Geography

Jump to: navigation, search

A map of the Earth
Geography is the study of the Earth and its features, its inhabitants, and its phenomena.[1] Its "features" are things like continents, seas, rivers and mountains. Its "inhabitants" are all the people and animals that live on it. Its "phenomena" are the things that happen like tides, winds, and earthquakes. A person who is expert in geography is a "geographer". A geographer tries to understand the world and the things that are in it, how they started and how they have changed. [2] Geography is not the same as ecology. A geographer tries to describe how things are, while an ecologist thinks about changes that might happen in the future. Ecologists need the work of geographers so that they can work out the future.
The word geography comes from the Greek words gê ("Earth") and graphein ("to write"). It means "to write about the Earth". The word was first used by a writer called Eratosthenes (276-194 B.C.).
Geography is divided into two main parts called Physical Geography and Human Geography. Physical Geography studies the "Natural Environment" and Human Geography studies the "Human Environment". The human environmental studies would include things such as the population in a country, how a country's economy is doing, and more.
Geographers need to know a lot about maps because maps are very important for understanding geography. Geographers use maps a lot, and often make them. Making maps is called cartography, and similarly, people who make maps are cartographers. (It comes from the word for a "chart")
Contents[hide]
1 Natural environment
2 Human environment
3 References
4 Other websites
//

[change] Natural environment

A tropical cyclone off Brazil
Geographers studying the natural environment make look at:
Climate
Landform, or relief
Continents
Oceans
Soil
Rocks
Rivers
Mountains
Endogenetic processes
Exogenetic processes

[change] Human environment

A crowd of people around a band.
Geographers studying the Human environment may look at:
Population
Countries of the world
Land use
Agriculture
City
Industry
Energy
Pollution
Air Pollution

[change] References
↑ Geography. The American Heritage Dictionary/ of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company. Retrieved on October 9, 2006.
↑ web.clas.ufl.edu/users/morgans/lecture_2.prn.pdf.

[change] Other websites
www.geoknow.net - Geography resources at your fingertips!
PopulationData.net
PopulationMondiale.com
Using Literature To Teach Geography in High Schools. ERIC Digest.
Teaching Geography at School and Home. ERIC Digest.
The National Geography Content Standards. ERIC Digest.