world history

Geography-is a social science that focuses on the spatial distribution of human and physical phenomena; the study of the physical world, its inhabitants, the interaction between the two, and the patterns and systems involved; a spatial discipline – it is a perspective that seeks to understand patterns on Earth and the processes that created them;

THE INVENTOR OF GEOGRAPHY

The ancient Greek scholar Eratosthenes is commonly called the “father of geography” for he was the first to use the word geography and he had a small-scale notion of the planet that led him to be able to determine the circumference of the earth.

Eratosthenes was born around 276 BCE at a Greek colony in Cyrene, Libya. He was educated at the academies of Athens and was appointed to run the Great Library at Alexandria in 240. While serving as head librarian and scholar, Eratosthenes wrote a comprehensive treatise about the world called “geography”. This was the first use of the word, which literally means “writing about the earth” in Greek. Geography also introduced the climate concepts of torrid, temperature, and frigid zones.

TYPES OF MAPS - Maps are blueprint of travel.

FLAT MAPS - Standard flat maps are those we’re most familiar with. They come in many varieties: Mercator projection, stereographic, mollweides, and lamberts.

ROUTE MAPS - These are useful reference tools. Each airline often distributes a map that shows all the routes that it flies. This can be a handy visual aid if you’re trying to keep a client on one airline for a trip. Either for fare reasons or to help build frequent-flyer miles.

GLOBES - the most accurate representation of the earth surface.

LOCATOR MAPS - Usually representing a small area, a city, they help you find the locations of attractions and hotels. Locator maps indicate places through a grid of numbers and letters rather than with degrees. Some of these locator maps also use symbols or legend for easy identification of a specific attraction or area.

MENTAL MAPS - represents the way you picture geography in your mind.

THE CONTINENTS

Continent is the major land masses of the earth. According to tradition most people speak of seven continents on the planet. However, geologically there are six large distinct land masses on the earth so many geographers and scientists refer to six.

1. Asia 44,004,000 sq. km.

2. Africa 30,190,000 sq. km.

3. North America 24,210,000 sq. km.

4. South America 17,833,000 sq. km.

5. Antarctica 14,000,000 sq. km.

6. Europe 10,493,000 sq. km.

7. Australia 7,713,000 sq. km.

ASIA

Asia is made up of 48 countries. Asia makes up nearly 1/3 of the Earth's land mass. Asia is at the Eastern Hemisphere, the other side of the Earth. When it is daytime here, it is night time in the Western Hemisphere and vice-versa.

The land of Asia goes as far north as the Arctic Circle. Parts of Russia are very cold all year round. Throughout Asia the land has some of the longest rivers and many mountain ranges. Asia has the highest point on Earth in the Himalayan Mountains and it is called Mount Everest. In the western part of Asia is the Dead Sea which is the lowest point on earth. The continent goes to the Indian Ocean where it is warm and tropical. Many islands are part of Asia and are in the Pacific Ocean. Rice is a very important food for many people in Asia.

AFRICA

Africa is the second largest continent. The continent is divided into 53 different countries. There are many different groups of people who speak many different languages. Some countries where colonized by other countries. The source of the precious stone in the world, diamonds is majority from Africa.

NORTH AMERICA

North America is the third largest continent. North America is made up of three large countries; Canada, Mexico and the United States and the countries of Central America and the Caribbean Islands. Most of the people on this continent have come from Europe. In Canada, people have come from England and France. In the United States, people have come from all over Europe. Because so many different people from different countries have come to the United States to live, it is sometimes called the "MELTING POT". In Mexico and in Central America, Spanish is the dominant language.

SOUTH AMERICA

South America is the fourth largest continent. There are 13 countries that make up this continent. From Amazon Rainforest to the desert and mountains of Chile to the coast line of Brazil, this continent has much to offer.

ANTARTICA

Antarctica is located at the South Pole. It is the fifth largest continent. There are no countries on this continent. Despite the frigid cold, some animals survive here. People do not live on this continent. The best way to get to Antarctica is through Argentina. Only groups of scientist will come from periods of time to study this frigid land.

EUROPE

This continent is made up of 46 countries. This continent of Europe goes as far as the Arctic Circle and South to the Mediterranean Sea. Russia forms the eastern part of the continent while the island of Iceland is the furthest point west. Each of the 46 countries that make up this continent is rich with its own history and culture.

In Europe, the people of each country have their own language, customs and culture. You can travel one country to another by train and hear languages like Spanish, Greek, French, German and Italian to name only a few. The Headquarters of Red Cross and United Nations are in Switzerland, a country known as “Neutral Country.”

