WORLD GEOGRAPHY
CHAPTER ONE
“STUDYING GEOGRAPHY”

SOLs
WG.1a, WG.1c, WG.1d, WG.1e, WG.3a

I. WHAT IS GEOGRAPHY?
A. Study of everything on Earth, from rocks and rainfall to people and places
B. Study how natural environment influences people
C. Study how people’s activities affect Earth
D. Study how world is changing
E. Important part is perspective (the way a person looks at something)
II. HOW DO WE STUDY GEOGRAPHY?
A. Geographic information systems (GIS)
B. Field work
C. Satellite images
D. Photographs
E. Maps and globes
F. Data bases
G. Primary sources
III. THE GLOBE
A. Scale model of Earth that is useful for looking at the entire Earth or at
large areas of Earth’s surface
B. Grid
1. Pattern of lines that circle the globe in east-west and north-south
directions
2. Helps us find places on Earth
C. Lines of latitude
1. East-west lines which measure distances north and south of the
equator
2. Measured in degrees
3. Also called parallels
4. Major lines
a. Equator: 0° latitude (halfway between the poles)
b. Tropic of Cancer: 23 1/2 ° north
c. Tropic of Capricorn: 23 1/2° south
d. Arctic Circle: 66 1/2° north
e. Antarctic Circle: 66 1/2° south
f. North Pole: 90° north
g. South Pole: 90° south




D. Lines of longitude
1. North-south lines which measure distances east and west of the
Prime Meridian
2. Measured in degrees
3. Also called meridians
4. Major lines
a. Prime Meridian: 0° longitude; runs through Greenwich,
England
b. International Date Line: 180° longitude
E. Latitude and longitude define absolute location (exact place where something is found)
F. Relative location describes the spatial relationships between and among places (where something is in relationship to something else)
G. Hemispheres
1. Halves of the earth
2. Equator creates the northern and southern hemispheres
3. Prime Meridian creates the eastern and western hemispheres
H. Continents: Earth’s seven large landmasses
1. Asia (largest)
2. Africa
3. North America
4. South America
5. Antarctica
6. Europe
7. Australia (smallest)
I. Islands: landmasses smaller than continents and completely surrounded by water
J. Oceans: four largest bodies of water
1. Pacific (largest)
2. Atlantic
3. Indian
4. Arctic (smallest)
IV. MAPS
A. Flat diagram of all or part of Earth’s surface
B. All maps are distorted representations of Earth’s surface, why?
1. Because Earth is round and paper is flat
2. Aspects that can be distorted include ...
a. Area
b. Shape
c. Distance
d. Direction





C. Different ways of showing Earth on flat maps are called map projections;
each is developed for a specific purpose
1. Mercator
a. Used for ship navigation because it shows true direction
and shape
b. Landmasses near the poles appear larger than they really
are (distorts area and distance)
2. Polar
a. Used for airline navigation because it shows true direction
and area
b. Distorts true shape
3. Robinson
a. Used for data representation (shows information)
b. Compromise between size and shape distortions
c. Minor distortions in size at high latitudes
d. Realistic shapes at the middle and low latitudes
D. Maps reflect changes over time, how?
1. Knowledge of the world improves, how?
a. Map of Columbus’ time
b. Satellite images
c. Geographic information systems (GIS)
2. Place names change
3. Boundaries change
4. Perspectives of place names
5. Disputed areas
V. MAP ESSENTIALS
A. Maps are visual representations of geographic information
B. Standard ways that maps show information
1. Symbols
2. Color
3. Lines
4. Boundaries
5. Contours
C. Map elements
1. Directional indicator (shows directions) identifies orientation; Most common is the compass rose
a. Cardinal directions: north, south, east and west
b. Intermediate directions: northeast, southeast, northwest,
southwest
2. Scale
a. Used to represent distances between points on a map
b. Areas can be represented using a variety of scales
c. Amount of detail shown on a map is dependent on the scale used
3. Legend or Key explains what the symbols mean

VI. WORKING WITH MAPS
A. Two kinds of maps
1. Physical: show physical features such as mountains, rivers,
oceans, bodies of water, deserts and plains
2. Political: show political features such as national borders, state and provincial boundaries, capitals and other important cities
B. Thematic maps
1. Population (e.g., distribution and density)
2. Economic activity
3. Resource
4. Language
5. Ethnicity
6. Climate
7. Precipitation
8. Vegetation
C. Mental maps
1. Based on objective knowledge (what we know to be true) and subjective perceptions (how we see the location)
2. Uses include ...
a. Carry out daily activities (e.g., route to school, shopping)
b. Give directions to others
c. Understand world events
3. People improve their mental maps through both personal experience and learning
4. Serve as indicators of how well people know the spatial characteristics of certain places