1. Origins of Geography

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1 II. ORIGINS AND BRANCHES OF GEOGRAPHY My Notes A. Origins of Geography Unit One 6 Before carefully examining the tools of the geographer, it would be useful to examine the origins and roots of this ancient subject. 1. Origins of Geography Geography is an ancient subject, one that the first citizens of earth tried to understand. It is hard to say if any one civilization owns the term "," but the ancient Greeks used the root of the word "GEO" as a description for earth and term "GRAPHIA" as the term to draw or graph. The Greeks smartly concluded then that one of the purposes of was to draw the earth. 2. Geography Defined Today, however, geographers see the subject as something more than simply drawing the earth and the phenomena found here on earth. Geographers use computers, satellite images and air photographs to see and interpret the earth around us. The most basic definition of is the study of why, what, where and how come it is located there or how did it get there. For example, why do ice and glaciers dominate Northern Canada? Where are the glaciers and the ice located and how did the glaciers and the ice come to be there? These are the types of questions the geographers concern themselves with and they are the questions the student thinks about. 3. Sub-disciplines Geography has many different sub-disciplines that make it a major field of study. Generally is broken up into two major sub-disciplines, physical and human. 4. Physical Physical deals with the internal (inside the earth) and external (outside of the earth) processes that shape and reshape the surface of the earth. A physical geographer would study such topics as earthquakes and volcanism. The physical geographer tries to understand what causes earthquakes and where on earth they happen. Of course physical involves many different branches, such as the following branches shown on next page. 5. Human Geography Human Geography is another branch of that studies the earth as the home of humans. The human geographer studies topics such as population and population changes, food availability and resources such as drinking water. The human geographer thinks about the problems that humans have on earth and practical solutions to these problems. Human encompasses many other different branches as shown on next page. These branches make it a very interesting and widely studied subject.

2 My Notes Unit one 7

3 III. TOOLS OF THE GEOGRAPHER My Notes Unit One 8 A. Maps and Map Features The geographer observes and records geographic phenomenon and information from their surroundings and therefore they have a number of tools they use. 1. Maps and air photographs Maps and air photographs are two of the essential tools of the geographer. A map is a graphic or visual representation of the real world drawn to scale. Maps display geographic information about the world around us and are one of the primary tools of the geographer. Maps also show the physical and human characteristics of the place. 2. Physical characteristics Physical characteristics like lakes, rivers, mountains and plains are all considered physical characteristics of a place and are commonly seen on maps. Human characteristics such as roads, buildings and railway networks are also typically found on maps. Humans construct these features and structures and they are often found on maps. CHARACTERISTICS FOUND ON MAPS Physical Characteristics Found On Maps Mountain Ranges Bodies of Water Forests and Vegetation Ice, Glaciers Human Characteristics Found On Maps Cities and Towns Railway Tracks and Netwroks Buildings and Homes Highways and Roads 3. The Essentials of a Map Maps like any other tool have essentials or "must haves." In order for a map to be classified as such it should have the following: a) A title The title of a map is important because it gives the mapreader some indication of what the map shows. Ordinarily the map title is very specific. b) A legend The legend explains the various symbols found on a map. c) A compass rose / direction A compass rose shows cardinal directions such as north, south, west and east.

4 My Notes d) A map scale The map scale is another of the map essentials. The map scale itself is a ratio that compares a measured distance on a map with the actual distance of the real world. A map with a scale of 1:50,000 is a ratio meaning 1 centimeter on the map represents 50,000 centimeters in the real world. The map of 1:50,000 scale might not be overly useful for students but a simple conversion would inform the map-reader that 1:50,000 is simply 1cm: 0.5 km. e) Map scale is often represented in three ways statement scale, linear scale and representative fraction. See the illustration below. The map essentials are intended to help the person reading the map Unit one 9 Linear Scale: one type of map scale to be successful in finding desired locations and features. See above. 4. large scale and small scale maps It is also worth noting that maps, depending on how much or how little of the earth they show, can be simply grouped into two other broad categories large scale and small scale maps. a) Large-scale map A large-scale map shows a small geographic area in a great amount of detail (or a large amount of detail hence the term large scale). An excellent example of a large-scale map is a map of your school s classroom or a map of your house. The large-scale map shows the area in careful and exact detail. b) Small-scale map A small-scale map shows a large geographic area in a small or little amount of detail (hence the term small-scale). An excellent example of a small-scale map is a map of the world. A large area (the entire world) is shown is a small or minute amount of detail. On a small-scale map the level of detail is so small and minor that even major places cannot be easily identified. For example, a small-scale map of the world could not accurately pinpoint or show a major city like Vancouver. B. Types of Maps and Map Themes 1. Map Classification Maps are often classified according to their theme (which is the information the particular map shows). Most high school students, however, will find themselves reading political, physical and topographic maps.

5 Unit One 10 a) Political maps Political maps can be large-or small-scale mapsthat show divisions between communities, provinces or nations. For example, a map that shows all of the countries of Western Europe and their national boundaries is an example of a political map. A political map would show the places where one nation starts and the other ends. b) Physical maps Physical maps show the physical landscape of the area. Lakes, rivers, swamps, mountains and glaciers are found on physical maps. Color and shading are two techniques that highlight physical features. c) Topographic maps - Topographic maps show the physical and human aspects of the world on a map. Common natural features like rivers, streams and lakes are shown on topographic maps. Additionally, human characteristics like roads, bridges and buildings are found on topographic maps. d) Map projections Cartographers are people who make maps. One of the problems cartographers experience is how to represent the globe, which is a sphere, as a map on a flat surface. In an attempt to accurately represent the earth, cartographers have created different types of map projections. One of the most common map projections, the Mercator projection, is hundreds of years old. The Dutch cartographer Gerardus Mercator designed a map that represented the North and South Pole as lines, like the equator, rather than points. As a result, some parts of the earth are distorted and elongated. A very good example is shown in the image below. Note the size of Antarctica and places near the poles. My Notes e) Air photographs are photos taken from airplanes that record the ever-changing natural and human-made features on the earth s surface. Air photos often capture suburban and business areas, roads and railways as well as geographical features such as mountains and

6 My Notes canyons, flatlands, rivers, lakes and planted fields. Air photographs have a number of practical applications. Often aerial photographs help in map making, community planning and environmental resource management. IV. GEOGRAPHIC PROCESSES WHICH SHAPE REGIONS Unit one 11 The Process of Taking Aerial Photos A. Introduction 1. A Restless Planet Planet earth is a restless earth. The earth is constantly trying to achieve a balance between forces that thrust up (or build) landscapes and those that wear landscapes down (erode) over time. Without some knowledge of these forces, the understanding of Canadian and regions would be incomplete. There are a number of natural physical processes that constantly shape and reshape planet earth. Some of these natural physical processes are earthquakes, volcanism, the effects of running water and the effects of ice on the landscape just to name a few. These natural processes have had a dramatic impact on Canada s landscapes and have therefore shaped the Canadian regions.