Know how the concepts / admonitions on this page as they apply to
A. Geography Is...
B. The 15 Words
C.Think Like a Geographer
D.LINKS to Utah's regions based on the five subsystems of Earth systems... note... some folks would draw these differently... that's the nature of REGIONS.
Geography is:
“Geography is the science of space and place
on Earth’s surface. Its subject matter is the physical and human phenomena that
make up the world’s environments and places. Geography asks us to look at the
world as a whole, to understand connections between places, to recognize that
the local affects the global and vice versa. The power and beauty of geography
lies in seeing, understanding, and appreciating the web of relationships among
people, places and environments.” According
to National Geographic… standards…
B. THE 15 THEMES of GEOGRAPHY of UTAH --if you know these about Utah... and the webs of connections among them, you'll do great in GEOG3600.
The
FIVE Great Themes of Geography:
1- Location
2- Place
3- Interaction
4- Movement
5- Regions
Physical geography… the FIVE subsystems of Earth systems.
6- Geosphere = the solid Earth. The geosphere largely determines topography; resources; geologic hazards; and scenery. LINK LINK Canyonlands with cross section, Hamblin, p 11; LINK Kings Peak showing glacial landforms Hamblin p 213; LINK House Range... bedrock versus sediment, Hamblin p 227
7- Hydrosphere = water Earth. The hydrosphere largely determines water supplies; water-related hazards including pollution; and waste disposal / isolation. LINK to drainage basins for sub-basins... LINK to Geog3600 "two" drainage basins:
8- Atmosphere = gaseous Earth. The atmosphere largely determines weather; climate; quality of life such as recreation; natural hazards of air pollution; weather-related hazards including severe snows, climate change, heat waves; and critical component of water balance. LINK to NASA schematic of oceans' conveyor system of energy... our climate LINK; consequences of Ice Age climate, Lake Bonneville LINK from UofU geoantiquities website;
9- Biosphere = living Earth. The biosphere contributes to the balance among Earth’s modulating systems; globally it determines food sources; it is our niche (where we live, and what we eat). WSU - Greer - Atlas of Utah frontice satellite image LINK
10- Anthrosphere = the portion of Earth dominated by human activities. The concept of an anthrosphere appreciates the impact of human beings as a subsystem of the Earth system; includes direct impacts and the human footprint. LINK to image of Lights of US, NASA; and for US - from Dark Sky website.
"Human Geography: Five Issues of Social and Behavioral Science ... .
At the UofU there are seven departments of Social and Behavioral sciences - LINK - they are (paraphrased from Webster Dictionary on line,
with significant changes by G.Atwood, ESE):
ANTRHOPOLOGY= the science and study of human beings… two subdisciplines: cultural anthropology – human language, human social structure – magic, art, technology; and physical anthropology: human evolution, evidence of variability.
ECONOMICS = the science and study of goods and services, e.g. money.
FAMILIY AND CONSUMER STUDIES = the study of modern living patterns; home economics; child and family development; demographics.
GEOGRAPHY = (see above)
POLITICAL SCIENCE = the science and study of power; concerned with governmental institutions and processes
PSYCHOLOGY = the science and study of mind and behavior, including mental and emotional phenomena; such as attitudes including a sense of place. and
SOCIOLOGY. = the science and study of society; specifically social order, social institutions, collective behavior; religious institutions;
In Geog3600 we link five of these and these are the FIVE ISSUES of SOCIAL and BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE to explore all semester long: :
11- Anthropology - Utah's Early peoples ... example... from WSU-Greer Atlas of Utah p. 75 LINK
12- Economics LINK to Utah - Governors Office of Planning and Budget and more
13- Demographics ... LINK example of helpful document Perlich UBER Initial Review of 2010 Census
14- Political Science ... including govermental institutions example: Utah Association of Counties WebSite
15- Sociology - social institutions... example, Federal land ownership from Natl Atlas: such as governmental institutions... and geographic patterns of religions From GlenMary - percent of US population churched LINK; Atlas of Mormon Hsitory 2002 for LDS in Utah by County. And migration patterns, Zick and Smith, 2006 figure 6
C. "THINK LIKE A GEOGRAPHER?" be evidence-driven... and relish the process.
FIRST - (a) ferret out (meaning... aggressivley find) and (b) examine evidence ... OBSERVATIONS ...
SECOND - think about what you're supposed to know ... ANALYSIS / INTERPRETATION - for GEOG 3600 this means THINK CRITICALLY about BIG CONCEPTS associated with each of the 15 themes of Geography. They are listed at the beginning of most learning modules.
THIRD - wonder why it matters... SO WHAT? - for GEOG3600 this means seeing webs of relationships among the 15 themes of geography of Utah. How does Theme A impact Theme B? Is the relationship causal... meaning, for example that Utah's LOCATION affects Utah's ECONOMICS or Utah's climate ATMOSPHERE?
D. HELPFUL links to maps... Utah's regions based on the five subsystems of Earth Systems. Regions based on:
GEOSPHERE - physiographic provinces LINK and LINK
HYDROSPHERE - drainage basins LINK contrast hydro - geo LINK
ATMOSPHERE - climate zones LINK
BIOSPHERE - bioregions LINK
ANTHROSPHERE - counties LINK and Utah Highway Map LINK named highways website;
