INTRODUCTION TO APPLIED GEOGRAPHY Course Instructor Amna Shoaib

INTRODUCTION TO APPLIED GEOGRAPHY Course Instructor: Amna Shoaib

Meaning of Geography Greek word, geographia, "earth description“ § A science that deals with the description, distribution, and interaction of the diverse physical, biological, and cultural features of the earth’s surface. §A delineation, or systematic arrangement of constituent elements.

Concept of Geography identifies the concepts of place, space, environment, interconnection, sustainability, scale and change as integral to the development of geographical understanding.

IMPORTANCE OF GEOGRAPHY § § § Geography provokes and answers questions about the natural and human worlds, using different scales of enquiry to view them from different perspectives. Geography is important for understanding and resolving issues about environment, urban planning and sustainable development. It also an important link between the natural and social sciences to understand different societies and cultures.

THEMES OF GEOGRAPHY • The study of geography includes specific topic such as landforms, climates, population and culture. • Geography also entails a number of unifying interrelated concepts. Among the most important concepts are the five themes of geography.

• As the historians organize time the geographers organize space in much. To help organize space, geographers are concerned with asking three important questions about things in world. Where is it? Why is there? What are the consequences of its being there?

THE FIVE THEM ES O F G EO G RAPHY • No one theme can be understood with the others. The themes are connected with one another, as are all components of our world. No part of our world can be understood in isolation 1. Location 2. Place 3. Human. Environmenta l interaction 4. Movement 5. Region

1. LOCATION • Where something can be found on the Earth. • Geographers want to know where things are located, both by themselves and in relation to other things • Location has also 2 types the ABSOLUTE & RELATIVE Location

A. ABSOLUTE LOCATION • Shows the exact point on the Earth’s surface where something is located. • It is identified as a grid coordinate as the surface of the Earth. A. Address B. Longitude/ Latitude

B. RELATIVE LOCATION • Explains where something is in relation to another. A. Cardinal direction (North, South, East & West) B. Next to, Down from

2. PLACE • This theme considers the characteristics that make one place different from all places on Earth. • It describes what a location looks like. • Place is describe according to PHYSICAL & HUMAN Characteristic.

A. PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTIC • Include anything that is native made from geological, hydrological, atmospheric and biological process. A. Landforms B. Bodies of water C. Trees, shrubs D. Rocks

B. HUMAN CHARACTERISTIC • Include anything that is human made. • It comes from human ideas and actions 1. Building, roads, cars 2. Human culture, language, customs

3. HUMAN/ENVIRONMENTAL INTERACTION • How people interact with the environment. • People interact in three ways: MODIFY, ADAPT & DEPEND.

MODIFY • Means that human change the environment. • Humans modify the natural environment to meet their needs 1. Build house 2. Dam, cut trees

ADAPT • Means humans change their life to live/ survive in the environment. 1. Air-conditioning, heat 2. Sunglasses

DEPEND • Human rely on the environment for their basic needs 1. fishing, crops 2. oxygen

4. MOVEMENT • How people, goods and ideas move between places. • Movement has 3 spatial interaction: Movements of GOODS, PEOPLE & IDEAS.

• Movement of Goods 1. truck, ship 2. plane, train • Movement of People 1. bus, car 2. walking, bike • Movement of Ideas 1. internet, e-mail 2. phone, letters

5. REGION • The basic unit of geographic study. • It is defined as an area that has unifying characteristics (two or more places) • There are 2 types of region: PHYSICAL & POLITICAL Regions

• Physical Region 1. Desserts 2. Mountains 3. Lakes 4. Rivers • Political Region 1. States 2. Countries