GEOG103 STUDY GUIDE­ Exam #1

How many people are there in the world?

toponym​­ a place name (Bismark, ND)

∙ 7.2 billion ppl on Earth

∙ geography­ the study of the earth as the home of the humans

ocrosses the science/social science barrier (both effect each other)

ogeography as a spatial science­ looking at how the world changes over space Evolution of the Discipline­

∙ Greek, Roman, & Chinese geographers­ Greek first group we knew about to help us study geography

∙ Aristotle, Eratosthenes, Ptolemy

∙ Aristotle​first one to recognize that the world we live in is round through observation ∙ Eratosthenes coined the phrase geography & almost accurately figured out the circumference of the earth

What is the meaning of geography?

∙ Ptolemy​created the first world map in 200 AD

Middle Ages­ geography almost died about but didn’t thanks to the Islamic scholars ∙ Marco Polo, Leig Eriksson (exploration)

Age of Exploration­ Dias, Columbus, Balboa, Magellan, Mercator (just know that they fall under this period)

∙ This was the main time period that people were exploring the land & world around them for things they could bring back to their land/kingdom

∙ Figuring out how to make the world map more accurate If you want to learn more check out What are the four economic resources?

1780 – basic outline of the current world map was established

1850­1950 Modern Geography­

∙ Germans ruled geography­ first people to offer the study/collegiate discipline of geography ∙ Colonialism­ going out and conquering land

What is geography as a spatial science?

∙ imperialism­ a step further: not only conquering the land but the ppl within the land and converting them to your own values/views

Environmental Determinism­ (geographical fault/people trying to justify this idea) ∙ Idea that environment determines human achievement

Emergence of the census (good thing)

Late 20th Century­

∙ Special science & the emergence of subfields Don't forget about the age old question of What is incentives?

∙ Regional geography starts to decline – qualitative methods began to increase w/ research ∙ Technology­ GIS, remote sensing – geospatial technologies Don't forget about the age old question of Who is the leading music corporation?

Branches of Geography:

1.Physical (natural)

2. Human (cultural)

3. GIScience argued as a third branch

­ Human/environment interactions

Approaches: regional/systematic

Field work­ anywhere you can go and assess your surroundings

Basic Concepts of Geography –

Geographic literacy­ not only knowing geographical facts/locations but also understanding why § Mandarin is the most widely spoken native language

Landscapes: Natural vs Culture

§ Landscapes change constantly

Natural­ may shape how people live but doesn’t dictate how we will (hills­ topography on campus) We also discuss several other topics like What is rhode island?

Cultural­ the visible imprint of human activity, built environment (ex. Shopping center, roads, russell house, etc)

Human­Environment/Nature­ Society Interactions:

Humans Modify: ex. creating farmland,

Humans Adapt: ex. birds nest built in a power line

Location

Absolute location​­ physical address/spot on the planet where something exists, latitude and longitudinal coordinates

Relative location​­describes a location in relation to something else, most commonly how we talk about locations

Site vs. Situation

Site­​an absolute location concept

§ Describing what is at a certain place, ONLY physical and cultural characteristics of a spot § Humans can modify site characteristics

Ex­ site factor: Manhattan, NY: island on the coast, abundance of fresh water/natural resources…humans have obviously modified this making it larger w/ cement & landfill Ex­ Columbia sandy soils, on the congaree river, on a hill, English speaking etc.

Situation­ ​relation location concept; how accessible and connectable is it to other places, where it is situated compared to other things If you want to learn more check out What is habituation?

§ Where its situated/located can either help/hurt them

Ex­ Columbia, SC­ 95 mi. south of charlotte, between Appalachian mounts & Atlantic Ocean, east of congaree river Don't forget about the age old question of Who is laurie anderson?

