World Regional Geography GEG 101 ONLINE! Assignment 1 - Defining Realms

 Assignment 1 has two parts

PART 1

Background Information

Geography not only studies WHERE things are, but more importantly, WHY they are THERE. In this exercise you will explain WHY the authors of our textbook drew the boundaries of the world realms where they did. In this assignments you will select a REALM as delineated in the textbook. That means you will select one of the regions of the world discussed in each of the 12 chapters of the textbook. See: Figure G-2 (pages 4- 5) of the textbook or World Geographic Realms. Then you will explain WHY the authors selected that area as a world realm. Why did they draw the boundaries where they did? What are the common characteristics of the realm and how do they differ from the neighboring realms? To do this we will use our four class "themes" :

1. physical geography
2. economic geography
3. cultural geography, and
4. historical geography

READ and STUDY:

Realms and Regions

• Textbook GEOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVES and REALMS AND REGIONS pp. 2-7
• Textbook: THE REGIONAL FRAMEWORK pp. 28-30
• The online lecture: Introduction to Geography
• The online lecture: Regional Geography.

Physical Geography

• Textbook: THE PHYSICAL SETTING pp. 7-14
• The online lecture: Climatic Regions

Economic Geography

• Textbook: PATTERNS OF DEVELOPMENT pp. 21-28
• The online lecture: Measures of Economic Development
• Table G-1 (textbook pp. 36-41)

Cultural Geography

• Textbook: REGIONS AND CULTURES pp. 14-17
• The online lecture What is Culture?

Historical Geography

• The online lecture Historical Geography

Instructions

1. Select a REALM as delineated in the textbook. (See figure G-2of the textbook or World Geographic Realms). NOTE: YOU CANNOT SELECT SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA (chapter 6).

2. On a world map locate and label your realm AND all neighboring realms. Hand this map in with your assignment.

3. See Table G-1 in your textbook (pp. 36-41)

4. Study the maps found at: http://www.harpercollege.edu/mhealy/geg101i/worldmaps.htm

4. Look carefully at the boundaries of the realm that you selected.

5. Write a short paper (1-2 pages, STAPLED, typed, double spaced, no cover page, your name on the paper) applying the "regional criteria" (physical, cultural, economic, and historical geography) to explain WHY the boundaries are drawn where they are. Be sure to do the following:

• Discuss the maps that you have studied. Look at the boundaries of your realm and describe what is different on each side of the boundaries.
• Read the textbook chapter of your realm AND of the neighboring realms (usually the first few pages of each chapter discusses realm boundaries)
  {NOTE: You may want to print this realm worksheet and keep track of the characteristics in the chart as you read and study the chapter.)
• You may want to also use other maps from the textbook, your Goode's atlas,or the online lectures (see below) to explain why the realm boundaries were drawn where they were.
• STUDY the online lectures (see the realm you have selected on our CHAPTERS page). These could be VERY USEFUL.
  {NOTE: You may want to print this realm worksheet and keep track of the characteristics in the chart as you read and study the online lecture)
• Do NOT just describe the realm. Unless you use each of the maps that you studied to EXPLAIN what is UNIQUE about your realm and how it DIFFERS from its neighbors, you will get very few points. POINTS ARE ASSIGNED FOR EACH COMPARISON THAT YOU MAKE WITH NEIGHBORING REALMS. You will receive no points for just describing the realm.
• Be sure to use data from Table G-1 (textbook pp. 36-41)

How do the physical, cultural, economic, and historical characteristics of the realm differ from the characteristics of neighboring realms? Use maps to support your arguments.

The following physical, cultural, economic, and/or historical criteria (characteristics) are used to define the realms,. Discuss how these characteristics make your realm different from its neighbors. Use maps to support your arguments. This means that you MUST discuss the maps in your paper. When discussing a map ask your reader to refer to the map name and page number. Contrast these characteristics with those of the neighboring realms. (i.e. why are the realm's boundaries drawn where they are?) This is done in our introductory lecture on Regional Geography, see http://www.harpercollege.edu/mhealy/g101ilec/intro/reg/applic.htm. Do not just list the characteristics or simply describe your realm, but COMPARE and CONTRAST. Do not just repeat what is in the textbook. I want you to explain why your realm is a unique region, significantly different from its neighbors so that it can be called its own realm, OR Why are the realm boundaries drawn where they are?

