Earth Sciences - Geography

Thursday, June 16, 2011

A Little Bit of the Geography of Florida

Florida Highlands (The Central Florida Hills)

Dr. Edmar Bernardes DaSilva (Masters in Geography and Doctor of Geography Education)

Florida is a mostly flat state with some rolling hills in its central region and in its northern region bordering with Georgia. The three physical regions of Florida are: the Atlantic Coastal Plain, the East Gulf Coastal Plain, and the Florida Uplands. The Florida Uplands go from the northwest corner of the state, along the northern edge of the Florida Panhandle and then extend south into the central area of the Florida peninsula. Though the Florida highlands are only 200-300 feet above sea level, they are much higher than the lands of the Atlantic Coastal Plain and the Eastern Gulf Coastal Plain.

The State of Florida is 500 miles (800 km) long and 160 miles (256 km) wide at its most distant points. The state is bordered by Georgia and Alabama to the north. On the west Florida is bordered by Alabama and the Gulf of Mexico. To the south and to the east, Florida is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean. Florida covers 65,758 square miles (105,213 square km), making it the 22nd largest of the 50 states. Florida’s 53,997 (86,395 square km) square miles are land areas, and 11,761 square miles (18,818 square km) of Florida are covered by water making Florida the 3rd wettest state after Alaska and Michigan. Florida’s highest point is Britton Hill, in northwest Florida in the border with Georgia in the Florida Panhandle, and is 345 feet (105 meters) above sea level. The highest point in the peninsular Florida is the Sugar Loaf, which stands 312 feet high (95 meters). Florida’s lowest point is the sea level where Florida meets the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. The average land altitude in Florida is only 100 feet (30.48 meters) above sea level.

Florida’s major rivers: Saint Johns River, Saint Marys River (between Georgia and Northeastern Florida), and Suwannee River (Georgia and Florida).

Florida’s Major Lakes: Lake Okeechobee, and Lake George.

Florida also has a great number of canals.

Physical Map of Florida

Florida Central Highlands (a wonder inside Florida)

Dr. Edmar Bernardes DaSilva (Masters in Geography and Doctor of Geography Education)

When you are living in South Florida you might think that the entire state of Florida is flat, and with no highlands at all. Well this is not true, because this week I visited with a friend of mine to the Florida Central highlands region, which is a very nice hilly region in Central Florida where lakes and low hills shape the physical landscape in the Lake County region. When I arrived in the region searching for Sugarloaf Mountain, which is the highest point in peninsular state of Florida at 312 feet (95 meters) above the sea, I was surprised to see a highland region inside Florida.

Florida Hills (Central Florida)

Even though I am a geographer, I always had this preconception that the state of Florida is totally flat and without any kind of hills. I was wrong! So I learned that the highest point in peninsular Florida is located inside Lake County, not far from the city of Clermont. Clermont, by the way, is a charming, small town surrounded by lakes of different sizes (e.g. Lake Apopka). Britton Hill, in the Florida Panhandle, is the highest point in the entire state at 345 feet above sea level. That is not very high either!!!! The state of Florida should add a course on the Geography of Florida to the school curriculum (high school and junior college). Florida is a state with a great and interesting geography which most Floridians know very little of it.

Florida Hills (Central Florida near Orlando)

Social Sciences and Geography

Dr. Edmar Bernardes DaSilva (Masters in Geography and Doctor of Geography Education)

The social sciences are a bunch of academic disciplines, which concerns the human aspects of the world and their connection with this same world. They are different from the arts and humanities because social sciences tend to emphasize the use of the scientific method when studying humanity, and when doing that they include quantitative and qualitative methods of study.
They refer to social sciences as SOFT SCIENCES because those sciences study the subjective, inter-subjective and objective structural aspects of society, whereas the natural sciences are referred to as HARD SCIENCES, which focus mostly on the objective aspects of nature.

This excepts geography, for example, in which one finds that this subject (geography) has very strong sides of both SOFT and HARD sciences. Geography can be considered a double identity discipline, which holds to both sides of the scientific world: human and natural. Before today the distinction among the hard and soft sciences was fuzzy, though nowadays some social science sub-fields have become very quantitative in their methodology. Examples of boundary subjects between soft and hard sciences are disciplines such as geography, sociology, history, sociobiology, bio-economics and the sociology of science (e.g. Thomas Kuhn). More and more quantitative and qualitative methods are being integrated in the study of human action and its implications and consequences (e.g. geography).

Social Sciences Disciplines:
Anthropology
Geography
History
Economics
Education
Law
Linguistics
Political Science
PsychologySociology...

Geography of the Environment

Lake in Florida

Dr. Edmar Bernardes DaSilva (Masters in Geography and Doctor of Geography Education)

What is Environmental Geography? Well, think this way: Environmental Geography and Natural Resources help us comprehend human kind manipulation of the natural world and the use of its natural resources by those same humans. The study of Environmental Geography teaches us how humans impact and modify the environment, and as well teaches solutions that can be used to control resources in a way that human kind will have them for years and years to come. Environmental Geography also teaches about politics and policies, news studies on environment conservation, and important issues from global warming, water resources and land degradation. Finally Environmental Geography teaches us to understand how natural resources have become a critical issue in local, regional, federal and international land use actions.