The Global Grid­ system of reference based on angular distance for locating points on the Earth’s surface

§ Use key reference pts to determine locations­ N/S Poles, Equator, Prime Meridian 0, International Date Line (180 degrees exact flipside of the prime meridian) § N/S poles aren’t lines but points

Lines of latitudes​­ parallels, run east & west but measure how far North/South something is, scientifically derived by the sun­ can be accurately measured by the daylight Lines of longitude​­ meridians, run north & south but measure how far east/west something is of the prime meridian, completely a human creation, 1 degree is almost 70 miles, total lines of longitude is 360 degrees

Telling time from Longitude

Longitude Act of 1714­ John Harrison, clockmaker who was the first person to accurately measure longitude and discover time zones

§ 360 degrees in 24 hrs.

§ 15 degrees in 1 hr. (360/24)

§ every time zone is 15 degrees

if traveling east​­ add 1 hr every 15 degrees

if traveling west​­ lose 1 hr every 15 degrees

§ 24 time zones­ 15 degrees each

Absolute direction​­ based on cardinal points, NESW

Relative direction​­ references a direction that is culturally based about where something is in relation to something else

Absolute distance​­ linear, answer in miles etc

Relative distance​­ time, money, more meaningful units to us: usually how we think, ex­ a 5 min drive from my apt etc.

Scale​­ describes the level of analysis based on the level of detail that we see, “how zoomed in you are” local, global, national, regional etc.

Space​­ a portion of earth’s surface; the physical gap between 2 objects

∙ Individual, shared, activity space

∙ Public/activity space is unowned and changed by whoever or whatever is currently occupying it

∙ (picture ex: sand, road, people, water etc. – all taking up space)

∙ special patterns­ how space is divided/used/arranged

Distribution​­ the physical arrangement of something across space; 3 ways to see distribution ∙ Density­ looking at the frequency of what is existing in space

∙ Concentration­ where is this phenomenon located? Dispersed/clustered ∙ Pattern­ random or noticeable pattern; more visible patterns will signify something Diffusion­​how things spread through space

∙ Hearth­ place of origin (ex. Starbucks hearth in Seattle but has diffused internationally from there)

∙ Diffusion often happens from close areas first and then expands to far away if it gets bigger/popular enough

Types of Diffusion:

o Relocation Diffusion­ the spread of a feature through physical movement of people from one place to another. Someone/something physically going somewhere/moving (people, ethnicities, languages, religion, anything that a person brings with them)

o Contagious Diffusion­ the spread of a characteristic throughout the population by contact, seeing or hearing about something from someone else then it catches on etc (disease, media, social media­ex. ice bucket challenge, sorority girls with black dresses on gameday)

o Hierarchical Diffusion­ the spread of an idea from the most connected people or places to other people or places/ anything that comes about from somewhere or someone that is well connected. Must start somewhere or someplace with significance, must be able to pinpoint where it started (ex. Fashion starting in Milan, Paris etc. but takes a while to diffuse)

Examples: What type of diffusion?

Instagram use​: contagious

Puerto Rican cuisine in NYC​: relocation

Vietnamese language in Columbia​: relocation

Popularity of plastic surgery:​hierarchical (although it was somewhat common before, Hollywood/famous people made it such a big deal to what it is now)

Adoption of horse cultural by Native Americans:​contagious (saw the conquistadors with horses first)

Christianity in the United States​: relocation (someone brought it here)

BYOB (bag) :​contagious

Diffusion is special interaction. Every place is nothing more than a fusion of other places. Spatial Interaction

Tobler’s 1stlaw of geography­ Everything is related, but things that are near are more similar than things that are far

o Ex­ Columbia and Charleston are different but become similar when compared to a place of greater distance, different culture like Japan.

oOcean temperature example from class

Distance Decay­ the farther in distance two things are in distance, the less interaction there is between them

oNot nearly as true as it used to be due to social media etc.