You may want to consider the following:

• physical geography - Compare with neighboring realm AND look for physical barriers like deserts, mountains, and oceans at the boundaries.
  • landscapes, natural vegetation, ecological regions
  • climate, precipitation
  • major features
  • physical barriers at the realm boundaries
  • other?
• cultural geography - THIS THEME IS VERY IMPORTANT. Be sure to compare with neighboring realms.
  • religion
  • language
  • politics
  • other?
• economic geography - Again, don't dust describe your realm but explain how it differs from its neighbors.
  • Table G-1 (textbook pp. 36-41)
  • level of development (GNP per capita)
  • % labor in primary activities
  • % urbanization
  • population growth rate (natural increase)
  • birth rates, death rates
  • energy consumption
  • literacy
  • other measures of development
• historical Geography - Do I need to say "compare" again?
  • culture hearths
  • colonized by whom?
  • other?

Be sure to discuss why the border was drawn where it was. What is different on each side of the boundary?

Do the realm's boundaries pass through areas of sparse population and/or are there physical barriers along the realm's boundaries? Discuss.

Discuss any significant transition zones that exist. (Remember: ALL realm and region boundaries are transition zones, but the boundary between North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa is especially large for several reasons.)

PART 2

In this activity you use the four class themes to define your own regions for the hypothetical continent of Harperland.

Background

HARPERLAND The hypothetical continent of Harperland is made up of five countries (see map at right). Use the following maps and data to logically divide the continent into different regions. (It is easiest to print the five maps and the data page so that you can look at them all at once.)

Many students get confused with this part of the assignment In the Introduction of our textbook an in the Introduction Online Lectures we looked at a four of criteria that we may use to define the regions. We called these the four class THEMES. For each realm we will discuss these four class themes. This assignment will give you practice doing this using the hypothetical continent of Harperland.

Often geographers use regions to simplify the world by uniting areas with similar characteristics. They use our four themes: (1) cultural geography, (2) economic geography, (3) historical geography, and (4) physical geography as the criteria when creating regions. Try doing that for Harperland. Look at the maps and data provided and see if you can simplify the hypothetical continent of Harperland by dividing it into regions. Which areas of Harperland have similar cultural, economic, and physical characteristics? Put them into one region. Maybe one area has the same religion, a related language, is economically poor compared to neighboring areas, and has a dry climate. this may be one region. Locate and color it on your map. You must name your regions. Don't forget the economic data. It is important. Also, remember that regions are often separated by physical barriers. You may want to review:

• The online lecture: Introduction to Geography
• The online lecture: Regional Geography.

 

Since there are five countries on the continent of Harperland, a SIMPLIFIED regionalization scheme should probably have fewer than five regions.

Instructions

1. Study the thematic maps and the economic data linked below. NOTE: the economic data is important.

2. Print the four thematic maps (physiography [harphys2], climates [harclim], languages [harlang], and religions [harrelig] ) and the blank map [blank] of Harperland

3. On the blank map shade, in different colors, your regions of Harperland.

4. Name your regions.

5. On the four thematic maps draw the boundaries of your regions.

6. Write a short explanation of the rationale you used in creating your regions. When doing this think about our four class themes. For more information on the class themes see: Intro. to Geog Online Lecture.

Physical Geography harphys2 harclim

Cultural Geography harlang harrelig

Economic Geography harmins measures IMPORTANT

MAIL THE FOLLOWING TO YOUR INSTRUCTOR

Part 1:

• The world map with your realm and its neighbors correctly located and labeled
• the paper (stapled, typed, double spaced)

Part 2:

• Your Harperland map with regions colored
• the 4 thematic Harperland maps (physiography, climates, languages, and religions) with YOUR regions outlined
• explanation of your Harperland regions

And:

• a 9"x12" manilla envelope, self-addressed on a Harper address label (address labels will be distributed at the on-campus orientation)
• See instructions and the schedule

Mark L. Healy
Harper: 847-925-6352
Home: 815-728-1571
mhealy@harpercollege.edu