geography essay
nalharbi
4Area_Study.pptIntroduction
Geography’s Principal Areas of Study
Four Primary “Areas of Study”
1. Study of Physical Systems
2. Study of Human Systems
3. Locational (spatial) Studies
4. Environment (human-environment interactions)
1. Physical Systems
The study of physical patterns across Earth’s surface, and:
--the processes that produce those patterns
Landforms
Weather and Climate
Geography’s “Four Principal Areas of Study”
Geography’s “Four Traditions”—Older Categories
2. Human Systems
Orienting Concepts:
1) Demographics: population patterns & dynamics
2) Patterns of social and political organization
Population Patterns
--spatial patterns of human occupation of the environment
Cultural Patterns
--technological, sociological, and ideological systems
--adaptive strategies
Human Interactions
--human behavior patterns
--how these patterns affected by spatial relationships
Political Geography
--links between ideology, human behavior, and spatial relationships
Location of cultural and/or physical phenomena
--distribution
--flows and interconnections
Primary Concerns:
1) Distribution Patterns
2) Scale
3) Movement
4) Areal Relationships
Primary Tools and Techniques:
1) Map analysis
--cartography
--global positioning systems (GPS)
--geographic information systems (GIS)
2) Statistical Analysis
3) Geometric Analysis
4) Systems Analysis
3. Locational (Spatial) Systems
The study of how humans interact with their
environments
Effects of perceptions on the use, and abuse, of resources
--influence of cultural, economic, and political systems and processes
Study of Natural Resources and their location
Study of Human Impact on the Environment
--influence of human spatial patterns and behaviors
Research in Cultural and Political Ecology (briefly covered
in Chapter 6)
--human adaptations to the environment (cultural ecology)
--role of culture
--(political ecology) effect of large-scale economic and political processes
4. Environment