Space­time compression­ it takes less time for something to move from one location to the next o Accessibility­ even if they’re close they can be less accessible if land features are in the way etc

oConnectivity

Globalization­ ​expansion of economic, political, & cultural processes increasing interconnectedness across borders­ scale of the world is shrinking

oProcesses that are making us feel/become more interconnected through networks Networks­ interconnected nodes without a center

Ex. trade, transportation, communication, development, government, corporate Malcom McLean (1977) truck driver in Hoboken NJ/globalization –ted talk Can be credited for Containerization­ the reason we have a global marketplace oeconomy promotes globalization­ NYC, London, Tokyo (stock markets here)

Transnational Corporations: corporation that exists in multiple countries

o Vertical Integration – parent company that owns other companies that have all parts of the chain on it (Disney owns many other companies)

o Horizontal Integration­ one parent company who owns all the stores with the same supply chain (banana republic, gap, old navy)

Concept of Globalization: Pros vs Cons

PROS

oConvenience (networking)

oWealth (trade raises well­being of all..)

CONS

oDigital divide heightened (people with or without access to technologies) oUneven development (making rich richer and the poor poorer)

oIntolerance (since were more interconnected we have people living all over the planet)

o Uniform landscapes­ ​looks the same all over no matter what, such as McDonalds (social customs­ jeans, talking on cell phone beliefs­ religions etc, languages)

­ Many people see this as taking away from local culture

Regions

MDCs v. LDCs ­ (More Developed Countries Vs Less Developed Countries) ∙ 2 broad regions of the world: possession of wealth & material goods differs in each region according to types of economic activities that take place there

∙ Core (global north) – the largest, most developed areas, where most core and financial decisions are made…

∙ Russia & japan are alone in their geographic regions (more developed than their surrounding regions)

∙ Periphery (global south)­ the less developed areas, not in the prime time economic decision making areas

∙ Region­ an area with at least 1 common characteristic that differentiates it from adjacent areas

∙ Regions answer the question “why is HERE different from THERE?”

∙ Regions simply and organize existing complexities of space

∙ ***review map on PowerPoint to have as mental map***

∙ regions vary in size from small to large (scale of analysis)

∙ characteristics can develop/change over time

Where is the “south”? location, agriculture, industry, physical, history, people/culture, ∙ Hard lines vs transition zones (transition zone ex. saying y’all vs you guys)

Types of Regions

∙ Formal Regions – (ex. People speak English in U.S, time zones, political units, landform regions, agricultural land use, Columbia)

odistinguished by uniformity of a single physical/cultural characteristic

onot everyone/everything shares this characteristic, but it is predominant oinclude precisely bounded political regions defined by uniform admin/law ohard boundaries​(south example is not a formal region)

∙ Functional Regions­ most have to do with the economy (ex. stores, tv markets, urban commuter sheds, airline hubs, banking networks from major cities, store market areas, Columbia metropolitan area)

oAn area organized around a center point (node)

oUnity is defined by activities that take place

oFeature dominates in importance around the node

oConnections diminish with distance (hinterland/sphere of influence)

oEx­ apple would have a bigger functional region than CVS because CVS is more frequent ∙ Perceptual Regions­ will waiver from person to person; very subjective oIdentified by locals, not outsiders (vernacular)

oAn area that people believe to exist; mental maps (perceptions)

oInformally structured; fuzzy boundaries

oReflect feelings/images rather than objective data (sense of place)

∙ Zone of Influence for Latter Day Saints

oCore (where the characteristic we are looking at is predominant/pure) ex. gamecock country – Columbia, SC

oDomain (characteristic is still dominant but begins fading, may not be the only thing found) ex. gamecock country­ SC in general minus Clemson

o Sphere (remnants of the characteristic exist but are certainly not dominant or common at all) ex. gamecock country­ USC fans in other states

∙ Hierarchical Arrangement

∙ Why are regions useful? – helps us organize think of things,

∙ What type of region? Quiz examples

oFrench speaking country? Formal

oSouthern California? Perceptual

oArizona? Formal

oCorn belt? Formal

oWIS TV viewing area? Functional

oMidwest? Perceptual

oJimmy johns delivering zone? Functional

oCharleston metropolitan area? Functional

oCity of cola? Formal

oNew England patriots “land”? perceptual

Place ​(anything you can describe about it but not saying the name of it)

