Unit 1: MAP SKILLS

What is Geography?

The study of the physical, biological, and cultural features of the Earth’s surface.

Anything that can be mapped!

Geography mixes up the physical and human aspects of our world into one field of study.

Geography shows the relationship between people and the environment.

What is a Geographer?Someone who analyzes the Earth from many

viewpoints.

Tools = Globes & MapsCollect information about the EarthTo present information accurately, put it on

a globeFlat maps created because they are more

practical, BUT this causes distortion, a change in accuracy of the shapes and distances of places.

Cartography the study of maps and mapmaking

Five Themes of Geography

When we want to learn about a certain “place” we use the Five Themes of

Geography

1. Location

Deals with the exact or relative spot of something on Earth.Absolute Location: A point on the earth's surface

expressed by a coordinate system such as latitude and longitude; exact location.

Relative Location: A location of a place in relation to another place.

ASK:Where is the place (longitude, latitude, continent, hemispheres)?How far away from home is it (travel time by plane, distance in miles/kilometers)?What countries are neighbors of the country?

2. Place

Includes the physical and human features of a location.To describe physical features, you might say

that the climate is hot or cold or that the land is hilly.

To describe human features, you might discuss how many people live there, what types of work they do, or what they do for fun. ASK:

Describe the place (size, shape).What is the climate (temperature, rainfall)?What kinds of physical features are there (mountains, rivers, deserts)?Describe the people who live there (nationalities, traditions, etc.).

3. Human-Environment Interactions

Covers the ways people and environments interrelate with and affect each other.

Also, use interaction to study the consequences of people’s actions.

ASK:How do people use the land (farming, herding, mining, industry)?How have people changed the land?Where do most people live (near a river/coastline, in the mountains)?Why do you think people settled there (water, safety, food, natural beauty)?

4. Movement

Involves how people and things change locations and the effects of these changes.Explains how people, goods, and ideas move from

one place to another.Helps geographers understand cultural changes.

ASK:How will you travel to the place (route, drive, fly, walk)?Does the country export goods to other places? If so, what and where?Does the country import goods from other places? If so, what and from where?Why would people leave or move to the place (jobs, family, climate, war)?

5. Regions

Organizes Earth into geographic areas with one or more shared characteristics climate, land, population, or history

On maps, geographers use color and shape or special symbols to show regions.

ASK:What language(s) do people speak?What are the political divisions of the country (states, provinces, republics)?How is the country similar to any of its neighbors (traditions, language, climate)?

ACTIVITY:DIRECTIONS:

1. Choose a country!

2. For EACH of the five themes of geography, explain what it means in the first box and list three facts about the country you chose in the second box.

EXAMPLE: THE UNITED STATES

TAKE OUT TECHNOLO

GY

LOCATION:The exact spot of something on Earth.

1. The United States is in the Northern Hemisphere.2. The United States is directly south of Canada.3. The United States is in North America.

Place:Includes the physical and human features of location.

1…2…3…

Create a map of your classroom. Include these things on your map:• an appropriate title• a legend with symbols that represent the furniture and other objects in the room• a compass• a grid• an accurate scale

The Parts of a Map

Key - A list that explains what the symbols on a map represent; also known as a legend.

Scale - The ratio of a distance on the map to the corresponding distance on the ground.

Compass Rose - A map element with arrows pointing in all four cardinal directions.

Latitude & Longitude

Latitude - Lines on a globe drawn in an east-west direction and measured in degrees.

Longitude - Lines on a globe drawn in a north-south direction and measured in degrees.

The Hemispheres

The Mercator Projection In 1569, a geographer

named Gerardus Mercator created a flat map to help sailors navigate long journeys across the globe.

The Mercator Projection, or method of putting a map of the Earth onto a flat piece of paper, is used by nearly all deep-sea navigators.

The Mercator projection is a conformal map, meaning that it shows correct shapes, but not true distances or sizes.

There are many types of other projections of the globe.

MAP PROJECTIONS

Attempts to portray the surface of the earth or a portion of the earth on a flat surface. Some distortions of conformality, distance, direction, scale, and area always result from this process. Some projections minimize distortions in some of these properties at the expense of maximizing errors in others. Some projection are attempts to only moderately distort all of these properties.

http://www.colorado.edu/geography/gcraft/notes/mapproj/mapproj.html

ACTIVITY:

GOOGLE IMAGES “maps” “historical maps” “old maps”

What do you notice?

TAKE OUT TECHNOLO

GY

The World: Three ProjectionsThe interrupted projection map shows real sizes and shapes of continents.

The equal area map shows size accurately because all map areas are portrayed to have the same proportional relationship to the areas on the Earth that they represent.

The Peters projection shows land and ocean areas and correct directions accurately.

The World: Robinson Projection

The Robinson projection is based on tables of coordinates, not mathematical formulas. The projection distorts shape, area, scale, and distance in an attempt to balance the errors of projection properties.