Geography Skills Handbook

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Geography Skills Handbook

• Essential Vocabulary
• and
• Map Reading Skills

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Why is this Important?

• Geography skills provide the tools and methods
  for us to understand the relationships between
  people, places, and environments. We use
  geographic skills when we make daily personal
  decisions -where to buy a home where to get a
  job how to get to the shopping mall where to go
  on vacation.

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Why is this Important?

• Community decisions, such as where to locate a
  new school or how to solve problems of air and
  water pollution, also require the skillful use of
  geographic information.

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Why is this Important?

• This Geography Skills Handbook introduces you to
  the basic geographic tools-globes, maps,
  graphs-and explains how to use them. These
  resources will help you get the most out of your
  geography course-and provide you with skills you
  will use for the rest of your life.

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Thinking Like a Geographer
Skill Example (s) Tools/Technique
Ask
Acquire
Organize
Analyze
Answer
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Latitude, Longitude, and Location

• Geography is often said to begin with the
  question Where? Although this question can be
  answered in many ways the basic tool for finding
  the answer is location. Lines on globes and maps
  provide information that can help you locate
  places. These lines cross one another, forming a
  pattern called a grid system. This system helps
  you find exact places on the Earths surface.

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Grid System
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Latitude

• Parallels Parallel to the Equator, measure the
  distance north and south of the Equator in
  degrees. Equator measured at 0 latitude, the
  poles are 90 N and 90 S.
• North latitude Parallels north of the Equator
• South latitude Parallels south of the Equator

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Longitude

• Meridians Circle the Earth from Pole to Pole.
  Run east and west of the Prime Meridian.
• Prime Meridian Line of longitude that runs
  through the Royal Observatory in Greenwich,
  England.
• East longitude Places east of the PM
• West longitude Places west of the PM

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The Global Grid

• Absolute location A global address where
  latitude and longitude lines cross exactly at
  that place.
• Example Tokyo, Japan is located at 36N
  latitude and 140E longitude.
• Minutes Give a more precise reading each
  degree of latitude and longitude is subdivided
  into 60 units.

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So How Do I Read a Global Grid?

• Just like a graph in math class.
• Why is this grid no good?

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From Globs to Maps

• A globe is a scale model of the earth. Because
  the earth is round, a globe presents the most
  accurate depiction of geographic information such
  as area, distance, and direction. However,
  globes show little close-up detail.
• A printed map is a symbolic representation of all
  or part of the planet on a flat piece of paper.
  Unlike globes, maps can show small areas in great
  detail. Another advantage of printed maps is
  that they can be folded, stored, and easily
  carried from place to place.

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From 3-D to 2-D

• Cartographers Mapmakers
• Issues When the curves of the globe become
  straight lines on a map, distortion of size,
  shape, distance, or area occurs.

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How Map Projections Work

• Map Projections Purpose of the map dictates
  which style is used.

Planar
Cylindrical Conic
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Projections and their Uses
Planar Projection Cylindrical Projection Conic Projection
Details of the globe are projected onto a plane (a flat surface) yielding a rectangular-shaped map. planar maps have a lot of distortion towards the edges. Type of map in which a cylinder is wrapped around a sphere (the globe), and the details of the globe are projected onto the cylindrical surface. Then, the cylinder is unwrapped into a flat surface, yielding a rectangular-shaped map. Type of map in which a cone is wrapped around a sphere (the globe), and the details of the globe are projected onto the conic surface. Then, the cone is unwrapped into a flat surface.

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Common Map Projections

• 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
  planet in some way as it is flattened. Distance,
  direction, shape, or area may be distorted.
• Cartographers have developed many map
  projections, each with some advantages and some
  degree of inaccuracy. Four of the most popular
  map projections, named for the cartographers who
  developed them, are shown below.

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Winkel-Tripel Projection

• NG official projection
• Good size/shape balance
• Polar areas distorted

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Robinson Projection

• Developed before the Winkel-Tripel
• Minor distortions, poles are very distorted

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Lets Compare
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Goodes Interrupted Equal-Area Projection

• Good to show data
• True size/shape of landmasses
• Distance distorted

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Mercator Projection

• Useful for sea travel
• Further from equator, become extremely distorted
• Shows true size/shape of landmasses

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Reading A Map

• In addition to scale and the lines of latitude
  and longitude, maps feature other important tools
  to help you interpret the information they
  contain. Learning to use these map tools will
  help you read the symbolic language of maps.

