1. EXPLORING
OUR
GEOGRAHIC
WORLD
PREPAID BY: Valery Ann G. Cutaran
SOURCE: RHS-ANDERSON
All graphics are clip art or from www.google.com

2. TABLE OF CONTENTS:
 UNDERTANDING THE TOOLS OF
GEOGRAPHY
 APPLYING THE FIVE THEMES OF
GEOGRAPHY
 LEARNING TO MAKE ,READ,USE
MAPS

3. What is GEOGRaPhY?
 GEOGRAPHY is the study of the world's
environment and man's interaction within
the environment.
 Geography has two “strands” or parts:
 PHYSICAL: The study of the earth's natural
features, such as mountains, rivers, soil,
vegetation, and weather
 and
 HUMAN: (Cultural) The study of human
cultures and man made features.

4. The contribution of
geography to society is
multifold:
It provides people with a
better understanding of the
places, regions and countries
in which they live, as well as
of other countries

5. UNDERTANDING
THE TOOLS
OF
GEOGRAPHY

6. MaPs
 A map is a 2 dimensional graphic of the earth or
part of the earth.
 A person who makes maps is called a
cartographer.
 Maps are important as a tool for geography
because we can show so much information
about the earth on one document.
 There are parts to maps, types of maps, and
even map projections that are very important as
a basis for all of geography.

7. TYPES OF MAPS
 1. Political Map- this is a map that shows
political boundaries, borders, area of political
entities (countries, states, territories,
districts, zones, counties, provinces, etc)
 2. Physical Map- This type of map uses colors
to show elevation and other land/water
features of the earth.
 3. Thematic Map- This type of map shows
“themes” or subjects on a map- basically any
information.

8. ATLAS
 Any collection of maps, graphs, and charts
is called an atlas.
 We use atlases as a geographic resource
for looking up all kinds of information=
 From where places are located
 To population and economic information
 To topographic information about the
surface of the earth.

9. MAP PERSPECTIVE
 Map Perspective is to look at a map with a
DIFFERENT point of view.
 Think, for example, how people from
Africa would look at a map versus
someone from Far East Asia….or someone
from Australia versus someone from
Europe.
 Everyone has a different point of view
when it comes to maps….it’s not that
they're wrong, it’s just different.

10. LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE
 Reading coordinates is very important in
finding location in geography
 Remember that you read the “x-axis”
(latitude) first and then read the “y-axis”
(longitude) second. (x,y)
X- AXIS
Y- AXIS

11. THE GLOBAL GRID
The Earth is divided by latitude and longitude lines.
There are several important lines to know on the
earth's surface:
#1 is the ARCTIC CIRCLE found at 66 ½ o
NORTH of the Equator
#2 is the TROPIC OF CANCER found at 23
½ o NORTH of the Equator
#3 is the EQUATOR which splits the earth
into two hemispheres at 0o Latitude
#4 is the TROPIC OF CAPRICORN found
23 ½ o SOUTH of the Equator.
#5 is the ANTARCTIC CIRCLE found at 66
½ o SOUTH of the Equator
#6 is the PRIME MERIDIAN which runs north to south at 0o
LONGITUDE

12. READING COORDINAT S
E
• Read the coordinates for
LATITUDE first…. 33o NORTH
latitude
• Read LONGITUDE next….97o
WEST longitude
• Which means that
coordinates for Dallas, Texas
would look like this:
 33oN, 97oW

13. GRID MAPS
Grid maps are another way to look at
finding location. Instead of latitude and
longitude lines, use grid squares to find a
specific place on a small area of the
earth.
Cheddar, England is found in grid
square A-9

14. MAP PROJECTIONS
 To find just the right map to use, ask yourself
“What am I trying to show on my map?”
 You don’t want to use a map that has too much
distortion (being mis-shapen on a map)
 Usually you ask the question for one of the
following four map topics:
 AREA
 DIRECTION
 DISTANCE
 SHAPE

15. TYPES OF MAP
PROJECTIONS
MAP

16. MERCATOR
 Mercator Map Projection: Shows accurate
direction, but area & shapes are severely
distorted at the poles. Mercator projections
are based on cylinders.
 ***Sailors would use these for true direction

17. ROBINSON
 Robinson Map Projection: Shows accurate
shape & size of continents, but water areas
are expanded to fill in area. Robinson
projections are based on ovals. ***These
maps are good for data collections like in a
classroom or lab.

