Introduction to Human Geography Chapter 1 Key Question

Introduction to Human Geography Chapter 1

Key Question: Why do Geographers use Maps, and What do Maps Tell Us?

Map Appendix A Notes • Maps and their functions • Map Scale • Map Projections • The Grid system • Symbols on Maps

What are Maps and what are their functions • What can maps be used for? • In what ways do maps distort? . . . Why? • How do maps show bias?

Two Types of Maps: Reference Maps - Show locations of places and geographic features - Absolute locations Thematic Maps - Tell a story about the degree of an attribute, the pattern of its distribution, or its movement; display Reference maps work well one or more variables for locating and navigating between places, while across a specific place. thematic maps display one - Relative locations or more variables across a specific place.

Reference Map

Thematic Map What story about median income in the Washington, DC area is this map telling?

Maps and their functions • Cartography = The art of map making • Reference Map = that used for navigating… ie. Road Map • Thematic Map: One used to illustrate a particular them • Mental Maps: Those that exist in one’s mind (Cognitive maps) • Topographic Maps… use lines to show contour.

Cartographic Scale vs. Attribute Scale The cartographic scale (aka map scale) is the ratio between the size of objects in the real world and their representation on a map, making it a measure of proportionality in the most central idea of space, geographic space. The attribute scale (aka thematic scale) is equally important to cartographers because it is how the feature space is divided/measured for representation in the map legend.

Map Scale • Is the ratio between actual distance on the ground and the length given on the map – Which scale would show a smaller portion of the earth, 1/1… or 1/1, 000? • Larger scale = more zoomed in • Why are different scales needed in mapping the world?

The Grid System • What function does the Grid System Serve? • What are the key aspects of the Grid system?

Grid stuff to know… • Parallel • Latitude • Equator (0º N. or S. ) • Tropic of Cancer (N) • Tropic of Capricorn (S)… 23. 5º • Arctic Circle • 0º - 90º N or S • Meridian • Longitude • Prime Meridian 0º E or W • International date line 180º E or W

Map Projections • Why are there different map projections? • Which ones do I need to know? – Azimuthal – Peters – Fuller / Dymaxion – Robinson – Mercator • What are the strengths and weaknesses? • For what are they most commonly used? • Geographers use different projections because no projection is ideal for the purpose of every map.

AZIMUTHAL

Azimuthal Projection Useful map properties that all points on the map are at proportionately correct distances from the center point, and that all points on the map are at the correct azimuth (direction) from the center point. A useful application for this type of projection is a polar projection which shows all meridians (lines of longitude) as straight, with distances from the pole represented correctly.

Peters

Peters Projection (aka Gall-Peters) A configurable equal-area map projection known as the equal-area cylindric or cylindrical equal-area projection.

FULLER

Fuller Projection A projection of a world map onto the surface of an icosahedron, which can be unfolded and flattened to two dimensions. The flat map is heavily interrupted in order to preserve shapes and sizes. Intended only for representations of the entire globe. Less distortion of relative size of areas, most notably when compared to the Mercator projection; and less distortion of shapes of areas, notably when compared to the Gall– Peters projection.

ROBINSON

ROBINSON Projection Map projection of a world map which shows the entire world at once. It was specifically created in an attempt to find a good compromise to the problem of readily showing the whole globe as a flat image. The meridians curve gently, avoiding extremes, but thereby stretch the poles into long lines instead of leaving them as points. Hence, distortion close to the poles is severe, but quickly declines to moderate levels moving away from them. It is most commonly used by publishers because it is versatile and aesthetically pleasing.

MERCATOR

MERCATOR Projection Cylindrical map projection; although the linear scale is equal in all directions around any point, thus preserving the angles and the shapes of small objects (which makes the projection conformal), the Mercator projection distorts the size of objects as the latitude increases from the Equator to the poles, where the scale becomes infinite.

Choropleth Maps Highly valuable type of thematic map that visually show the variation of a particular quantity by shading or coloring different regions.

Map Symbols • Dots • Tones/shades/colors • Isolines (common to topographical maps to portray elevation) • Symbols

Mental Maps: maps we carry in our minds of places we have been and places we have heard of. can see: terra incognita, landmarks, paths, and accessibility Activity Spaces: the places we travel to routinely in our rounds of daily activity. How are activity spaces and mental maps related?

