Educ 15

Places and Landscape in a Changing World

MODULE 1 & 2
(Introduction to Geography)

Submitted to:
Prof. Remedios Maghanoy
Instructor

Dave G. Campita
Student

Module 1. Introduction to Geography

 Geography is the study of places and the relationships between people
and their environments. Geographers explore both the physical
properties of Earth’s surface and the human societies spread across it.
They also examine how human culture interacts with the natural
environment and the way that locations and places can have an impact
on people. Geography seeks to understand where things are found,
why they are there, and how they develop and change over time.
The term "geography" comes to us from the ancient Greeks, who needed a
word to describe the writings and maps that were helping them make sense of
the world in which they lived. In Greek, geo means “earth” and -graphy means
“to write.”  Using geography, Greeks developed an understanding of where
their homeland was located in relation to other places, what their own and
other places were like, and how people and environments were distributed.
These concerns have been central to geography ever since.

a. Geography as a distinct discipline

Geography distinct as a discipline by understanding of Earth and its
human and natural complexities not merely where objects are, but also
how they have changed and come to be. It is called "the world
discipline" and "the bridge between the human and the physical
sciences".

The discipline of geography can be broken down into two main areas of
focus: physical geography and human geography. These two main
areas are similar in that they both use a spatial perspective, and they
both include the study of place and the comparison of one place with
another.

Physical geography is the spatial study of natural phenomena that

make up the environment, such as rivers, mountains, landforms,
weather, climate, soils, plants, and any other physical aspects of the
earth’s surface. Physical geography focuses on geography as a form of
earth science. It tends to emphasize the main physical parts of the
earth—the lithosphere (surface layer), the atmosphere (air), the
hydrosphere (water), and the biosphere (living organisms)—and the
relationships between these parts.

b. Basic Geographic Concepts

 The basic geographic concepts are:
b.1 Location
Location can be described in two ways: absolute and relative and
answers the question of “Where is it?” Absolute describes the
position of a feature or event in space, using some form of
geographic coordinates. Relative uses descriptive text to describe
the position of the feature or event in relationship to another object
or event. What is the distance and direction of a place from
another? For example, the hurricane will hit landfall 30 miles north
 of Town A. Understand the location of features or events is the
building blocks to geographic study, including using GIS for
mapping and analysis.

b.2 Place (physical and cultural attributes)

Place looks at the physical and/or cultural attributes of a place is
important. Physical characteristics include: weather and
temperature, land and soil, and plant and animal life. Cultural
attributes include: languages, religions and ethnicities, where and
how people settle, transportation, economics, and politics.

b.3 Density, Dispersion, Pattern

Understanding spatial pattern is an important aspect of geographic
inquiry. Spatial pattern looks at commonality in geography across
regions. How are things arranged? Is the arrangement regular? Is
there a pattern to the distribution?

b.4 Spatial Interaction

Spatial interaction is the cause and effect of an event in one region
or area that affects another area and takes a look at the
connectivity and relationships of features. For example, a change
in land use from rural to high density can affect traffic congestion in
adjoining areas. The 1980 eruption of Mount Saint Helen affected
an area far beyond the volcanic site with ash fallout reach across
several states.
c. Maps, Map Projections and GIS
c.1 Maps
A map is a symbolic representation of selected characteristics of a
place, usually drawn on a flat surface. Maps present information
about the world in a simple, visual way. They teach about the world
by showing sizes and shapes of countries, locations of features,
and distances between places. Maps can show distributions of
things over Earth, such as settlement patterns. They can show
exact locations of houses and streets in a city neighborhood.

Physical Map
A physical map usually includes labels for features such as
mountain ranges and bodies of water. In this map of North
 America, the shape and contours of the seafloor, such as basins
and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, are clearly identified.
Map maker
Mapmakers, called cartographers, create maps for many different
purposes. Vacationers use road maps to plot routes for their trips.
Meteorologists—scientists who study weather—use weather maps
to prepare forecasts. City planners decide where to put hospitals
and parks with the help of maps that show land features and how
the land is currently being used.

c.2 Map Projections

Transferring information from the spherical, or ball-shaped, surface of
Earth onto a flat piece of paper is called projection. A globe, a spherical
model of Earth, accurately represents the shapes and locations of the
continents. But if a globe were cut in half and each half were flattened out
into a map, the result would be wrinkled and torn. The size, shape, and
relative location of land masses would change.

