Western Civilization 201

September 28th, 2019 Mapping the World Part 2: The United States 1. Washington             13. Oklahoma             25. Illinois             37. West Virginia             49. Alaska 2. Oregon                    14. Kansas                  26. Indiana            38. Pennsylvania              50. Hawaii 3. California                15. Nebraska              27. Ohio                39. New York  4. Arizona                   16. South Dakota       28. Kentucky         40. Vermont 5. Nevada                    17. North Dakota      29. Tennessee         41. New Hampshire 6. Utah                        18. Minnesota           30. Mississippi        42. Maine 7. Idaho                       19. Iowa                    31. Alabama           43. Massachusetts  8. Montana                  20. Missouri              32. Georgia            44. Rhode Island 9. Wyoming                 21. Arkansas             33. Florida             45. Connecticut  10. Colorado            

September 26th, 2019 Telling Time + Time Zones           A timezone is a region of the globe that has a standard time used for  legal, commercial, and social purposes.  The most used standard is UTC (Coordinated Universial Time). Most of the timezones in UTC have an offset in whole hours but some have an offset of 30 or 45 minutes. One timezone that is used in the UTC system is called GMT (Greenwhich Mean Time). Unlike the other timezones, GMT has no offset from UTC. Some continents that use the GMT timezone include Europe, Africa, North America, and Antarctica.  Another system some countries use is daylight saving time. Daylight saving time is used for part of the year to save daylight. When using this system, clocks are  adjusted by an hour.            

September 25th, 2019 The Geographic Grid           The geographic grid is a system of invisible lines that uses longitude and latitude to plot the absolute location of points on a map. The lines of longitude on a map are called meridians. Meridians run in a north-south direction and meet at the poles. The meridians are used to plot points on the east-west axis. The most important line of longitude is called the Prime Meridian. The lines of latitude are called parallels. Parallels run in an east-west direction and plot points on the north-south axis. There are five main lines of latitude known as the Equator, the Arctic Circle, the Tropic of Cancer, the Tropic of Capricorn, and the Antarctic Circle. 

September 18th, 2019 Interpreting Maps           Geographers describe where things are through scales and projections. A map scale is a ratio of the distance on a map that corresponds with the distance on the ground. Map scales are usually shown as ratios or fractions (ex: 1:5,000 or 1/5,000). Projections are the method of transferring the spherical earth to a flat surface known as a map. When projecting a map we run into many different problems. First, shapes become distorted and unproportioned making the map different from the real world. Next, the distance between objects become increased/decreased because of the differences between the map and reality. The direction between points on the map also become distorted. Lastly, the size of areas on maps become larger than they actually are in reality.           Cartographers create lines of longitude and latitude to help show the distortions of the map to the viewer. Meridians are imaginary lines of longitude that go north to south

September 12th, 2019 Mapping the World Canada United States of America Mexico Guatemala Belize El Salvador Honduras Nicaragua Costa Rica Panama Cuba Jamaica Haiti Dominican Republic Colombia Venezuela Guyana Cayenne French Guiana Ecuador Peru Bolivia Brazil Paraguay Chile Argentina Uruguay

September 10th, 2019 How do Geographers Describe where things are?           Mental maps are personal ideas of what a person thinks a map looks like from memory. Mental maps usually include interpretations of authentic maps. They are used for finding a path from point A to point B. Another use of mental maps is for saving information for future references. The last way mental maps can be used is for a way to make meaning. Mental maps are changing constantly from people receiving new information about new discoveries.  

September 9th, 2019 How do Geographers Describe Where Things are Located?           Maps are used to turn 2D projections into 3D projections. Cartography is the science of mapmaking. Geographers use these maps to describe where things are located. Geographers use two different ways to describe the location of things. One way is absolute location which is when geographers use longitude and latitude. Another way is relative location which is when geographers use landmarks to describe the location of a certain object. Maps are used in two ways as a communications tool and to describe the location of an object. Early mapmaking was used to navigate and explore the world. Since cartographers did not know much about the early world maps were not very accurate. As time went on explorers discovered more about the earth and maps became more factual and detailed. 

September 4th, 2019 What is Human Geography?           Geography is the science and study of the earth. There are two sub-sections within the study of geography. They are known as Human Geography and Physical Geography. Human Geography focuses on the research of people and their communities. The science of Human Geography concentrates on how people interact with the environment and within society. The other part of Geography is Physical Geography. This science studies the natural world and its landforms. One tool geographers use in the study of Geography are maps. Scientists use three different types of maps which all have distinctive purposes. One type of map is a political map. Political maps display the countries and major cities of the world. The second type of map is a physical map. Physical maps are used to show the different landscapes of the earth. The last type of map is thematic maps. Thematic maps are used to show data about a specific theme or event in a geographica