
 * 3.** Location
 * 4.** Human-environment interaction
 * 5.** Spatial interaction or movement

These are good a good way to analyze a partucular location or region. These five themes were established in 1981.


 * Projections-**







See vocabulary for definitions.


 * GPS & GIS**-



See vocabulary for definitions.

**Geography**- is the description of Earth’s surface and the people that shape its landscapes
 * Vocabulary**
 * Human Geography**- the study of human characteristics on the landscape
 * Physical Geography**- examines the physical features of the Earth and tries to define how they work
 * Aristotle**- Greek philosopher, believed that Earth was round
 * Plato**- Greek philosopher, furthered the believe that the Earth was round
 * Cartographers**- mapmakers
 * Scale**- is the relationship of the size of the map to the amount of area is represents on the planet
 * Maps**- basic tools that geographers use to convey information
 * Gerardus Mercator**- (1512-1594) one of the first to produce a world map that showed the general outline of the continents
 * Environmental determinism**- theory that proposes that cultures are a direct result of where they exist
 * Possiblist**- suggests that humans are not a product of their environment but possess the skills necessary to modify their environment to fit human needs
 * Global Positioning Systems (GPS)** - uses latitude and longitude coordinates to determine an exact location on the Earth
 * Graphic Information Systems (GIS)** – uses geographic information and layers it into a new map showing specific types of geographic data
 * Equal-Area Projection**- keeps the size or amount of area intact but distorts shapes
 * Conformal Maps**- distort area but keep shapes intact
 * Cylindrical Map**- shows true direction but loses distance (Mercator projection)
 * Planar Projection**- shows true direction and examines the Earth from one point (Polar projection)
 * Conic Projection-** puts a cone over the Earth and tries to keep distance intact but loses directional quality
 * Oval Projection**- a combination of the cylindrical and conic projections (Molleweide projection)
 * Flow-line Maps**- used to for determining movement (ex: migration)
 * Choropleth Maps-** put data into a spatial format and are useful for determining demographic data (ex: infant mortality rate)
 * Cartograms**- chart and assign data by size (ex: world population by country)
 * Toponym**- place name
 * Place**- the description of what and how we see and experience a certain aspect of the Earth’s surface
 * Region**- concept that links places together using any parameter the geographer chooses
 * Formal Regions**- regions where anything and everything inside has the same characteristic or phenomena
 * Functional Regions-**defined around a certain point or node
 * Distance Decay**- the sphere of influence is reduced as the distance increases
 * Perceptual Region or Vernacular Region**- exist primarily in an individual’s perception or feelings
 * Relative Location**- means giving their location in reference to another feature on the Earth’s surface
 * Absolute Location-** means using latitude and longitude coordinates
 * Site-** refers to the internal, physical characteristics of a place
 * Mental Map**- a map that the person believes to exist
 * Longitudes (Meridians) -** lines that run north and south
 * Latitudes (Parallels)** - parallel lines that run east/west on the surface of the Earth
 * Equator**- latitude line that runs in the middle of the Earth at 0 degrees
 * Prime Meridian**- longitude lines that runs through Greenwich, England, at 0 degrees
 * International Date Line**- 180 degrees longitude
 * Human-environment Interaction**- how people modify or alter the environment to fit individual or societal needs
 * Hearth-** the place where the characteristic began
 * Diffusion**- the movement of any characteristic
 * Migration Diffusion**- physical spread of people, movement from one place to another
 * Expansion Diffusion**- the spread of a characteristic from a central node or a hearth through various means
 * Hierarchical Diffusion**- idea that a phenomenon spreads as a result of a group, usually the social elite, spreading ideas or patterns in a society
 * Contagious Diffusion**- usually associated with the spread of disease
 * Stimulus Diffusion**- takes a part of an idea and spreads that idea to create an innovative product
 * Distribution**- everything on the Earth’s surface has a physical location and is organized in space in some fashion (density, concentration, and pattern)
 * Density**- is how often an object occurs within a given area or space
 * Population Density**- the number of people is divided by the amount of land of a certain area to arrive at a number of people per square mile
 * Physiological Density**- refers to the total number of people divided by the arable land
 * Arithmetic Density**- calculates the density using all the land in a given area
 * Concentration-** refers to the proximity of a particular phenomenon over the area in which it is spread
 * Clustered or Agglomerated**- means close together
 * Dispersed or Scattered**- means spread out
 * Pattern**- relates to how objects are organized in their space
 * Linear**- if items are laid out on a singular line
 * Centralized**- if items are clustered together
 * Random Distribution**- the lack of a pattern on a landscape
 * Demographic Transitional Model**- describes human activities in the past and predicts human activities in the future

