|
|
|
|
EARTH
For more pictures of earth go to http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/ Geography means "description of the earth." It is also called the spatial science. It looks at spatial variations, including changes over time. It is obviously related to, but distinct from, the academic study of both astronomy and to geology. geo = earth Geographers write about the physical structures of the earth and "the nature and activities of the people who inhabit the different lands of the known world."
Ancient Geography http://www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/stargaze/Stimelin.htm Herodotus (c. 484 - 425 BC) wrote a history of the Persian Wars, which induced a lot of information about geography. Alexander the Great and his Conquests to the Indus River produced a great deal of more accurate information than had existed in Greece previously. The Hellenistic geographers were mainly located in Alexandria. Eratosthenes (276 - 194 BC) first coined the word geography and
calculated the circumference of the earth. Ptolomy (c 85 - c 165 AD) not only developed the most famous articulation of the geocentric view of the universe, but was also famous for his maps which included a grid system of longitude and latitude. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptolemy Roman geographers expanded Hellenistic ideas. Strabo (c. 64 BC - 20 AD) During the Middle Ages, much of this ancient knowledge was lost. Modern Geography The modern revival of geography begins in the 17th century. It is stimulated by the Voyages of Discovery, the Renaissance, and the Rebirth of Science. It is often assumed that at the time of Christopher Columbus most people believed that the earth was flat. This is an erroneous belief according to the article below: http://www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/stargaze/Scolumb.htm Alexander von Humboldt http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/aa020298.htm Alfred Wegener (1880-1030) http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/wegener.html An unsorted list of famous geographers both ancient and modern is found at this site http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_geographers. Cartography (making maps) is a branch of geography. The following is a list of famous cartographers http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cartographers WEB Links This WEB link provides information about the academic discipline of geography. It gives basic definitions. http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/aa111599.htm For a Time Line of Geographic history follow this link http://geography.miningco.com/library/misc/bltimeline.htm The United States Geological Survey, http://www.usgs.gov/, provides information about our planet from the U.S. Government. See also this article from Wikipedia on the characteristics of the planet Earth http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth The following link provides some facts and figures about our planet. http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/nineplanets/nineplanets/earth.html The Earth from Space has many NASA links http://earth.jsc.nasa.gov/sseop/efs/ Those of you you want to be teachers, the New Jersey Department of Education Core Curriculum Standards are located on this page http://www.state.nj.us/njded/cccs/index.html. Standard 6.5 deals with geography and is found under the social studies standards at http://www.state.nj.us/njded/cccs/drafts/ss.pdf National Geographic has an Xpeditions WEB site, which includes both national standards,lesson plans for teachers, and maps. http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/. See also http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/hall/
|