∙ The uniqueness of a specific location (distinctive physical/human features) ∙ Features that describe a location WITHOUT using toponyms

∙ Place Used to describe a location

∙ Dynamic­ constantly changing

∙ Sequent occupance­ people who occupy space sequentially, (ex. ppl who live in the old mills which is remnant from textile area but now theyre apt. but now they have new occupants) ∙ When space has meaning, we say it has a sense of PLACE – attitudes/feelings for that particular location as a result of experiences

∙ socially constructed

∙ place attachment/place identity (ex. teenager in a park vs mom with baby in a park) ∙ placelessness​­ loss of uniqueness of place in a cultural landscape

(photo of Birdseye view of gas station/highway/McDonalds)

Place, Site, & Situation​– ex. Colombia, South America

∙ place­ might not have any sense of place or attachment

∙ site­ andes mountain, coffee, oil, Spanish speaking

∙ situation­ between oceans, south America, near the equator, near panama,

Maps­

∙ Maps are a means of communication­ give the geographic background ∙ contains an element of location

∙ reduction of a visual reality (element of scale)

∙ one component of a geographic map is map literacy 

Cartography­ the art, science, & technology of mapmaking

∙ all maps are distorted in some way – (either shape, area, distance, or direction) ∙ all 4 of those qualities cannot be preserved on a flat piece of paper

Types of Maps:

∙ Reference maps​­ general purpose maps, atlas style (ex. physical, political, topographic) o***topographic­ use contour lines which display elevation/incline***

oiso­ line­ connects continuous points of the same value (ex of contour lines) oiso­ therms­ connect points of equal value measuring temperature (same temp) ono analyzation going on with these maps, just generally looking where something is ∙ Thematic maps​­ special purpose maps (ex. cartogram, choropleth, dot, proportional symbols etc.)

orepresent 1 or 2 variables in map form (population, income, ethnicity, etc.) othe “language” uses color, shape, size, shadows, etc.

osymbology­ point, line, polygon (every single map is made up of those) o2 main purposes: presentation of data & ANALYSIS of data

Types of Thematic Maps:

odot maps​(all dots the same size with what they’re representing)

oproportional symbols map​(points are different sizes representing different magnitude/volume) bigger symbols are for bigger areas etc.

oflow line maps​­ shows movement, 1 theme (ex. migration from Latin America to U.S) oarea class maps​­ show different areas represented by different colors, classified areas with be in the key

ochoropleth map​­ uses usually only 1 color/shadings of that color to differentiate data (ex. life expectancy map shown in class) generally a percentage/mathematical calculation required/counting

ocartogram map​­ (cartoon) uses size to display data, size is exaggerated based on value ∙ Virtual & interactive maps­ ex. google earth, MapQuest, google maps omaps which users control what they want to include/see

∙ Mental maps­ our perception of how we see certain places/if we were asked to draw a map ∙ Map scale­​the ratio of map distance to group distance (ex. word statement, graphic scale, representative fraction)

o“one inch equals 5 mile”

ographic scale is the only one that remains absolute/true no matter what what is the level of detail?

oSmall scale­ small detail​(LARGE area)

oLarge scale­ large detail​(SMALL area)

oScale and area are opposite

oAll relative to other maps which you are comparing them to

Scale­ affects generalization

oRivers: area­ line feature

oCities: area­ point feature

Purposes of Maps:

∙ travel routes

∙ pattern comparison

∙ location analysis (finding the best location for new store etc)

∙ display of changing data

∙ crime density hot spots (where are crimes more or less likely to occur) ∙ political statements (ex.grape­ chile map)

Mapping Issues: 

∙ Bad maps­ no titles, no labels in legend, too busy/hard to read

∙ Color­ red used to alarm people

∙ Deceit­ making maps wrong on purpose (cold war Russia map ex.)