OCEANIA

This continent is formerly known as “Australia”. Today this includes the countries of Australia, New Zealand, and the island in the Pacific. Primarily, Australia is the main country in this continent. Australia is located in the Southern Hemisphere; it is often called “The Land Down Under”.

The “Great Barrier Reef” is the largest coral reef in the world. It is located on the northeastern coast of Australia. Another famous part of Australia is called the “Outback”. The desert and bush country that make up 85% of Australia is in the Outback.

Most people in Australia live along the eastern coast line where the land is more fertile. The native people of Australia are called “Aborigines”. In Australia, the aborigines play in musical instruments called a “Didgeridoo”. It is made of a hollowed out branch which they decorate. The “Sydney Opera House” is the famous landmark in this continent.

LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE

LATITUDE

Half way between the North Pole and the South Pole is an imaginary line, the equator. The equator goes around the middle of the Earth like a belt. It divides our planet into the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere.

The equator is a line of latitude. The other lines of latitude are north and south of the equator. They are parallel to the equator. Parallel lines run in the same direction and are an equal distance apart at all points. They never meet. Thus, lines of latitude are also called parallels. They run east west around the globe.

LONGITUDE

Another set of imaginary lines helps us measure distance east and west. These are lines of longitude. Each line of longitude runs from the North Pole to the South Pole. These lines are also called meridians.

The prime meridian is at zero degrees longitude. The prime meridian is the line of longitude that runs through Greenwich, England. A line of longitude is also called a meridian, derived from the Latin, from meri, a variation of “medius” which denotes “middle”, and diem, meaning “day.” Another imaginary line which is the counterpart of the prime meridian to determine the stopping line of the line of longitude is called International Dateline. This line is a zigzagging line that runs through the Pacific Ocean. When you cross the line, traveling westward, the day changes to the next day.

PERMANENT DIRECTIONS OF THE WORLD

1. The four (4) directions are arranged as follows using the acronym “NEWS”.

2. To determine the actual North, we need to use a Directional Compass and follow the arrow that points to the North.

3. Using a MAP, you need to place it in a flat area and follow the arrow of the compass that corresponds to the arrow that can be found in a MAP which is usually with the letter “N”.

4. The NORTH is not pointing to the SKY and SOUTH pointing DOWNWARDS.

5. One way of determining the direction is to face the sun in the morning, that is the EAST, and facing the sunset, that is the WEST.

INTERNATIONAL TIME ZONES AND MANUAL TIME COMPUTATION

The 24-hour System/ Zulu Time/Military Time

This system is important in computing the local time of one country.

The A.M. Time Noon The P.M. Time Midnight

(Meridian)

0100 1300

0200 1400

0300 1500

0400 1600

0500 1700

0600 1200 1800 2400/0000

0700 1900

0800 2000

0900 2100

1000 2200

1100 2300

A.M. and P.M.

“A line of longitude is also called a meridian, derived from the Latin, from meri, a variation of “medius” which denotes “middle”, and diem, meaning “day.”

The word meridian once meant “noon”, and times of the day before noon were known as “ante meridian”, while times after it were “post meridian.” Today’s abbreviations a.m. and p.m. come from these terms, and the SUN at noon was said to be “passing meridian.” All points on the same line of longitude experienced noon (and any other hour) at the same time and were therefore said to be on the same “meridian line’, which became “meridian” for short.

The World Map and Its Time Zones

- The world is round; it has a total of 360 degrees.

- Every longitude is divided into 15 degrees/ every 15 degrees latitude is equivalent to 1 hour

- It has a total of 24 hours.

Manual Computation

Step 1: TD - Time Difference of countries being compared.

Formula:

TZC1 Time Zone of Country 1

(PC) Process of Computation

TZC2 Time Zone of Country 2

_________________

TD Time Difference

Note: Same TZ Sign = Subtraction

Different TZ sign = Addition

Step 2: Main Formula

GT C1 Given Time of Country 1

(PC) Process of Computation

TD Time Difference

_________________

LT of C2 Local Time of Country 2

Note: Process of Computation

WESTWARD = SUBTRACTION

C2 GT

EASTWARD = ADDITION

GT + C2

- 11 Samoa - 10 Hawaii Island Society Island Tahiti - 8 California - 7 Arizona - 6 Belize El Salvador Costa Rica Guatemala Nicaragua Mexico - 5 Bahamas Ecuador Cuba Haiti Jamaica NYC Peru - 4 Aruba Bolivia Chile Dominican Rep Paraguay Puerto Rico Trinidad and Tobago - 3 Argentina Greenland Suriname Uruguay - 2 Brazil

