A Geography Student’s Beginning (You will find it on the pages just
before the Table of Contents)
GEOGRAPHIC
PERSPECTIVES
What is a geographic realm? Look it up in your book’s glossary (From
now on, I’ll just write “glossary”).
basic spatial unit; defined
by synthesis of: cultural, economic, historical, political, environmental
features
What is a spatial perspective? Can you use those terms (area,
distance, clustering...) correctly?
Emphasis on locations and distributions of phenomena
Contrast a geographer’s approach to a historians.
Time and chronology vs. space and place
REALMS AND REGIONS
Why do geographers need classification terms?
Establish order from vast data; it allows us to group and simplify data to
understand more easily
Realms and Their Criteria
What are some examples of spatial criteria that define a realm?
Physical: continents, rivers, deserts, mountains
Human: religion, language, economy
Look at Figure G-2. Which realm are you most interested in other than
North America?
What does regional interaction mean?
Separate realms influence each other. E.g., US markets for bananas and
Middle America producers
Note the two groups of geographic realms.
REGIONS
AT SCALE
What’s the relationship between region and sub-region?
They are both smaller parts of realms
What’s a scale?
Distance on map/distance on Earth’s surface
Will we be looking at large scale or small scale maps in this class?
small
THE PHYSICAL SETTING
What is physical geography? Why is it important in this class?
Spatial study of earth’s natural phenomena, systems, processes, structures;
allows us to understand what human societies have to work with
What is continental drift? Why is it important in this class?
Are Europe and North America getting closer or farther away from each
other? Why?
Early explanation of plate tectonics; explains why land masses and mountain
ranges are where they are; farther apart; seas floor spreading
What is interglaciation? When and what is the Holocene?
warmer period that separates glacial periods, we are presently in an
interglaciation; an interglaciation that began ~15,000 years ago
Review the
hydrologic cycle.
Precipitation Distribution
Learn the general pattern of precipitation by interpreting the map and
reading the text.
Climatic Regions
Spend some time looking G-8. We’ll use it a lot to understand regions.
What are the problems of climate classification? What’s the
relationship between climate and vegetation?
Scarce data, short term data, difficult to draw climate transitions on map;
natural vegetation is a response to climate
Learn the Climate letter symbols. This will take time.
Write notes for each of the 6 Climate types (A, B, C, D, E, H). Where
are they? What are their characteristics (precipitation, temperature, soils)?
REGIONS AND CLUSTERS
What is physiography? Why is it important for this class?
Total physical geography; = physical stage on which human societies are based
What is the primary determinant of realms and regions?
culture
What is culture? What aspects of culture will we focus on?
Totality of transmitted, learned behavior; language, religion, land use
Cultural Landscapes
How are we agents of change?
Human societies transform the surface of the earth with human artifacts:
roads, fields, cities,
What is cultural landscape? What were Sauer's ideas about cultural
landscapes? What are some features of the Central Valley’s cultural
landscape?
Composite of human imprints on surface; Sauer: long term cultural
transformation of surface; irrigation, ag, Hispanics, RR, farms towns
Culture and Ethnicity
What’s the difference between ethnicity and culture? What do these two
terms have to do with Yugoslavia?
Ethnicity: language, homeland; culture: larger, less specific; Yugoslavia
composed of south Slavs culturally united and divided by religion and politics.
Conflict based on religion (Islam, Christianity) not ethnicity.
REALMS OF POPULATION
This book has many large small-scale maps. Do not ignore them.
When the text refers to them, you should also refer to them. Look at
them.
Look at the dots. Approximately what % of the world’s population do
North Americans comprise?
~5%
In what physical regions are the major population clusters?
East Asia, South Asia, European lowlands;
Major Population Clusters
What is population density? Where are the majority of China’s
people? What do they do for a living?
People/area; eastern river lowlands; agriculture
Where are the people of South Asia clustered?
Ganges valley
How is the European cluster different from the previous two?
Not only river valleys but also in regions of raw materials for industry
How does Eastern North America’s cluster differ from the previous three?
smaller, rural areas=sparsely settled
What is urbanization? How does it vary from region to region?
Concentration of population in cities; Latin America=75% urban vs.
Subsaharan Africa’s 28%
REALMS, REGIONS, AND STATES
What factors allowed states to develop? What is the European state
model?
Growth of agricultural surpluses allowed city and hinterland situation to
develop; clearly, legally defined territory inhabited by population governed
from a capital city by a representative govt.
What’s the relationship between state boundaries and realm boundaries?
State boundaries often coincide with realm boundaries, but there are
exceptions (Sudan)
PATTERNS OF DEVELOPMENT
What is development?
Economic, social, and institutional growth of states
Learn the 4 World Bank groups and look at them on the map.
High income, upper-middle income, lower middle income, low income
Why does he mention regional disparity?
Some regions include areas of far different levels of development
What are advantages for development? What are ours?
Location, raw materials, govt. system, political stability, productive
skills (education)
What is neo-colonialism?
Refers to the persistent entrenchment of colonial system whereby poor
countries serve as natural resource suppliers for rich countries and continue
to depend on rich countries for development
Symptoms of Underdevelopment
What are the symptoms of underdevelopment?
UDCs export low value raw materials to DCs; corruption, misdirected
priorities, poor health, high infant mortality rates, insufficient farming,
overcrowded cities…
Specter of Debt
Be prepared to explain how former colonies have become debtor
countries. What is the role of the former colonial powers?
Former colonial powers benefited from loans to poor countries by securing
the contracts for building the large projects: dams, bridges, roads...
What is the relationship between debt and GNP in many poor countries?
In many poor countries debt is greater than GNP. This means that
the governments of poor countries must devote money to paying debt rather than
social services.
Globalization
Summarize the Peasant Federation's leader's definition of
globalization?
Americanization of France's traditions.
What are benefits of globalization?
Reduces barriers to trade which promotes commerce, brings jobs...
What are the arguments against globalization?
Negatives > Positives. Increase trade benefits rich countries more
than poor countries and further increases the gap between haves and have-nots.
What and when was the first globalization?
Spread of European colonialism (ideas, inventions, products, habits) during
the 19th and 20th centuries. Led to European control of resources
throughout the world.
How does higher-speed communication make the "present globalization
even more revolutionary."
Because it allows more rapid change and increased rapidity and volume of
products transported.
Explain how political boundaries "are becoming increasingly
porous."
Globalization, which is based on removing international trade barriers, is
making political boundaries meaningless. Movement of workers and products
is controlled less by politics than by economics.
Learn the predicted results of the present globalization.
THE REGIONAL FRAMEWORK
Note how DeBlij
has divided the world into 12 different realms.
GEOGRAPHY
What are the differences between regional and systematic geography?
Regional = study of human and physical patterns according to regions.
Systematic geography = study of human and physical patterns
independent of regions.
Which of these approaches will be used in this textbook? Regional