Chapter 1 of your textbook has introduced you to Geography. As you can see, it is more than just geology, which is a mistaken belief of many people. Your reading briefly defined Geography; discussed how we use maps to study it; described the "regional" approach we shall take in this course; identified certain ecosystem environments that can be found on Earth; and, suggested several aspects of the impact of people (Human or Cultural Geography) and their land-form and climatic surroundings (Physical Geography), including their religion, ethnicity and race, gender, migration and urbanization, development of governments, and the emergence of economic networks.

Thus, you can see that basically, there are two areas of study in this discipline. First, there is Physical Geography, which studies landforms (rocks, mountains, bodies of water, and stuff) and climate (not weather, which is temporary, but long-term climatic conditions). This is what most people think about when they hear the word "Geography," mistaking it for Geology. Attached to landforms and climate, we also consider various forms of plant-life. However, this is merely the start of the story, going back millions of years, which is our scientific understanding of things.

Second, there is Cultural Geography (what your textbook calls Human Geography), which considers the lives of two-legged animals (our human species) and the four-legged species, with which humans have come into contact. With this aspect of the discipline, we study how humans, and other living species, have evolved through the years, decades, centuries, and millions of years. I suggest you use the term "Cultural Geography," as Human Geography tends to be confused with Anthropology.

Referring to this aspect as Cultural Geography focuses us more on the various ideas, institutions, and events that have been present, rather than the physical evolution of human types. There are two perspectives with which we will look at Cultural Geography. There is our spatial perspective, in which we study the lives of particular people, living in a specific place, at a point-in-time, say the ancient Chinese in the 3rd Century BCE or Europeans in the 1780s. Then, there is our temporal perspective, where we study the lives of people through a period of time--basically, this is History.

So, with this information in mind, please respond to the following questions. What is Geography and how might we study it? What are the fundamental elements that make-up Geography? What research tools do Geographers use to study Geography? In what ways are the elements and research tools of Cultural Geography used to formulate spatial or temporal perspectives better to understand, and to interpret the significance of, People, Institutions, Events, Relationships, and Values (PIE R/V) of the Geography of the United States.

Your response to this initial post should be at least two or three paragraphs in length (at least five sentences per paragraph) and include specific examples to support your opinions. Once you have responded to this post, I will read your response. At that time, I will either provide a follow-up post for your response or direct you to critique another students' response. Please wait for me to do this before you continue.