Aspects of a Mental Map • Nodes • Edges • Paths • Districts • Landmarks

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) A collection of computer hardware and software that permits spatial data to be collected, recorded, stored, retrieved, manipulated, analyzed, and displayed to the user. Uses thematic layers to display multiple spatial data sets.

Discussion Questions • List as many type of maps and purposes for maps as you can.

What is Human Geography? The study of how people make places, how we organize space and society, how we interact with each other in places and across space, and how we make sense of others and ourselves in our locality, region, and world.

Nomothetic v. Ideographic Geography The methods of investigation used by the nomothetic approach collects scientific and quantitative data. To do this, experiments and observations are used, and group averages are statistically analyzed to create predictions about people in general. Geographical research that applies to many places or regions; similarities between places can be explained using universal laws. The idiographic approach, unlike the nomothetic approach, focuses on the individual. It suggests that everyone is unique and therefore everyone should be studied in an individual way. Due to this, no general laws are possible. Geographical research that applies only to one place or region.

Kenya’s Coffee and Tea Production • Kenya…a nation where food production is low and starvation rates are high… produces and exports coffee on some of its best farm land. • Neocolonialism=a relationship of economic dependence where a former colony relies on its former colonizer for economic success through the continual trade of colonial products

Globalization A set of processes that are: - increasing interactions - deepening relationships - heightening interdependence without regard to country borders. A set of outcomes that are: - unevenly distributed - varying across scales - differently manifested throughout the world. It is estimated that 1/6 of the world's population is seriously malnourished

Time Space Compression • What is it? • How Does it impact us? How are Globalization, neo-colonialism and time-space compression interrelated?

Discussion Questions • Why does Kenya export coffee when its people are starving? • How does neocolonialism impact the world… what are consequences?

Geographers use fieldwork to understand linkages among places and to see the complexities of issues Why do Kenyans grow tea and coffee instead of cash crops?

Modeling Geographers use modeling to provide a comprehensive and limited view of a phenomenon while identifying the essential components necessary to describe a particular phenomenon.

Discussion Question • Make a list of the way the world is more globalized than when your parents were in school? • How does globalization impact your life?

Imagine and describe the most remote place on Earth you can think of 100 years ago. Now, describe how globalization has changed this place and how the people there continue to shape the place – to make it the place it is today.

Key Question: What are Geographic Questions?

Geographic inquiry focuses on the spatial: - the spatial arrangement of places and phenomena (human and physical) - how are things organized on Earth? - how do they appear on the landscape? - why? where? so what?

Discussion Question • What can be learned by using Spatial Perspective? • List examples of geographic questions about spatial alaysis?

Spatial distribution--the arrangement and organization of things on the surface to the Earth What processes create and sustain the pattern of a distribution? Map of Cholera Victims in London’s Soho District in 1854. The patterns of victim’s homes and water pump locations helped uncover the source of the disease.

Five Themes of Geography • Location • Human-Environment • Region • Place • Movement

Place Sense of place: infusing a place with meaning and emotion. Perception of place: belief or understanding of what a place is like, often based on books, movies, stories, or pictures.

Perception of Place Where Pennsylvanian students prefer to live Where Californian students prefer to live

Movement Spatial interaction: the interconnectedness between places depends upon: Distance Accessibility Connectivity--degree of direct linkage between one particular location and other locations in a transport network; topological space--degree of connectedness between places Barriers to spatial interaction: neighborhood where people speak a different language than the surrounding neighborhoods, a highway, an ocean, a different ethnicity, etc.

Discussion Questions • How do the five themes of geography influence the way we study the world? • What are some things that might influence the spatial interaction between places?

Cultural Landscape (Carl Sauer) The visible human imprint on the landscape. Religion and cremation practices diffuse with Hindu migrants from India to Kenya.

Sequent Occupance Layers of imprints in a cultural landscape that reflect years of differing human activity. Athens, Greece ancient Agora surrounded by modern buildings

Sequent Occupance Dar es Salaam, Tanzania African, Arab, German, British, and Indian layers to the city. Apartment in Mumbai, India Apartment in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Discussion questions • How do humans impact landscape? • What are some benefits and consequences of the interaction of humans with the natural world?