Sources: Kaplan AP Human Geography 2009

//Introduction: Kevin Sabo and Lyris Bach//

People have been thinking geographically since the start of the human race. The simple things, such as knowing where you want to go, or recognizing a farmiliar place even deal with geography. Thinking geographically is so easy, that a caveman can do it! (and has done it.) Think of a caveman leaving his cave, and searching for food to feed his family. Eventually, that caveman is going to have to find his way back home. Geography is the thing that will help him find his way back to his cave. It's all geography!

-A **map** is a visual representation of an area—a symbolic depiction highlighting relationships between elements of that space such as objects, regions, and themes. -A **place** is a location in space. -**Scale** is relevant whenever a system is represented proportionally by another system. -**Projections** transfer the area of the spherical Earth onto a flat surface, and ultimately becoming a map. Although, it distorts the Earth or parts of the Earth because of the difference in shape.
 * Basic Geography Terms:**
 * -Regions** can be defined by physical characteristics, human characteristics, and functional characteristics.

-A geographic information system (GIS), or geographical information system, captures, stores, analyzes, manages, and presents data that is linked to location. In the strictest sense, the term describes any information system that integrates, stores, edits, analyzes, shares, and displays geographic information. In a more generic sense, GIS applications are tools that allow users to create interactive queries (user created searches), analyze spatial information, edit data, maps, and present the results of all these operations. Geographic Information Science is the science underlying the geographic concepts, applications and systems, taught in degree and GIS Certificate programs at many universities. -A GPS receiver calculates its position by precisely timing the signals sent by the GPS satellites high above the Earth. Each satellite continually transmits messages containing the time the message was sent, precise orbital information (the ephemeris), and the general system health and rough orbits of all GPS satellites (the almanac). The receiver measures the transit time of each message and computes the distance to each satellite. Geometric trilateration is used to combine these distances with the location of the satellites to determine the receiver's location. The position is displayed, perhaps with a moving map display or latitude and longitude; elevation information may be included. Many GPS units also show derived information such as direction and speed, calculated from position changes. Many GPS systems are actually included into some more modern cars that have been made in the past few years.
 * GIS & GPS:**

-Remote Sensing is the small or large-scale acquisition of information of an object or phenomenon, by the use of either recording or real-time sensing device(s) that is not in physical or intimate contact with the object (such as by way of aircraft, spacecraft, satellite, buoy, or ship). In practice, remote sensing is the stand-off collection through the use of a variety of devices for gathering information on a given object or area. Thus, Earth observation or weather satellite collection platforms, ocean and atmospheric observing weather buoy platforms, monitoring of a pregnancy via ultrasound, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Positron Emission Tomography (PET), and space probes are all examples of remote sensing. In modern usage, the term generally refers to the use of imaging sensor technologies including but not limited to the use of instruments aboard aircraft and spacecraft, and is distinct from other imaging-related fields such as medical imaging. -There are two kinds of remote sensing. Passive sensors detect natural radiation that is emitted or reflected by the object or surrounding area being observed. Reflected sunlight is the most common source of radiation measured by passive sensors. Examples of passive remote sensors include film photography, infra-red, charge-coupled devices, and radiometers. Active collection, on the other hand, emits energy in order to scan objects and areas whereupon a passive sensor then detects and measures the radiation that is reflected or backscattered from the target. RADAR is an example of active remote sensing where the time delay between emission and return is measured, establishing the location, height, speed and direction of an object. -Remote sensing makes it possible to collect data on dangerous or inaccessible areas. Remote sensing applications include monitoring deforestation in areas such as the Amazon Basin, the effects of climate change on glaciers and Arctic and Antarctic regions, and depth sounding of coastal and ocean depths. Military collection during the cold war made use of stand-off collection of data about dangerous border areas. Remote sensing also replaces costly and slow data collection on the ground, ensuring in the process that areas or objects are not disturbed.= -Orbital platforms collect and transmit data from different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, which in conjunction with larger scale aerial or ground-based sensing and analysis, provides researchers with enough information to monitor trends such as El Niño and other natural long and short term phenomena. Other uses include different areas of the earth sciences such as natural resource management agricultural fields such as land usage and conservation, and national security and overhead, ground-based and stand-off collection on border areas.
 * Remote Sensing:**

