UNIT ONE: WHY GEOGRAPHY

MATTERS

Global Geography

WHAT IS GEOGRAPHY?

Geography is the study of the physical and human

environments of the world and the way in which these

environments interact with one another. (Corbin, Trites,

Taylor, 2000, pg.2)

In other words, a geographer will look at our world, i.e.,

the earth and how we interact with it.

Geography records the location of food, water, where

people live, where and how people make a living.

GEOGRAPHY WILL BE USED TO:

Decide where to locate a local dump site

Decide if it is good idea to put a new home

development in an area

Decide where a new shopping mall should be built

Decide how can we prevent further environmental

damage

Study how different parts of the world is related

and connected

REASON FOR GEOGRAPHY

A knowledge of geography can awaken our

curiosity about other parts of the world.

It can also heighten our sense of responsibility for

the health of our planet and all people species that

live on it.

FIELDS OF GEOGRAPHY

Just like many other disciplines, Geography has

many different specialty areas.• Economic geography• Urban geography• Political geography• Historical geography• Cultural geography

THE GEOGRAPHIC METHOD

Regardless of the area of expertise, all

geographers follow a common method of study. • Step one : Ask appropriate Questions• Step two: Collect information• Step three: Organize, summarize and display the

information gathered.• Step four: Analyze and interpret the information• Formulate an answer based on your analysis

THE CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY

Six concepts are used to help guide the use of the

geographic method.

LOCATION

Where did an event happen?

A geographer would do more than simply answer this

question.

In the event of a car accident they would, for example, ask

the following questions. Have there been other accidents in

this same area? Did the accident happen as a result of the

weather? Was the accident a result of the way the road

curved just before the accident site?

REGION

An area of land that has an easily recognizable

feature such as a mountainous region or a costal

region or a region of the world identified by

language spoken such as English –speaking region of

the world.

SPATIAL PATTERN

Refers to the question, can similar events or

phenomenon occur in places that are far apart? Can

a pattern be seen? An example would be that in all

urban cities around the world wealthier people can

be found living outside of industrial areas.

SPATIAL INTERACTION

Refers to the fact that an event on one area of the

world can cause or lead to a change in another area

of the world. Example, oil spills cause damage not

only at the site of a spill, but also many sometimes

even thousands of kilometers away.

HUMAN/ENVIRONMENTAL INTERACTION

Refers to the effect that humans have on the

environment and that the environment has on

humans.

CULTURE

Refers to the customs and world view of a

particular people.

SUMMARY

As you can see the study of geography is complex

and involves more than simply studying rocks and

memorizing the names of the oceans and countries

of the world. Geographers are problem solving who

look at the complete and complex picture.

REFERENCES

Corbin, B., Trites, J., Taylor, J. (2000). Global

Connections: Geography for the 21st Century. Oxford

University Press: Ontario, Canada.