Instructor’s Manual
Human Geography
Thirteenth Edition
Jerome D. Fellmann
Mark Bjelland
Daniel R. Montello
Arthur Getis
Judith Getis
© 2014 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution in any
manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
,CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION: SOME BACKGROUND BASICS
OVERVIEW
Chapter 1 introduces the field of geography, its concepts and tools, and the place of human geography
within it. The chapter may serve as introductory background, as a review, or as the basis for intensive
study and supplementary lectures as the instructor desires. Chapter boxes of special classroom
discussion interest include “Careers in Geography”, a discussion of professional opportunities in the
discipline, and "The National Standards" of geography skills and understandings adopted by the Educate
America Act. There is also a short box on Idrisi called "Roger's Book" that could be included in a
discussion of geography's long history.
The principal text points of the chapter include the following:
1. Geography's separate physical/cultural and regional/systematic interests and approaches are not
divisive but reflect the complex unity of the field based on its historically consistent interests in areal
variation, spatial systems, and human–environmental interrelationships.
2. Human geography focuses on people in their spatial patterns, their cultural variations, and the cultural
landscapes they create. Patterns and processes of human–environmental interaction are fundamental to
its concerns.
3. Geographers ask questions that are spatial in focus and systems and analytical in approach. Their
investigations are guided by established basic concepts and vocabularies. Location, distance, and
direction give definition to spatial descriptions; site and situation address different aspects of absolute and
relative location; scale suggests the degree of generalization of a geographic inquiry. Spatial distributions
may be analyzed by reference to: density—thought of as a measure of the number or quantity of some
feature; dispersion—the spread of a phenomenon over area; and pattern—the geometric arrangement of
items. Spatial interaction is the term that summarizes the structured and comprehensible ways in which
places and peoples are connected at a distance; accessibility and connectivity help define interaction
probabilities.
4. The natural landscape provides the setting of human action. The cultural landscape is the visible
imprint of that activity in the environment. The attributes of both types of landscape change over time.
5. As a spatial science, geography employs the regional concept to generalize and classify areal
regularities and differences in natural and cultural landscapes. Location, content, spatial extent, and
boundaries are descriptive elements of all regions—administrative, thematic, functional, or perceptual.
6. Maps are basic tools geographers use to record spatial data and to identify and analyze regions.
Scale determines the degree to which landscape reality is generalized on the map; projection defines the
way the curved earth is represented on a flat surface.
© 2014 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution in any
manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
,7. The globe grid is defined by parallels of latitude and meridians of longitude. Knowledge of the
properties of the globe grid can inform the map user of the kinds and degrees of distortion present on the
map.
8. General purpose maps display physical or human-made features of an area or of the world without
analysis. Thematic maps present single categories of either qualitative or quantitative data. Cartograms
and statistical, dot, graduated circle, and choropleth maps present areal data in different ways for different
purposes and emphases. Mental maps are images about an area or environment developed by
individuals that color their spatial perceptions and movements.
9. Geographic information systems use digitized data and computer manipulation to investigate and
display spatial information. A GIS database is a structured set of spatial information for automating
geographical analysis and synthesis.
10. The content of area is interrelated and comprises a spatial system subject to description and analysis
through maps and other spatial models, which are simplified abstractions of reality devised to clarify
causal relationships. Geography engages in spatial systems analysis, with an important part of its
attention directed to patterns and spatial systems of human creation.
EXPANDED KEY WORDS LIST
absolute direction system (GIS) periphery
absolute distance geography physical geography
absolute location globalization physiological density
absolute space global positioning placelessness
accessibility globe grid prime meridian
agglomerated graduated circle map projection
arithmetic density graphic scale qualitative
cartogram grid system quantitative
centralized human geography random
choropleth map Idrisi raster approach
cluttered Isochrones reference map
concentration latitude region
connectivity linear regional concept
contour line location regional geography
core location map relational direction
cultural landscape longitude relative direction
density map relative distance
desire line mathematical location relative location
direction mental map relative space
dispersion meridian remote sensing
distance model representative fraction
distance decay natural landscape Roger’s Book
dot maps networks scale
Eratosthenes nodal region scattered
friction of distance parallel (of latitude) sense of place
functional region pattern site
general purpose map pedestrian cities situation
geographic information perceptual region space
© 2014 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution in any
manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
, spatial behavior sphere of influence vector approach
spatial diffusion statistical map vernacular region
spatial distribution Strabo
spatial interaction systematic geography
spatial system thematic map
LECTURE AND DISCUSSION TOPICS
1. A brief lecture survey of the history of geography, its consistent themes and questions, and its
development over the past 150 years can be a useful lead-in to a discussion of the practical problems
geography addresses and of the significant role geographic concepts, methods, and conclusions play in
understanding contemporary political, economic, and ecological problems. The David Livingstone and
Martin & James books cited in the “Selected References” section of the text for Chapter 1 and the
“Geography” entry in the Encyclopedia Britannica are useful background for a historical survey; “The Four
Traditions of Geography,” by William D. Pattison (The Journal of Geography 63 [1964], pp. 211–16) helps
define the unity and diversity in geographic study.
2. On the basis of the lecture and sources noted in topic 1, the instructor might review with the class the
importance of place perception and regional geography in the full scope of the discipline. Such classic
definitions of geography as “the study of similarities and differences from place to place” or “the study of
spatial differentiation” lead into further development with the class of the regional concept and its
intellectual and practical importance.
3. Through class discussion, draw from the students the characteristics of the globe grid and
demonstrate how it is impossible to maintain them on flat maps. Using different map projections, show
specifically how different projections distort the globe grid in different ways. Elicit students’ ideas on how
flat map distortions can color perceptions of spatial relationships, comparative size, and other geographic
realities. A large Mercator map of the world is a good teaching aid because Greenland incorrectly
appears to be as large as Africa! Examples and conclusions reached may be used to demonstrate that
uncritical acceptance of maps is dangerous not only because projections distort, but because map
elements may be deliberately manipulated to persuade the map reader. The article “Persuasive
Cartography,” by Judith A. Tyner in Journal of Geography, July/August 1982 is a helpful source, as is
How to Lie with Maps by Mark Monmonier (University of Chicago Press, 1991). “Distortions in Maps: The
Peters Projection and Other Devilments,” by Porter and Voxland (Focus, Summer 1986) offers a useful
critique of faddish cartography.
4. If class size permits, give students topographic and thematic maps (preferably of the local area) at
different scales to compare with one another and with their knowledge of the physical and cultural
landscape. Have students look at the map and try to determine the general type of projection and identify
the causes of the distortion in the map. Actual reading and use of maps (including contour maps) and
class discussion of problems of scale, data generalization, and so on can increase student familiarity with
maps and confidence in their use. Create index cards for several types of maps with varying contour lines
with absolute location of various well mapped cities and physical features. Randomly distribute the index
cards amongst the students and have them write down the city or feature to which the location pertains.
Have the students check their answers on answer sheets away from the maps. Most college students
have very weak map reading skills, and even the basics of a topographic map may need explaining. The
U.S. Geological Survey’s website is a handy resource for introducing the rudiments of topographic map
reading.
5. Outline and review with the class the common characteristics of regions. Expand on those
characteristics, drawing examples of them from maps in this chapter and those used as part of discussion
topic 4. In addition, ask your students what regions your community or campus could be included in
(formal, vernacular or perceptual). Try to go beyond simple directional designations, such as northeast or
© 2014 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution in any
manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