-A site is the location of an event, structure, object, or other thing, whether actual, virtual, abandoned (eg. an archaeological site), extant, or planned. -A situation is the location of a place relative to other places. -A good example of this would be if someone asked you where you will be taking the AP Human Geography Exam, you will tell them that the site would be at the Pavillion, and that the situation would be near the beach.
 * Site & Situation:**

-**Lines of Latitude are the horizontal lines shown running east-to-west on maps. -Lines of Longitude are the vertical lines shown running north-to-south on maps.
 * Latitude & Longitude:

-Globalization in its literal sense is the process of transformation of local or regional phenomena into global ones. It can be described as a process by which the people of the world are unified into a single society and function together. -Globalization has various aspects which affect the world in several different ways such as:
 * Globalization:**
 * //Industrial// - emergence of worldwide production markets and broader access to a range of foreign products for consumers and companies. Particularly movement of material and goods between and within national boundaries.
 * //Financial// - emergence of worldwide financial markets and better access to external financing for borrowers. As these worldwide structures grew more quickly than any transnational regulatory regime, the instability of the global financial infrastructure dramatically increased, as evidenced by the financial crises of late 2008.
 * //Economic// - realization of a global common market, based on the freedom of exchange of goods and capital. The interconnectedness of these markets, however meant that an economic collapse in any one given country could not be contained.
 * //Political// - some use "globalization" to mean the creation of a world government which regulates the relationships among governments and guarantees the rights arising from social and economic globalization. Politically, the United States has enjoyed a position of power among the world powers; in part because of its strong and wealthy economy. With the influence of globalization and with the help of The United States’ own economy, the People's Republic of China has experienced some tremendous growth within the past decade. If China continues to grow at the rate projected by the trends, then it is very likely that in the next twenty years, there will be a major reallocation of power among the world leaders. China will have enough wealth, industry, and technology to rival the United States for the position of leading world power.
 * //Informational// - increase in information flows between geographically remote locations. Arguably this is a technological change with the advent of fibre optic communications, satellites, and increased availability of telephone and Internet.
 * //Language// - the most popular language is English.
 * About 35% of the world's mail, telexes, and cables are in English.
 * Approximately 40% of the world's radio programs are in English.
 * About 50% of all Internet traffic uses English.
 * //Competition// - Survival in the new global business market calls for improved productivity and increased competition. Due to the market becoming worldwide, companies in various industries have to upgrade their products and use technology skillfully in order to face increased competition.
 * //Ecological// - the advent of global environmental challenges that might be solved with international cooperation, such as climate change, cross-boundary water and air pollution, over-fishing of the ocean, and the spread of invasive species. Since many factories are built in developing countries with less environmental regulation, globalism and free trade may increase pollution. On the other hand, economic development historically required a "dirty" industrial stage, and it is argued that developing countries should not, via regulation, be prohibited from increasing their standard of living.
 * //Cultural// - growth of cross-cultural contacts; advent of new categories of consciousness and identities which embodies cultural diffusion, the desire to increase one's standard of living and enjoy foreign products and ideas, adopt new technology and practices, and participate in a "world culture". Some bemoan the resulting consumerism and loss of languages. Also see Transformation of culture.
 * Spreading of multiculturalism, and better individual access to cultural diversity (e.g. through the export of Hollywood and Bollywood movies). Some consider such "imported" culture a danger, since it may supplant the local culture, causing reduction in diversity or even assimilation. Others consider multiculturalism to promote peace and understanding between peoples.
 * Greater international travel and tourism. WHO estimates that up to 500,000 people are on planes at any time.
 * Greater immigration, including illegal immigration.
 * Spread of local consumer products (e.g. food) to other countries (often adapted to their culture).
 * Worldwide fads and pop culture such as Pokémon, Sudoku, Numa Numa, Origami, Idol series, YouTube, Orkut, Facebook, and MySpace. Accessible to those who have Internet or Television, leaving out a substantial segment of the Earth's population.
 * Worldwide sporting events such as FIFA World Cup and the Olympic Games.
 * Incorporation of multinational corporations in to new media. As the sponsors of the All-Blacks rugby team, Adidas had created a parallel website with a downloadable interactive rugby game for its fans to play and compete.
 * //Social// - development of the system of non-governmental organisations as main agents of global public policy, including humanitarian aid and developmental efforts.
 * //Technical//
 * Development of a global telecommunications infrastructure and greater transborder data flow, using such technologies as the Internet, communication satellites, submarine fiber optic cable, and wireless telephones
 * Increase in the number of standards applied globally; e.g. copyright laws, patents and world trade agreements.
 * //Legal/Ethical//
 * The creation of the international criminal court and international justice movements.
 * Crime importation and raising awareness of global crime-fighting efforts and cooperation.
 * The emergence of Global administrative law.

