Frameworks of Geography:

What and Why of Geography

The North Carolina Geographic AlliancePowerPoint Slide Presentations2007

Geography - The study of:

WHERE places are located,

WHY places are located where they are,

HOW those places affect the lives of people, and

HOW people interact with their environment.

What Is Geography?

What Is Geography?

"Geography is the science of spatial relationships of humans and their environment. Geography encompasses the physical and human world by examining what is where, why it is there, and what we can make of it."

Daryl Byklum, Journal of Geography Vol. 103, No. 5 p. 221

Geography deals with the natural and the human world.

Geography is both a physical science and a social science.

Geographers seek relationships between people and the environment.

What Is Geography?

Geography often takes a regional approach with an emphasis on cultures and place

NC Standard Course of Study takes a regional approach in grades 4 – 7

Geography is locational. It asks "Where?" "Why there?" and "So what?"

What Is Geography?

Geography is spatial

"Geography helps us identify patterns, distributions, diffusions, circulations, and interactions . . . the ways in which the physical and human worlds are laid out, interconnect, and interact."

Harm diBlij, Why Geography Matters. p.8

What Is Geography?

What Is Geography?

The study of the characteristics that make one place different from another place.

What Is Geography?

It’s Geography if you can map it!

(Speaking of maps . . .)

Why Geography?

The Power of Geography

Economic Reason

The Power of Geography

As America’s economic well-being is

increasingly dependent upon the

ability to compete successfully in a

global marketplace, a geographically

literate work force is more critical

than ever.

Economic Reason

http://www.oftheworld.tv/0405/amazon1.htm

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6407196/

The Power of Geography

Environmental Reason

The Power of Geography

As our nation and the world faceincreasing environmental pressures, a perspective in geography offers a Critically needed understanding of therelationships between human activity and the condition of the planet.

Environmental Reason

The Power of Geography

Geo-Political Reason

The Power of Geography

As our world becomes ever more interconnected, a practical knowledge of geography becomes more critical. Citizens need to understand people and cultures in order to make informed decisions about our role in world affairs.

Geo-Political Reason

The Power of Geography

Aesthetic Reason

The Power of Geography

Geography is visual. It captures the imagination and stimulates curiosity about the world; its diverse inhabitants and places, as well as about local and regional diversity. Often the classroom is a student’s first “window on the world.”

Aesthetic Reason