What is geography?

•The study of the earth and its features and of the distribution of life on the earth, including human life and the effects of human activity

TWO Branches OF GEOGRAPHY

•1. Human – study of how people and their activities vary from place to place – economics, politics, and culture

•2. Physical –study of how the earth’s natural features vary from place to place – climate and landforms

WHY STUDY GEOGRAPHY?

• 10. Mother Teresa, one of the most admired women in history, went to India as a Geography teacher.

• 9. You won't embarrass yourself incorrectly pronouncing Phuket, Thailand.

• 8. Those international coffees will take on a whole new meaning.

• 7. You will know why "surf's up." • 6. History will finally make sense. • 5. You will know what it's like where your

Internet pals live. • 4. You won't get ripped off buying an Amtrak

ticket to Honolulu. • 3. Michael Jordan, a geography major, makes

over $80 million a year. • 2. You'll understand the real reason why the

Russians were getting friendly with Osama. • 1. You'll know the way to San Jose.

MAP SKILLS

What is a MAP?What is a MAP?

A map is a graphic A map is a graphic representation,representation,

on a flat surface, of what a on a flat surface, of what a part of the Earth’s surface part of the Earth’s surface looks like from abovelooks like from above..

MAP PROJECTIONS – different ways to project the earth

•A Mercator projection is best used for ship navigation because of the nice straight lines

A Polar projectio

n is best u

sed in

airplane navigatio

n. It is

easy to

plot the Great C

ircle Routes used

to fly long distances

A Robinson projection is

best used

for data re

presentation. M

ost of

the maps in

textbooks a

re

Robinson projections

1. COMPASS ROSE•SHOWS CARDINAL DIRECTIONS (NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, WEST) ON A MAP

•Intermediate directions

2. SCALE

•Represents distances between any two points

3. KEY or LEGEND

•Explains symbols on a map