How Geographers Explore the World What is Geography

How Geographers Explore the World What is Geography? 1

Welcome to Geography! 2

You are about to embark on an adventure of discovery… • About the planet you live on… • About the earth’s physical features… • About the living things that inhabit the planet. . • About where all these elements are located and how they interact 3

So what is Geography anyway? ? ? Good question…. . It has changed over the years… • There is no single snappy answer. • A couple of millennia ago it was about discovery: Was the Earth round or flat? • Several centuries later geography was propelled by exploration and mapmaking 4

Today Geography is in the space age… • Satellites transmit information to computers whose maps are used for analysis and decision making • Despite these new developments, geography does have some traditions… 5

Geography deals with the natural as well as the human world 6

It is not just a “social” science Geographers do research on. . • • A hurricane…. Glaciations Coastlines Desert dunes Limestone caves Weather Climate Even on plants and animals 7

Geographers also study human activity… Such as… And human interaction with the environment Religion Language Population And provide information that helps with… • City planning • Boundary making • • 8

They ask questions like… • Why do people persist in living on the slopes of active volcanoes and in the floodplains of flood-prone rivers? • Where are diseases found? How do they spread? • How does the location of a health-care facility affect the opportunity to obtain care? • How many schools should we build to serve the city of Louisville? 9

So geographers… • Make huge contributions to make the world a better place for people… • And to make people aware of how to use the resources of the world wisely… 10

A third geographic tradition… • Is simply this… • We like to know and understand different cultures and distant regions • In the past it was rare to find a geographer who did not have expertise about a foreign area…or speak a foreign language… 11

Finally, the “location” tradition Which asks questions like… And makes products like…. • Why are things located on the Earth’s surface where they are? • What does location mean to the success or failure of an area? • Where should a new shopping center be built? 12

So, we don’t have a short-answer definition to geography… • The book says: Geographers are specialists who describe the earth’s physical and human features and the interactions of people, places, and environments • Geographers search for patterns in these features and interactions…. • Geographers try to explain why they exist or occur. . • They use this information in all sorts of ways…… 13

Geographers…. • …. may study volcanoes and why they erupt…. 14

Or they may…. • Analyze a city’s location in relation to climate, transportation, or population to help a city make decisions about planning 15

There is almost nothing… • In this wide, wonderful world of ours that can’t be studied geographically… • So hang on to your hat, you’re in for a ride! 16