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Introduction

How Do I Study Geography?

Globes and Maps

How Map Projections Work

Common Map Projections

Reading a Map

Understanding Latitude and Longitude

Types of Maps

Click on a hyperlink to view corresponding slides.Click on a hyperlink to view corresponding slides.

IntroductionThe story of the world begins with geography–the study of the earth in all of its variety. Geography describes the earth’s land, water, and plant and animal life. It is the study of places and the complex relationships between people and their environment.

The resources in this handbook will help you get the most out of your textbook–and provide you with skills you will use for the rest of your life.

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How Do I Study Geography?To understand how our world is connected, some geographers have broken down the study of geography into five themes. The Five Themes of Geography are (1) location, (2) place, (3) human/ environment interaction, (4) movement, and (5) regions.

Six Essential Elements

Recently, geographers have broken down the study of geography into Six Essential Elements. Being aware of these elements will help you better understand and organize what you are learning about geography.

How Do I Study Geography?

Geographers first take a look at where a place is located. Location serves as a starting point by defining where a place is. Knowing the location

of places helps you develop an awareness of the world around you.

Element 1: The World in Spatial TermsHow Do I Study Geography?

Place has a special meaning in geography. It means more than where a place is. It also describes what a place is like. Physical characteristics such as landforms, climate, and plant or animal life help geographers distinguish different kinds of places. Human characteristics, including language and way of life, also describe places.

Geographers often group places or areas into regions. Regions are united by one or more common characteristics.

Element 2: Places and RegionsHow Do I Study Geography?

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When studying places and regions, geographers analyze how physical systems–such as hurricanes, volcanoes, and glaciers–shape the earth’s surface. As part of their study of physical systems, geographers look at communities of plants and animals that depend upon one another and their surroundings for survival.

Element 3: Physical SystemsHow Do I Study Geography?

Geographers also examine human systems, or how people have shaped our world. Geographers look at how boundary lines are determined and analyze why people settle in certain places and not in others. A key theme in geography is the continual movement of people, ideas, and goods.

Element 4: Human SystemsHow Do I Study Geography?

How does the relationship between people and their natural surroundings influence the way people live? Geographers study how people use the environment and how their actions affect the environment.

Element 5: Environment and SocietyHow Do I Study Geography?

How does a war in the Middle East affect the economy of the United States? Knowing how to use geography helps people understand the relationships between people, places, and environments over time. Learning how to study geography also prepares you for life in our modern society.

Element 6: The Uses of GeographyHow Do I Study Geography?

Globes and MapsPhotographs from space show Earth in its true form–a great ball spinning around the Sun. The most accurate way to depict the earth is a globe, a spherical scale model of the earth. A globe gives a true picture of the continents’ relative sizes and the shapes of landmasses and bodies of water. Globes are proportionally correct, accurately representing distance and direction.

Globes and MapsA map is a flat drawing of all or part of the earth’s surface. Unlike globes, maps can show small areas in great detail. People use maps to locate places, plot routes, and judge distances. Maps can also display useful information, such as political boundaries, population densities, or even voting returns.

Maps, however, do have their limitations. As you can imagine, drawing a round object on a flat surface is very difficult. Think about the surface of the earth as the peel of an orange. To flatten the peel, you might have to cut it like the globe shown on the following slide. Cartographers, or mapmakers, use mathematical formulas to transfer information from the three-dimensional globe to a two-dimensional map. However, when the curves of a globe become straight lines on a map, distortion of size, shape, distance, or area occurs.

From Globes to MapsGlobes and Maps

A great circle is an imaginary line that follows the curve of the earth. A line drawn along the Equator is an example of a great circle. Traveling along a great circle is called following a great circle route. Airplane pilots use great circle routes because they represent the shortest distances from one city to the next.

Great Circle RoutesGlobes and Maps

The idea of a great circle shows one important difference between a globe and a map. Because a globe is round, it accurately shows great circles. On a flat map, however, the great circle route between two points may not appear to be the shortest distance. For example, on map A on page 5 of your textbook, the great circle distance (dotted line) between Tokyo and Los Angeles appears to be far longer than the true direction distance (solid line). In fact, the great circle distance is 345 miles (555 km) shorter, which is evident on map B on page 5 of your textbook.

Great Circle RoutesGlobes and Maps

Technology has changed the way maps are made. Most cartographers use software programs called geographic information systems (GIS). A GIS uses data from maps, satellite images, printed text, and statistics. Cartographers can program the GIS to produce the maps they need, and it allows them to make changes quickly and easily.

Geographic Information SystemsGlobes and Maps

How Map Projections WorkTo create maps, cartographers project the round earth onto a flat surface–making a map projection. There are more than a hundred kinds of map projections, each with some advantages and some degrees of accuracy. The purpose of the map usually dictates which projection is used. Three of the basic categories of projections used are shown on the following slides: planar, cylindrical, and conic.

Planar projections show the earth centered in such a way that a straight line going from the center to any other point on the map represents the shortest distance. Since they are most accurate at the center, they are often used for maps of the Poles.

Planar ProjectionHow Map Projections Work

Cylindrical projections are based on the projection of the globe onto a cylinder. They are most accurate near the Equator, but shapes and distances are distorted near the poles.

Cylindrical ProjectionHow Map Projections Work

Conic projections are made by placing a cone over part of the globe. They are best suited for showing east-west areas that are not too far from the Equator. For these uses, a conic projection can indicate distances and directions fairly accurately.

