BASIC CONCEPT OF GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM (GIS)
Geographic concepts allow for the exploration of relationships and connections between people and both natural and cultural environments.
They have a spatial component.
They provide a framework that geographers use to interpret and represent, information about the world.
The development of understanding of these concepts will allow students to participate as critical, active, informed and responsible citizens.
The geography achievement objectives in The New Zealand Curriculum are based on conceptual understandings. The key concepts are all derived, directly from these achievement objectives.
Environments
May be natural and /or cultural. They have particular characteristics and features which can be the result of natural and/or cultural processes. The particular characteristics of an environment may be similar to and/or different from another.
Perspectives
Ways of seeing the world that help explain differences in decisions about, responses to, and interactions with environments. Perspectives are bodies of thought, theories or worldviews that shape people’s values and have built up over time. They involve people’s perceptions (how they view and interpret environments) and viewpoints (what they think) about geographic issues. Perceptions and viewpoints are influenced by people’s values
(deeply held beliefs about what is important or desirable).
Processes
A sequence of actions, natural and/or cultural, that shape and change environments, places and societies. Some examples of geographic processes include erosion, migration, desertification and globalization.
Patterns
May be spatial: the arrangement of features on the earth’s surface; or temporal: how characteristics differ over time in recognizable ways.
Interaction
Involves elements of an environment affecting each other and being linked together. Interaction incorporates movement, flows, connections, links and interrelationships. Landscapes are the visible outcome of interactions. Interaction can bring about environmental change.
Change
Involves any alteration to the natural or cultural environment. Change can be spatial and/or temporal. Change is a normal process in both natural and cultural environments. It occurs at varying rates, at different times and in different places. Some changes are predictable, recurrent or cyclic, while others are unpredictable or erratic. Change can bring about further change.
Sustainability
Involves adopting ways of thinking and behaving that allow individuals, groups, and societies to meet their needs and aspirations without preventing future generations from meeting theirs. Sustainable interaction with the environment may be achieved by preventing, limiting, minimizing or correcting environmental damage to water, air and soil, as well as considering ecosystems and problems related to waste, noise, and visual
pollution.
These key concepts are significant in their own right and are also interrelated.Conceptual understandings underpin the knowledge and skills assessed by the NCEA achievement standards. Learn more about geography skills and
concepts.
Additional geographic concepts
Teachers may choose additional concepts that may connect with the local environment or the circumstances of their students. Such concepts must be geographic in nature; they must have a spatial component.Spatial components relate to how features are arranged on the Earth’s surface. For example, an understanding of 'environments' will be supported by students also developing an understanding of additional concepts such as location, distance and region.Other concepts may apply to specific contexts, for example, rehabilitation and mitigation for extreme natural events or natural increase and dependency ratio for population. Additional geographic concepts can be found in The New Zealand Curriculum, for example, sustainability,
globalization and citizenship.
A number of Māori concepts may be considered, for example, kaitiakitanga, manaakitanga and hekenga. A full list and explanation of Māori concepts can be found in Glossary of Māori concepts.
The scientific study of land forms is known as geomorphology; this concerns itself not only with the analysis of the shape of land forms, but also with the erosional and depositional processes at work on them and their evolution through time. The word Geomorphology is derived from Greek term meaning a 'discourse on earth forms'. It could be defined as the description and interpretation of land forms. Some of the major physiographic features of the Earth, such as mountain chains, continental plains and ocean basins, are a result of internal Earth forces. Hence, certain aspects of geology, the study of rocks, are relevant to physical geography. Rock type and structure are also important as variables, which influence the effectiveness of wind, rain and weathering processes on land forms.
A second major concern of the physical geographer is the atmospheric environment. Meteorology study of weather processes, together with climatology the analysis of climate The distinction between these two atmospheric sciences is largely arbitrary: the climate of any particular place can only be understood through a knowledge of atmospheric processes.
A third component of physical geography is the study of plant and animal distributions, normally called biogeography. The physical geographer needs to be conversant with the basic principles of botany and zoology, and particularly of ecology, of which studies the relationships between plants and animals and their environment.
The more important of these include penology, the study of soils, which form an important environmental link between land forms, climate, and plants and animals; hydrology the study of water on the Earth's land areas; and oceanography which covers the study of waves tides and currents, as well as the biological characteristics of oceans.
Three main components of Geography at Brock
Human Geography
Human Geography is concerned with
(a) understanding the human world and its interaction with physical, built, and symbolic landscapes and
(b) using this knowledge to work towards more equitable societies. Sites of human activity are critically examined at various scales: local, regional, and global. We offer several courses in each of these areas, as well as several
courses that integrate the cultural, social, and economic realms in examinations of urban and planning issues, community development,
gender relations, producer services, development initiatives, historical geography, resource management, and regional studies. We also offer a range of methodology and field courses that provide students with the skills
necessary for conducting primary research and gaining a better appreciation of the centrality of geography to understanding human life.
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