When you concentrate your studies on Environmental Geography you learn:
A: How to analyze environmental and resource use and impacts
B: About the policies and programs that take place in governmental spheres addressing environmental issues
C: How to use accessible technologies to create and present data and Findings.

Physical Landscape in Mongolia

Pollution in China (Pic by the World by Road Expedition)

Human Geography

Folk Dance of Nepal

Dr. Edmar Bernardes DaSilva (Masters in Geography and Doctor of Geography Education)

Human Geography is a branch of Geography that concentrates its attention on understanding the interaction between humans and the space they live in. Human Geography in reality concentrates on the prototypes and developments that mold the connection between the environment and humanity. In short Human Geography particularly takes care of the sources and effects of the spatial distribution of human activity on the Earth’s crust.

One of the notable human geographers is the German Karl Ritter, one of the founding fathers of modern geography together with Alexander von Humboldt, a German as well. Herr Doktor Ritter brought a new beginning to the subject of geography. Ritter was also a pedagogue who concentrated his pedagogical studies on geography teaching and learning. For Ritter the teaching of geography resembled the teaching of physiology and comparative anatomy of the earth: The Earth’s rivers, mountains, glaciers and more were so many distinct organs, each with its own appropriate functions; and, as such this physical frame is the basis of the man, determinative to a large extent of his life, so the structure of each country is a leading element in the historic progress of the nation.

Some of the sub-fields of Human Geography are: Cultural Geography, Economic Geography, Political Geography, Medical Geography, Urban Geography, Population Geography, Tourism Geography, Transportation Geography...

Ouro Preto Brazil - A Urban Cultural Landscape

Field of Geogarphy

Dr. Edmar Bernardes DaSilva (Masters in Geography and Doctor of Geography Education)

Cartography

Making, analyzing and understanding maps

Physical Geography

Physical Geography (or physiogeography) focuses on geography as an Earth Science. It aims to understand the physical LITHOSPHERE, HYDROSPHERE, ATMOSPHERE, PEDOSPHERE and GLOBAL FLORA AND FAUNA. Physical Geography can be divided into the following categories:

Biogeography, Climatology & Paleoclimatology, Coastal Geography, Geodsy, Geomorphology, Glaciology, Hydrology & Hydrography, Landscapes Ecology, Oceanography, Pedology, Paleogeography, and Quartenary ScienceHuman Geography

The Brazilian Highlands

Human Geography

Human Geography is a field of geography that focuses on the study of patterns and processes that shape human interaction with various environments. It encompasses human, cultural, political, cultural, social, and economic aspects. While the major focus of human geography is not the physical landscape of the Earth , it is hardly possible to discuss human geography without referring to the physical landscape on which human activities are being played out, and the geography of the enviromment is emerging as a link between HUMAN AND PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHES. Human geography can be divided into the categories below:

Cultural Geography, Development Geography, Economic Geography, Medical Geography, Historical Geography, Political Geography, Population Geography, Religion Geography, Social Geography, Transportation Geography, Tourism Geography, Language Geography and Urban Geography

Urban Geography of Savannah Georgia

Spatial Skills

Dr. Edmar Bernardes DaSilva (Masters in Geography and Doctor of Geography Education)

GIS Map of Part of Florida - Source: Florida Department of Environmental Protection

Competent citizens must be able to locate themselves and others SPATIALLY in order to travel, exchange ideas, and access artifacts. SPATIAL SKILLS often appear in social studies in the discipline of GEOGRAPHY, but they are all over throughout the curriculum.
Identifying political boundaries, the locations of cities, landmarks, and landmasses and determining the relationship of one object in space to another are all part of SPATIAL UNDERSTANDING.

Using and Creating Maps in Instruction

The most common ways that individuals can orient themselves SPATIALLY are through exiting MAPS and the creation of new ones.
MAPS (e.g. flat maps) and GLOBES represent some region on the Earth.
They do so with varying degree of distortion. Globes are more accurate.

In 1988 the National Geographic Society adopted the Robinson Projection as one that produced the LEAST DISTORTION for most non-specialized map applications.
If compared with the traditional Van der Grinten Projection that the society used since 1922, one can see that there is less distortion.

Satellite Map of Florida (Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)

Professor Harm de Blij

Dutch geographer and author. Professor de Blij left a legacy to be followed by us younger geographers. His regional divisions of the Earth in my view is the closest to reality (and I love his micro-regional divisions) with exceptions (some flaws can be found in his publications). Great geographer and also a great researcher. Professor de Blij wanted to meet me personally, but I never had the honor to meet him personally. Professor de Blij exchanged e-mails with me and also included my name in two editions of his books The World Today and Regions. I also had the honor to receive from him a copy of his book Why Geography Matters with his personal dedication to me with his signature and date. Professor de Blij did an extensive study of the wine regions of the Southern Hemisphere and Brazil my homeland was part of it which became a book (I own this book). Professor de Blij wrote me in a personal e-mail that he was six month in South America doing the research on wine regions of South America.