Conic ProjectionHow Map Projections Work

Common Map Projections Four of the most popular map projections are named for the cartographers who developed them. These are the Winkel Tripel projection, the Robinson projection, Goode’s Interrupted Equal-Area projection, and the Mercator projection. Remember, all map projections have some degree of inaccuracy in distance, shape, or size because the curved surface of the earth cannot be shown accurately on a flat map. Every map projection stretches or breaks the curved surface of the earth in some way.

Most reference world maps use the Winkel Tripel projection. Adopted by the National Geographic Society in 1998 for use in most maps, this projection provides a good balance between the size and shape of land areas as they are shown on the map. Even the polar areas are depicted with little distortion of size and shape.

Winkel Tripel ProjectionCommon Map Projections

The Robinson projection has minor distortions. The sizes and shapes near the eastern and western edges of the map are accurate, and the outlines of the continents appear much as they do on the globe. However, the shapes of the polar areas appear somewhat flat.

Robinson ProjectionCommon Map Projections

An interrupted projection looks something like a globe that has been cut apart and laid flat. Goode’s Interrupted Equal-Area projection shows the true size and shape of the earth’s landmasses, but distances are distorted.

Goode’s Interrupted Equal-Area ProjectionCommon Map Projections

The Mercator projection, once the most commonly used projection, increasingly distorts size and distance as it moves away from the Equator. This makes areas such as Greenland and Antarctica look much larger than they would appear on a globe. However, Mercator projections do accurately show true directions and the shapes of landmasses, making these maps useful for sea travel.

Mercator ProjectionCommon Map Projections

Reading a MapMaps include several important tools to help you interpret the information contained on a particular map. Learning to use these map tools will help you read the symbolic language of maps more easily.

Compass Rose

Key

Cities and Capitals

Relative Location

Boundary Lines

Scale Bar

A compass rose is a marker that indicates directions. The four cardinal directions–north, south, east, and west–are usually indicated with arrows or points of a star. Sometimes a compass rose may point in only one direction because the other directions can be determined in relation to the given direction. The compass rose on the map on the previous slide indicates all four cardinal directions.

Compass RoseReading a Map

Cartographers use a variety of symbols to represent map information. Because these symbols are graphic and commonly used, most maps can be read and understood by people around the world. To be sure that the symbols are clear, however, every map contains a key–a list that explains what the symbols stand for. The key on the previous map shows symbols used for a battle map. It indicates troop movements, supply lines, and U.S. bases.

KeyReading a Map

Cities are symbolized by a solid circle. Sometimes the relative sizes of cities are shown with circles of different sizes. Capitals are represented by a star within a circle.

Cities and CapitalsReading a Map

People use relative direction to indicate location. You may be told, for example, to look for a street that is “two blocks north” of another street. Relative location is the location of one place in relation to another place, while absolute location indicates the exact position of a place on the earth’s surface. On the previous map, the relative position of where the Vietnam War took place is given in relation to the rest of the world.

Relative LocationReading a Map

On political maps of large areas, boundary lines highlight the borders between different counties, states, provinces, or countries.

Boundary LinesReading a Map

Every map is a representation of a part of the earth. The scale bar shows the relationship between map measurements and actual distance. Scale can be measured with a ruler to calculate actual distances in standard or metric measurements. On the previous map, three-fourths inch represents 200 miles (322 km).

Scale BarReading a Map

Understanding Latitude and LongitudeLines on globes and maps provide information that can help you easily locate places on the earth. These lines–called latitude and longitude–

cross one another, forming a pattern called a grid system.

Lines of latitude, or parallels, circle the earth parallel to the Equator and measure the distance north or south of the Equator in degrees. The Equator is at 0º latitude, while the Poles lie at latitudes 90ºN (north) and 90ºS (south).

LatitudeUnderstanding Latitude and Longitude

Lines of longitude, or meridians, circle the earth from Pole to Pole. These lines measure distances east or west of the starting line, which is at 0º longitude and is called the Prime Meridian. The Prime Meridian runs through the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England.

LongitudeUnderstanding Latitude and Longitude

The grid system formed by lines of latitude and longitude makes it possible to find the absolute location of a place. Many places can be found along a line of latitude, but only one place can be found at the point where a certain line of latitude crosses a certain line of longitude. By using degrees and minutes (points between degrees), people can pinpoint the precise spot where one line of latitude crosses one line of longitude–an absolute location.

Absolute LocationUnderstanding Latitude and Longitude

Types of MapsMaps are prepared for many uses. The information depicted in the map depends on how the map will be used. Learning to recognize a map’s purpose will help you make the best use of its content.

Maps that show a wide range of general information about an area are called general-purpose maps. Two of the most common general-purpose maps are physical maps and political maps.

General-Purpose MapsTypes of Maps

Physical maps show the location and the topography, or shape, of the earth’s physical features. They use colors or patterns to indicate relief–the differences in elevation, or height, of landforms.

General-Purpose MapsTypes of Maps

Political maps show the boundaries between countries. Smaller internal divisions, such as states or counties, may also be indicated by different symbols. Political maps usually feature capitals and other cities.

General-Purpose MapsTypes of Maps

Special-purpose maps show information on specific topics, such as climate, land use, or vegetation. Human activities, such as exploration routes, territorial expansion, or battle sites, also appear on special-purpose maps. Colors and map key symbols are especially important on this type of map.

Special-Purpose MapsTypes of Maps

LANDSAT maps are made from photographs by camera-carrying LANDSAT satellites in space. The cameras record millions of energy waves invisible to the human eye. Computers then change this information into pictures of the earth’s surface. With LANDSAT images, scientists can study whole mountain ranges, oceans, and geographic regions. Changes to the earth’s environment can also be tracked using satellite information.

LANDSAT MapsTypes of Maps

LANDSAT image, Mt. St. Helens, Washington