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Key/Legend

• Every map has different symbols, to assure that
  the symbols used are clear every map contains a
  key a list that explains what the symbols stand
  for.

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Boundary Lines

• On political maps boundary lines highlight the
  borders between different countries, states, or
  counties.

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Compass Rose

• A marker to indicate direction
• Cardinal Directions
• N, S, E, W
• Intermediate Directions
• NE, NW, SE, SW

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Scale Bar

• Shows the relationship between map measurements
  and actual distances.

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Cities

• Represented by dots. Relative sizes of cities
  can be used by using dots of different size.

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Capitals

• National capitals are often represented by a star
  with in a circle.

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Small-Scale Maps

• A small-scale map can show a large area but
  little detail. Note that the scale bar for this
  map indicates that about ½ an inch is equal to
  200 miles and about 300 kilometers.

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Large-Scale Maps

• A large-scale map can show a small area on the
  earths surface with a great amount of detail.
  Note that map measurements correspond to much
  smaller distances than on a small-scale map.

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Absolute and Relative Location

• As you learned before, a places absolute
  location is found at the precise point where one
  line of latitude crosses a line of longitude.
  Another way that people indicate location is by
  relative 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.

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Absolute and Relative Location

• To find relative location, find a reference
  pointa location you already knowon a map. Then
  look in the appropriate direction for the new
  location. For example, locate Houston (your
  reference point) on this map. The relative
  location of Dallas can be described as northwest
  of Houston and Galveston can be described as
  southeast of Houston.

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Types of Maps

• Maps are prepared for many uses. The use for
  which a map is intended determines the kinds of
  information it contains. Learning to recognize a
  maps purpose will help you make the best use of
  its content.
• General Purpose Maps
• Used for reference, education, and travel. There
  are 2 main types

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Physical Map

• Shows location and the topography, or shape, or
  the earths physical features. Physical maps use
  colors or patterns to indicate reliefthe
  difference in elevation, or height, of landforms.
  
• These physical features often help to explain the
  historical development of a country.

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Physical Map
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Political Map

• Shows the boundaries between countries. Smaller
  internal division, such as states or counties,
  may also be indicated by different symbols.
• Political maps often show human-made features
  such as capitals, cities, roads, highways, and
  railroads.

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Political Map
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Special Purpose Maps

• Maps that emphasize a single idea or a particular
  kind of information about an area are called
  special-purpose maps. There are many kinds of
  special-purpose maps, each designed to serve a
  different need relief maps, climate maps,
  population density maps, vegetation maps,
  elevation profiles, economic activity maps, and
  cartograms.

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Graphs, Charts, and Diagrams

• In addition to globes and maps, geographers use
  other visual representations to display and
  interpret data. Graphs, charts, and diagrams
  provide valuable information in forms that are
  well organized and easy to read.

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Graphs

• A graph is a visual representation of
  information. There are many kinds of graphs,
  each suitable for certain purposes. Most graphs
  show two sets of data, one displayed along the
  vertical axis and the other displayed along the
  horizontal axis. Labels on these axes identify
  the data being displayed.

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Line Graph

• Shows change in two variables or changing sets of
  circumstances over periods of time.
• To analyze data on a line graph, study the
  changes and trends as shown by the line.

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Bar Graph

• Shows comparisons. To analyze a bar graph, note
  the differences in quantities.

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Circle Graph

• Also called a pie chart, shows the relationship
  of parts to a whole.
• Percentages are indicated by relative size and
  sometimes by color.
• To analyze a circle graph, study the
  relationships of areas to one another and to the
  whole.

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Charts and Tables

• Data are arranged in columns and rows in a chart
  or table. Charts and tables display facts in an
  organized manner and make comparisons easy. To
  find key information in a chart or table look for
  the intersections of columns and rows.

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Diagrams

• A diagram is a drawing that shows what something
  is or how something is done. Many diagrams
  feature several drawings or sections that show
  the steps in a process.