18. APPLYING THE FIVE
THEMES
OF
GEOGRAPHY

20. LOCATION
 Most geographic study begins with learning
the location of places. Location can be
absolute or relative.
 Absolute location provides a definite
reference to locate a place. The reference can
be latitude and longitude, a street address, or
even the Township and Range system.
 Relative location describes a place with
respect to its environment and its connection
to other places.

21. PLACE
 Place describes the human and physical
characteristics of a location.
 Physical characteristics include a description
such things as the mountains, rivers, beaches,
topography, and animal and plant life of a place.
 Human characteristics include the human-
designed cultural features of a place, from land
use and architecture to forms of livelihood and
religion to food and folk ways to transportation
and communication networks.

22. HUMAN
ative
ENVIRONMENT
INTERACTION
This themes considers how humans
adapt to and modify the
environment. Humans shape the
landscape through their interaction
with the land; this has both positive
and negative effects on the
environment.

23. MOVEMENT
 Humans move, a lot! In addition,
ideas, fads, goods, resources, and
communication all travel
distances. This theme studies
movement and migration across
the planet.

24. REGION
 Region divides the world into manageable
units for geographic study. Regions have some
sort of characteristic that unifies the area.
Regions can be formal, functional, or
vernacular.
 Formal regions are those that are designated
by official boundaries, such as cities, states,
counties, and countries. For the most part,
they are clearly indicated and publicly known.

25.  Functional regions are defined by their
connections. For example, the circulation
area for a major city area is the functional
region of that paper.
 Vernacular regions are perceived regions,
such as "The South," "The Midwest," or the
"Middle East;" they have no formal
boundaries but are understood in our
mental maps of the world.

26. LEARNING
TO
MAKE,
READ,USE
MAPS

27. WHAT IS MAPS?
 the basic tools of geography
 is a representation of a larger portion of the
earth
 a flat representation of the curved surface of
the earth

28. Conventions used in
cartography which allow a
map to be read efficiently
and quickly:

29. * Choose the right map. A wide
variety of maps are available for a wide
variety of uses.
* Check the map's orientation. Most
maps are drawn with north located at the
top.

30. * Understand the scale of the map.
The map scale shows you a ratio of map
distance to real distance
* Note the latitude and longitude. If
you're traveling to the next town, this isn't
so important. But if you are sailing,
flying, or touring long distances, this
might be useful.

31. *L earn to read contour lines. How
high or flat the land is represented on
the map with contour lines. Each line
represents a standard height above sea
level.

32. *E xamine the legend. Most maps have a
legend or key of symbols on the map itself.
Get familiar with how your map represents
data
*Figure out where you are. You have
your map and you're ready to use it. Now
you need to figure out where you are before
you can plot where you're going.

33. *Find your destination. Now it's time
to figure out where you want to go
* Use the map's index. Some maps,
such as a Thomas Guide, have indexes
stating the location of certain places on a
map. This location could be grid numbers
or pages.

34. P the route out. Now that you
lot
have figured out where you want to
go, plot the route for your first leg of
your journey.

35. MY OVER VIEW
ABOUT THIS
CHAPTER

36. I have chosen this topic because as a
student in this course I want to learn
about people and their societies,
economies, cultures and the
environment. Besides I want to enhance
the wide range understanding of each
and everyone on their geography and to
appreciate the world they are living
in whether it's a city, a village, a
mountain, a border, a people. We all
know that learning geography can
provide people with a holistic
understanding of our planet and its
systems.

37. Studying geography is it acquires a
better understanding appreciation of
environment meaning it helps us to
figure out the relationships between
countries to countries and through
this statement as a student in this
course I want to enhance my learning
capabilities in studying our world. I
can say that nothing is better in this
world but to learn, to explore, to be
aware and to be informing in our
geography. Knowing geography will make
your life more interesting, more
exciting, and more fun

38. REFLECTION:
Through this portfolio I have
learned a lot of things I learned
how to understand the tools of
geography, to apply the five
themes of geography, and to use,
make and read maps. I also
learned how to apply all those
things in a real life situation
and to become more responsible in
caring of the entire natural gift
that God has given to us.

39. Studying geography is not
just focusing on its
physical aspects but we
study this in order for us
to value the entire natural
gift that God bestowed upon
us. All the things that we
are having right know is a
part of geography

40. All the things that I have
learned within this course help
me to become responsible teacher
someday and to teach my pupils
with the real value of studying
our geography. I will apply all
the things that I have learned
through this chapter to my future
pupils to assess their wide range
learning and to become a well
rounded global citizen in their
generations