Читать книгу Geography For Dummies - Jerry T. Mitchell - Страница 33

In Chapter 1, the content of geography was likened to a pizza pie, and The Six Essential Elements were presented as a way to “cut it up.” The same National Geography Standards that give us those Elements also present a series of related skills that together constitute the process of thinking geographically. They include:

 Asking Geographic Questions: Thinking geographically typically begins with the questions “Where?” and “Why?” Sticking with pizza, one might want to know where all of the pizza shops in town are located and why they are there. Conversely, a person going into the pizza business may want to know where a good location would be to open a new pizza shop, and why.

 Acquiring Geographic Information: Geographic information is information about locations and their characteristics. If you want to know where all the local pizza shops are and why, then a first step may be to consult the internet (where you’ll probably even find a map!). You may also visit the sites and acquire information about their characteristics. Similarly, someone going into the pizza business may do the same thing in order to learn the locations and characteristics of the sites that competitors have previously chosen.

 Organizing Geographic Information: After geographic information has been collected, it needs to be organized in ways that facilitate interpretation and analysis. This may be achieved by grouping together relevant notes, or by constructing tables, diagrams, maps, or other graphics. Thus, the person who wants to understand the geography of pizza shops might produce a map of them based on information previously acquired. The person who is considering going into the pizza business may do the same.

 Analyzing Geographic Information: Acquiring and organizing geographic information paves the way for analyzing geographic information. This is when the most heavy-duty thinking occurs. Analysis involves making comparisons, seeking relationships, and looking for connections between geographic information. What factors explain the locations of existing pizza shops? What factors make for a great location for a future pizza shop? Analyzing geographic information is kind of like playing a mystery game in which you use the information you previously acquired and organized to solve a puzzle.

 Answering Geographic Questions: The process of thinking geographically culminates in the presentation of conclusions and generalizations based on the information that has been acquired, organized, and analyzed. It may reveal, for example, that pizza shops tend to be located in places that are readily accessible to a large number of people or that have lots of passers-by. Those conclusions may, of course, prove very useful to the person who wants to open a new pizza shop and is looking for the best possible location.

Thinking geographically entails two lines of thought that are similar as well as different. They are alike in that both involve the bulleted points listed previously. The difference is that one approach focuses on where things are located, while the other ponders where things should be located. A geographer friend of mine named Phil likes to call these the international versus local rationales, respectively, for studying geography. To highlight this difference, the discussion above repeatedly referred to two people. One was trying to understand where pizza shops are located, and the other who was trying to determine where a pizza shop should be located. The following case studies help reinforce these perspectives. Each poses a geographic question (one international and one local, if you will) and challenges you to analyze geographic information before you arrive at an answer. That is, each has you thinking geographically. In doing so, you begin to acquire and develop important conceptual skills that constitute major mileposts in becoming a true geographer.