The World of Geography
The World of Geography
Geography is a science; specifically it is a social science. This means that human society (the social) is explored and studied in a scientific way. The social sciences include fields such as history, economics, anthropology and geography. The people who study these fields are called social scientists, and we use methods resembling those of the natural sciences as tools for understanding society. We observe behavior, make hypotheses, make predictions and develop theories. Of course, unlike the natural sciences, we cannot have controlled experiments. However, under certain conditions we can control for certain variables.
The study of geography can be split into two areas: physical geography such as landforms, bodies of water and the environment, and human geography, sometimes called cultural geography. Human geography is concerned with how humans affect the world around them and how the world affects humans.
Latitude and Longitude
Latitude and Longitude help geographers find absolute location. We'll learn more about absolute location in the pages ahead. However, we should think of latitude and longitude as being able to tell us the exact location of something.
Latitude and Longitude help us answer the question of where something is. Latitude and Longitude will also build on what we learned on the last page concerning hemispheres.
Maps & Globes
Maps and globes are the basic tools of a geographer. Like latitude and longitude, they help us answer the question of where something is. However, unlike latitude and longitude, maps tend to give us something called relative location.
Globes are exact models of the Earth. They can show everything exactly as it is. Size, shape, distance, and direction on a globe are exactly like they are in the actual world. Why do you think this is so?
Maps on the other hand, always have some amount of distortion, or misrepresentation in true size, shape, distance, or direction.
Continents & Oceans
Continents - There are seven continents in the world
Continents are great divisions of land on the Earth's surface that are usually separated from each other by water. There are seven continents: Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Australia, Antarctica and Europe. Only one continent is located on the landmass of another: Europe is located on Asia's landmass. Sometimes the landmass together is called Eurasia.
One thing that people confuse is a continent with a country. Asia is a continent, but China is a country. What definition can you come up with to help us understand the difference between continents and countries?
Geography is a science; specifically it is a social science. This means that human society (the social) is explored and studied in a scientific way. The social sciences include fields such as history, economics, anthropology and geography. The people who study these fields are called social scientists, and we use methods resembling those of the natural sciences as tools for understanding society. We observe behavior, make hypotheses, make predictions and develop theories. Of course, unlike the natural sciences, we cannot have controlled experiments. However, under certain conditions we can control for certain variables.
The study of geography can be split into two areas: physical geography such as landforms, bodies of water and the environment, and human geography, sometimes called cultural geography. Human geography is concerned with how humans affect the world around them and how the world affects humans.
Latitude and Longitude
Latitude and Longitude help geographers find absolute location. We'll learn more about absolute location in the pages ahead. However, we should think of latitude and longitude as being able to tell us the exact location of something.
Latitude and Longitude help us answer the question of where something is. Latitude and Longitude will also build on what we learned on the last page concerning hemispheres.
Maps & Globes
Maps and globes are the basic tools of a geographer. Like latitude and longitude, they help us answer the question of where something is. However, unlike latitude and longitude, maps tend to give us something called relative location.
Globes are exact models of the Earth. They can show everything exactly as it is. Size, shape, distance, and direction on a globe are exactly like they are in the actual world. Why do you think this is so?
Maps on the other hand, always have some amount of distortion, or misrepresentation in true size, shape, distance, or direction.
Continents & Oceans
Continents - There are seven continents in the world
Continents are great divisions of land on the Earth's surface that are usually separated from each other by water. There are seven continents: Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Australia, Antarctica and Europe. Only one continent is located on the landmass of another: Europe is located on Asia's landmass. Sometimes the landmass together is called Eurasia.
One thing that people confuse is a continent with a country. Asia is a continent, but China is a country. What definition can you come up with to help us understand the difference between continents and countries?