Intro to Geography Michael & Kate 1B


 * Things To know**
 * 1) This is the study of location of people and activities across earths surface.

GIS Remote sensing GPS Place Names Site Situation Mathmatical Location
 * Maps**
 * The art of making maps is cartography
 * A tool for storying geographic information and for finidng a route to a place on earths surface
 * earliest maps in 2300 bc. & Aristotle was the first to demonstrate the world was a sphere.
 * Map Scale is the relationship between the size of a feature on a map and its actual size on a map. a scale of 1:24,000 means 1 (unit) = 24,000 of that same unit.
 * Projection is how cartographers transfer locations onto a map. These will distort Shape, distance, size, direction. There are several types of projections. 2 types are Robinson and Mercator Projections. Robinson loses ocean space. mercator area distorted near poles.
 * The US land ordinance of 1785 divided the country into townships of 6 square miols with a nothrth south line called a princible maridean and east-west called base lines
 * Contemporary** Tools
 * Geographic Information System
 * This system captures, stores,analyzes and displayes geagraphic data
 * This is the aquisition of data about earths surface from a satellite arbiting earth or from other long distance methods.
 * Images are transmited to earth and is used mostly for environmental and mapping reasons
 * Global Positioning system
 * is a system of accuratly determining the precise position of something on earth surface.
 * geographers use to code locations
 * Place**
 * A toponym is a name given to a location on earths surface.
 * Sometimes named after a person usually the founder or someone famous
 * Associated with religion ex. St petersburg
 * Board of geographical names monators names for obscene problems
 * Some places use the name of the closest physical environmental characteristic
 * A change in a place name mostly because of political upheavel.
 * [[image:http://homepage.eircom.net/~globaltrots/images/New_Zealand/New%20Zealand%20-%20Name%20on%20Long%20NaME%20pLACE.jpg width="492" height="306" align="center"]]
 * The physical Character of a place
 * Location of a place relative to other places.
 * Maridian= longituted lines runing north to south
 * parallel=latitude lines running east to west
 * to find the location look at a map and detemine where lat. and long. intersect at your location.
 * GMT is are the time zone (24 of them) running along the longitudes and the International date line is mostly at 180 degrees[[image:http://www.robinsonlibrary.com/science/astronomy/practical/graphics/timezones.gif]]
 * Regions**
 * Cultural Landscape is a combination of cultural featurs such as language and religion
 * Formal, Functional, Vernacular Regions
 * Formal is when everyone there has very distinctive like characteristics
 * Functional forms around a focal point
 * Vernacular is perseptional as if someone had drawn a mental map
 * [[image:http://www.geog.nau.edu/courses/alew/ggr346/text/maps/vernacular-map-2x.jpg align="right"]]


 * Cultural Ecology**
 * The geographic study of human and there environment
 * Humboldt and Ritter tell us that human geographers tell us we need to look at natural sciences to understand human environment relationship.
 * We adapt to the environment by controling it with our technologies
 * There are 4 biomes forest, savanna, grassland, and dessert each one has there own specific vegitation.
 * We need to use topographical maps to see land forms on earths surface which are published by the U.S. Geological Survey.
 * Certain Areas have there own environmental modifications like dams and polder (low lying area that drains water) from the netherlands to help us control our environment and culture.


 * Diffusions**
 * **Hearth's** a place from which innovation originates this is very important considering it is the term for the start of most things in this subject.
 * Relocation diffusion is when a gourp of people migrate to a diffrent area bringing there customs with them
 * Expansion diffursion has Hieriarchical which is the spread of an idea from one person of power to a place
 * Contagious is the rapid diffusion throughout a population
 * Stimulus is the spread of an underlying princible such as computers that started as a US defense system and diffused across the world into personal.

Works Cited Rubenstein book 9th edition and google images :)

JOSHUA PATE REVIEW: Well done. This particular project really gave a person who is a visual learner alot of graphs and charts to help them learn. It is coloful enough to keep this persons attention try to keep in mind that the presentation should have been this well thought out