∙ Representation choice­ data doesn’t change but the way we represent it can ∙ errors­ maps may represent two roads in different locations since they’re made with human error

∙ purposeful errors­ putting mistakes on maps to follow their data and see copyright issues How does one display a “round” world on a flat surface??

∙ Map projection­ the science of transferring locations on earth surface to a flat map oFlattening the earth is a geometry problem

oAll maps are distorted in different ways and to different degrees (SADD) oArea of least distortion are closest to where developable surface touches the globe (paper if your doing it how described below)

o3 typical/classes of map projections: developable surfaces:

conic, cylindrical, planar, oval – **how we make projections**

9/10/15

Properties of Projection: (ex. missile threat)

1.) Equal area​: preserves areas in the correct proportion of reality

oDistorts shapes

2.) Conformal: ​preserves correct angular shapes so that it “looks right” oDistorts area

3.) Equidistant:​preserves true distances in one direction or along selected lines (from 1 point) oDistorts area

4.) Azimuthal:​maintains true directions from one central point to all other points oCan also be equidistant, conformal, or equal area (but not all 4), but distorts everything excluding direction

Geospatial Technologies:

What are they?

1.)​GPS (global positioning system)

oUses satellites to LOCATE something on earth’s surface

oDetermines precise location of something on earth in 3 dimensions (latitude, longitude, altitude)

oAtomic clocks broadcast info to receivers which analyze time signals to determine location obased on time

2.)​Remote Sensing

oUses satellites to DESCRIBE earth’s surface

oscience of obtaining & recording images of earth’s surface from a sensing device not in direct contact w/ the surface

ophotographs, thermal scanners, radar, lidar

oex­ ocean temps, soil coverage, sea level rise, deforestation

oplay a huge role in emergency management (GPS does too)

3.)​GIS (Geographic Information System/Science)

oabsolutely revolutionized the way people make & use maps

oall computer based system for capturing, storing, querying, analyzing, and displaying geospatial data

omaps in layers (spatial overlay)

owe can view things simultaneously or separately

oa tool that allows us to understand spatial info and solve real world problems ohelps calculate whether relationships between objects are significant or coincidental oall of business is run by this, changing how we live

What is geospatial data?

1.) Geo­ Spatial info­ Location –Where is it? (coordinates/lat. & long.)

2.) Spatial­ Non spatial characteristics (what is it?)

Data Models​: how we simplify real world spatial information into a GIS

1.) Raster data model: ​Pixilation, pictures, satellite image that’s real & fast (use when boundaries are not as precise) (ex. vegetation cover, soil coverage, etc.) 2.) Vector data model: ​Points, lines, polygons (use when you have absolute boundaries)

*** “Raster is faster but vector looks more correcter” ***

Data Acquisition:

Where does data come from?

∙ Scanning and referencing paper maps

∙ Satellite imagery & aerial photos

∙ GPS data

∙ Field survey

∙ Government agencies/online sources

∙ You (location services on your phone when you tweet etc.)

GIS applications­ public safety, coastal management, commercial/business, health care

ADDITIONAL EXAM INFO​:

Exam (15%) 50 questions 2 pts each.

34 mult. choice

10 true false

6 short answer/fill in the blank (definitions etc.)

Lectures​Included​: Intro, basic concepts, thinking geographically, place/regions, maps, & geospatial technologies

*** Know the mental map that’s on the PowerPoint ***

Everything we’ve talked about…. Some include:

Types of maps

Geospatial technologies

Locations

What is geog

Diffusion

Types of regions

Space

Place

Site­ absolute location

Example Questions: T/F

The earths travel 15 degrees­ every hour – true

Lines of latitude converge at poles­ false

Map of usc campus would be small scale compared to SC state map­ false A sphere is where the purest concentration of a phenomenon is found­ false Bible belt is an example of a formal region – true