Geography 2051 Exam 1 Study Guide By Beka Smith 8 21 12 Notes Geography Basics Geography The special distribution of the earth s surface Old Geography What is where The primary question of geographers Description observation o You need to write draw or track what you see What is Geography good for 1 Curiosity what are things like in other places 2 Economics a Resources b Foods c Minerals 3 Political Power 4 Military Reasons 5 Culture Values a Ex Rome vs Hannibal Hannibal took an alternate route and used the land toward his victory He knew the land formations and best military land due to geography Geography is a newer and more important program than it was before Geography isn t simply about WHAT is WHERE anymore but it now arises the question WHY Geography requires explanation you must truly understand not just know Human Geo VS Physical Geo Cultures Industries Values Societies Natural world Environment 4 Spheres of Geography Interconnected 1 Atmosphere Climatology a Weather Air 2 Solid Portions Geomorphology a Land forms mountains valleys beaches 3 Hydrosphere water resources a Oceans rivers lakes clouds 4 Biosphere biogeography a Living organisms that inhabit the world 5 Common Things in Geographic Research 1 Location where things are in relation to each other a 1700 s Longitude Latitude were implemented 2 Place the characteristics and attributes that make it so unique 3 Region Attributes that locations share 4 Movement networks pathways connections 5 Human Earth interrelationships 8 23 12 Notes Geographic Methods Tools The Scientific Method 1 Image of the World a Everything we do and see b Through the when we experience a problem we need to increase our apriori knowledge If you are lucky you will come up with a solution or find one 2 Hypothesis a A phenomenon that requires verification a guess b This is NOT a theory c A theory is something we know to be true A theory is something that has already been verified 3 Verification a Different ways of verification i Gathering Data ii Experimenting b Leads to a solution i REJECT or ACCEPT If a hypothesis is rejected a new hypothesis must be formed c This stage is not about trying to prove something is true We have come to accept that proving something is 100 true is impossible THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD Science is not about truth It is very democratic If you are a scientist you want to remain pretty skeptical EX Isaac Newtown and Albert Einstein s phenomenas on gravity After their thoughts people began to experiment because they thought it wasn t true Don t be afraid to ask and question something because that is how knowledge grows SYSTEMS THEORY Ex Solar systems cooling systems Systems A set of objects and their attributes that are linked together by networks of matter and energy The power of systems theory is that it can be used and applied to so many things in the world 2 Basic Types of Systems 1 OPEN 2 CLOSED a Matter and energy are free to come and leave solar system a Matter and energy are NOT free to come and leave b Hard to find a true example because it is difficult for matter and energy to constantly enter and organism without leaving LAW OF CONSERVATION Energy and matter cannot be created or destroyed BUDGETS 1 2 3 Inputs Outputs Constant Balance Inputs Outputs Storage Inputs Outputs Storage There must be Equilibrium A balance of inputs and outputs 2 TYPES OF EQUILIBRIUM 1 Static stationary non moving constant inputs ex bucket with hole 2 Dynamic Inputs fluctuate over time at any time you could have or budget This chart shows a change in environment stability over time due to the water movement As we hit a dry the organisms decrease Lag Period The amount of time between some change in inputs or other conditions and the nature s response to that change Feedbacks A system response in some change in inputs or other environmental conditions 1 Negative Feedback A system response that acts to eliminate the original change 2 Positive Feedback A system response that acts to amplify the original change Positive feedbacks usually are DESTRUCTIVE the snowball effect forest fires 9 4 12 Notes MAPS 2 Dimensional representations of the earth s surface DATA TYPES 1 1 Dimensional a Something that is represented by a point b Location where things are 2 2 Dimensional a Lines b Movement pathways connections 3 3 Dimensional a Areas shapes b Regions These 3 types of data are spatially continuous Cloropleth Map To display regions of qualitative data objects we describe as words rather than numbers Isoline Map To display quantitative data SCALE Graphic line bar Representative Fraction 1 25 0000 or 1 25 000 Does not remain accurate if you enlarge or decrease 1 of these on the map is 25 000 in the real world KEY LEGEND Guide to colors and symbols DATA SOURCE The earth s surface features change often We need to know when the data was collected map made because the earth Checking the source of the map is very important because many people can make changes over time maps easily today DIRECTION ORIENTATION Describing where things are in relation to one another N S E W directional coordinates Coordinate systems o Cartesian Systems X Y graphs o Used for many maps o Harder to use for the entire earth s surface o Circular Angle System the original location or center How much of an angle is the location away from Parallels lines of lat Reference center equator Determined by the angle that is made between the equator and the specific location Values 0 90 degrees N or S Latitude Longitude Meridians lines of longitude No natural feature that acted as a starting point so they made a decision to start at GREENWICH ENGLAND 0 degrees PRIME MERIDIAN Longitude determined by going East or West and seeing how many degrees are between the location and the prime meridian Values 0 180 degrees E or W There are some basic ideas that we want to portray accurately on a map MAP PROJECTIONS 1 Shape 2 Distance 3 Area 4 Proximity All maps that we use projection for have some kind of distortion FAMILIES 1 Cylindrical Standard line point contact 2 Planar Keep paper flat and lay it on top of earth 3 Conic shaped like a cone Mercador the man who invented the map projection Which one is which Remote Sensing Collecting data w o physical contact 1 Reflected energy only seen by light 2 Emitted energy Infrared 3 Electromagnetic Radiation a All objects constantly radiate energy b Wavelengths used to determine the spectrum of radiation c The hotter an object is the shorter the wavelength d