- 1 Azores 0 UK (London) Mali Liberia Ireland Morocco + 1 Albania Algeria /Angola Austria/Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Chad/Congo Czech Rep. / Denmark Germany/ Gibraltar France Hungary/Italy Luxembourg/ Malta Norway/Nigeria Poland/Portugal Spain/Sweden Switzerland The Netherlands + 2 Belarus/Bulgaria/ Burundi/ Cyprus/Egypt Estonia/Israel/ Finland/ Greece/Jerusalem/ Jordan/Latvia/Lebanon/Lithuania/ Malawi/Moldova Romania/Russia South Africa/Sudan Swaziland/Syria/Turkey Zaire/Zambia Zimbabwe + 3 Comoros Bahrain/Eritrea/Ethiopia/Kuwait/ Somalia/Somalia/ Saudi Arabia Qatar/Tanzania/ Uganda/ Yemen

+ 4 Armenia/Georgia/Mauritius/Oman/ Seychelles/ UAE + 5 Kyrgyz tan Maldives/Tajikistan/Turkmenistan/ Uzbekistan/ + 6 Bangladesh/Bhutan/ Kazakhstan + 7 Cambodia/Indonesia/ Lao PDR/ Thailand/ Vietnam + 8 China/ Brunei Darussalam / Hong Kong/ Macau/Malaysia/Mongolia/ Philippines/Singapore/ Taiwan/ + 9 Japan/ Korea, South and North/ Palau + 10 Australia/ Guam/ Mariana Islands/ Papua New Guinea + 11 Loyalty Island/ New Caledonia/ Solomon Isl./ Vanuatu + 12 Kiribati/ New Zealand

ELAPSED FLYING TIME

To find the elapsed flying time for any flight schedule, change the departure and arrival times what time it would in GMT (GMT time). Then, just figure the number of hours and minutes to obtain the actual travel time or elapsed flying time.

Example: A flight departs New York at 6:00 P.M. (local time). It arrives in Munich at 7:30 A.M. the next morning (local time).

Step 1. Find out the relationship of both the departure and arrival cities to the GMT zone:

New York is GMT (-5)

Munich is GMT (+1)

Step 2. Change each local time to what it would be in GMT

6:00 PM (New York time at -5) = 11:00 PM GMT

7:30 AM (Munich time at +1) = 6:30 AM GMT

Step 3. Count the number of hours and minutes using the converted GMT times.

From 11:00 PM to 6:30 AM (the next morning) = 7 hours and 30 minutes elapsed flying time.

LANDFORMS AND BODIES OF WATER

LANDFORMS

Continents - the major land masses of the earth. Previously discuss in our lesson, there seven continents and so on.

Islands - are landforms surrounded by water and because of their natural, isolated beauty are often major destinations.

Cays - Also called keys, cays are sandy coral islands that are low and small.

Peninsulas and Capes - These are both projections of land into the water. Generally, peninsulas are longer than capes.

Reefs - Reefs are ridges of land that rise to or near the surface of water. They are often just offshore. Compose of sand, rock and coral, reefs can offer superb diving, reef-diving and snorkeling opportunities.

Mountains - Mountains are landforms that have a profound affect to travel. Because of their dramatic beauty, it impresses virtually every kind of client. Mountains also affect climate. There are several kinds of mountains: rugged ones or the rockies (the Alps of Europe, the Andes of South Americas and Himalayas of Asia); the old, worn-down ones, and the volcanic mountains.

Plateau - is broad, flat are that rises above the surrounding land while the mesas are smaller, steeper-sided version of platue; buttes are even smaller, tower-like versions.

BODIES OF WATER

Gulf - Gulfs are large areas of ocean that penetrate into land.

Bays - are similar to gulfs but generally smaller and less enclosed by land.

Fjords - Fjords are also inlets from the ocean or the sea, they are usually long, narrow, and lined with steep cliffs.

Rivers - provide significant cruise opportunities.

Glacier - a sort of river of solid ice that flows very slowly across near-polar regions and eventually can tumble into the water, creating icebergs.

Waterfalls

Seas - large bodies of water, usually salty but sometimes fresh; It can be a region of water within an ocean, but usually some sort of land boundaries.

Lakes - are smaller than seas, are usually fresh, and are mostly or fully encircled by land.

Lagoons - Lagoons are shallow bodies of water, generally situated in tropical areas and separated from the ocean by reefs or atolls.

Bayous - Bayous are marshy or swampy areas.

Deltas - Deltas are the low, V-shaped areas at the mouth of rivers.

Geysers - Geysers are jets of steaming water that shoot high into the air.

Spring - Springs occur where water flows naturally to the earth’s surface.

Oceans - Oceans are the greatest bodies of water.