Geographers who practice fieldwork keep their eyes open to the world around them and through practice become adept at reading cultural landscapes. Take a walk around your campus or town and try reading the cultural landscape. Choose one thing in the landscape and ask yourself, “what is that and why is it there? ” Take the time to find out the answers!

Geographic Information System: a collection of computer hardware and software that permits storage and analysis of layers of spatial data.

Remote Sensing: a method of collecting data by instruments that are physically distant from the area of study.

Give a friend or family member a blank piece of paper. Ask the person to draw a detailed map of how he or she gets from home to the place where most of his or her weekdays are spent (work, school). Note the age of the person and the length of time he or she has lived in the place and traveled the route. Analyze the map for terra incognita, landmarks, paths, and accessibility. What does the map reveal about the person’s lifestyle and activity space?

Key Question: Why are Geographers Concerned with Scale and Connectedness?

Scale is the territorial extent of something. The observations we make and the context we see vary across scales, such as: - local - regional - national - global

Scale

Scale is a powerful concept because: - Processes operating at different scales influence one another. - What is occurring across scales provides context for us to understand a phenomenon. - People can use scale politically to change who is involved or how an issue is perceived. - e. g. Zapatistas rescale their movement - e. g. laws jump scales, ignoring cultural differences

Regions Formal region: defined by a commonality, typically a cultural linkage or a physical characteristic. e. g. German speaking region of Europe Functional region: defined by a set of social, political, or economic activities or the interactions that occur within it. e. g. an urban area

Regions Perceptual Region: ideas in our minds, based on accumulated knowledge of places and regions, that define an area of “sameness” or “connectedness. ” e. g. the South the Mid-Atlantic the Middle East

Discussion Questions • How does the use of scale assist in learning the world? • How does the use of regions assist in the study of the world?

The meanings of regions are often contested. In Montgomery, Alabama, streets named after Confederate President Jefferson Davis and Civil Rights leader Rosa Parks intersect. Photo credit: Jonathan Leib

Culture is an all-encompassing term that identifies not only the whole tangible lifestyle of peoples, but also their prevailing values and beliefs. - cultural trait - cultural complex - cultural hearth

Connectedness Diffusion: the process of dissemination, the spread of an idea or innovation from its hearth to other areas. What slows/prevents diffusion? - time-distance decay - cultural barriers

Distance Decay describes the effect of distance on cultural or spatial interactions; the distance decay effect states that the interaction between two locales declines as the distance between them increases. Distance imposes a significant barrier to spatial interactions.

Types of Diffusion • Expansion Diffusion – idea or innovation spreads outward from the hearth • Contagious – spreads adjacently • Hierarchical – spreads to most linked people or places first. • Stimulus – idea promotes a local experiment or change in the way people do things.

Stimulus Diffusion Because Hindus believe cows are holy, cows often roam the streets in villages and towns. The Mc. Donalds restaurants in India feature veggie burgers.

Types of Diffusion • Relocation diffusion – Paris, France movement of individuals who carry an idea or innovation with them to a new, perhaps distant locale. Kenya Photo credit: H. J. de Blij Photo credit: A. B. Murphy

Discussion Question • Why do geographers study diffusion?

Once you think about different types of diffusion, you will be tempted to figure out what kind of diffusion is taking place for all sorts of goods, ideas, or diseases. Please remember any good, idea or disease can diffuse in more than one way. Choose a good, idea, or disease as an example and describe how it diffused from its hearth across the globe, referring to at least three different types of diffusion.

Key Question: What are Geographic Concepts, and How are they used in Answering Geographic Questions?

Geographic Concepts Ways of seeing the world spatially that are used by geographers in answering research questions.

Old Approaches to Human-Environment Questions: • Environmental Determinism (cultural changes were strongly influenced by climatic change; has been rejected by almost all geographers) • Possibilism (less accepted today) New Approaches to Human-Environment Questions: • Cultural ecology • Political ecology

Create a strong (false) statement about a people and their environment using either environmental determinism or possibilism. Determine how the statement you wrote is false, taking into consideration the roles of culture, politics, and economy in human-environment relations.