Review of Day One 
Review of Day One
On day one, we had several important objectives, besides introductions and passing out the syllabus. We studied:
Definitions of
Geography
My definition of Geography is: “The
study of people, their environment, and the interaction between the two”.
In this course, we will be focusing on the ‘environment’ part of
that definition. We will also examine the interactions that society has with
its environment.
I provided you with some other definitions of Geography on the first day… one from the perspective of ‘Regional Geography’, and another that defines Geography as a spatial science.
How to Measure
Your Latitude
Everyone in class seemed to remember that you use Latitude and Longitude to
find your location on the Earth; most people didn’t know where this system
came from, or how to measure these quantities themselves.
In brief, latitude measures how far North or South you are. The equator is 0º N, and the poles are 90º North and South. You can measure your latitude in the Northern Hemisphere by measuring the angle of the North Star (Polaris) above the horizon. This technique is simple, and was discovered thousands of years before anyone came up with a way to measure longitude reliably while traveling.
Which of the following measures how far North or South you are?
Longitude
Latitude
Copyright
©2011 Martin Roberge. |