Projection is a major challenge for cartographers. Every map has some

sort of distortion. The larger the area covered by a map, the greater the
distortion. Features such as size, shape, distance, or scale can be
measured accurately on Earth, but once projected on a flat surface only
some, not all, of these qualities can be accurately represented. For
example, a map can retain either the correct sizes of landmasses or the
correct shapes of very small areas, but not both.

Depending on the map’s purpose, cartographers must decide what

elements of accuracy are most important to preserve. This determines
which projection to use. For example, conformal maps show true shapes
of small areas but distort size. Equal area maps distort shape and
direction but show true relative sizes of all areas. There are three basic
kinds of projections: planar, conical, and cylindrical. Each is useful in
different situations.

In a planar projection, Earth’s surface is projected onto a plane, or flat

surface. Imagine touching a globe with a piece of cardboard, mapping
that point of contact, then projecting the rest of map onto the cardboard
around that point. Planar projections are most accurate at their centers,
where the plane “touches” the globe. They are often used for maps of one
of the poles.

c.3 GIS
A geographic information system (GIS) is a system that creates,
manages, analyzes, and maps all types of data. GIS connects data
to a map, integrating location data (where things are) with all types
of descriptive information (what things are like there). This provides
 a foundation for mapping and analysis that is used in science and
almost every industry. GIS helps users understand patterns,
relationships, and geographic context. The benefits include
improved communication and efficiency as well as better
management and decision making.

Activity
1. How does GIS work?

- GIS connects data to a map, integrating location data (where things are)

with all types of descriptive information (what things are like there).

2. What is map in geography?

-  a symbolic representation of selected characteristics of a place, usually

drawn on a flat surface.

3. What is geography? Elaborate further.

- Geography is the study of places and the relationships between people

and their environments. Geographers explore both the physical properties
of Earth's surface and the human societies spread across it.

4. What are the basic geographic concepts?

- Geographical concepts include location, place, scale, space, pattern,

nature and society, networks, flows, regionalization, and globalization.

Reflection: I found out that, there are geographic concept, which is the
location, place, scale, space, pattern, nature and society and then the map in
geography is a symbolic presentation of selected characteristics of a place,
usually drawn on a flat surface.
 NDC-TAGUM FOUNDATION, INCORPORATED
Apokon Road, Tagum City, Davao del Norte
Tel. #: (084) 216 – 2552

MODULE 2

SUBJECT: EDUC 15

COURSE: BSED FILIPINO 3

___________________________________________________________________

DAVE G. CAMPITA

STUDENT

REMEDIOS MAGHANOY, MAED.

 Instructor

MODULE 2. HUMAN ACTIONS AND THEIR IMPACTS ON THE WORLDS

ENVIRONMENT
a. Perspectives and Philosophies on nature, society and Technology
a.1 Nature Perspectives
In Strengthening Cultural Identity, people identify with where they live.
They feel connected with nature and the landscape, and consider this an
integral part of their local and regional communities and essential to a
meaningful life.
In Allowing Nature to Find its Way, people feel strongly about the
intrinsic value of natural processes and species, and feel responsible for
providing nature with sufficient space and time to develop. From this
perspective, there is an extensive European nature network that also includes
wildlife corridors and rivers.
In Going with the Economic Flow, the focus is on nature to suit
people’s individual lifestyle. Public authorities are responsible for ensuring a
basic network of nature areas, while businesses and citizens take the initiative
in nature management and development outside these areas.
In Working with Nature, the various functions of nature are considered
the basis for human life. People use natural processes and strive for an
optimal, long-term delivery of services from these natural systems to society
and the economy.
People not only have different perspectives on the future of nature,
they also have different ideas about who should be leading the way towards
that future. Some see a large role for the EU and national government, others
look towards regional authorities, and then there are some who envision
businesses and/or citizens themselves taking the initiative.
Philosophy of Nature
The philosophy of nature, variously referred to as natural philosophy,
cosmology, and the science of nature, is the discipline that treats of the world of
nature or the physical universe in its most general aspects. Traditionally it considers
such topics as the definition of matter, nature, motion, infinity, time, life, soul, and
similar concepts, and speculates about the elements and component parts of the
universe. In the present day, philosophers of nature are faced with two major
problems. One is how to distinguish their discipline from metaphysics; the other is to
preserve it from being displaced by modern sciences, such as physics, chemistry,
biology, and psychology.
Scope of the Philosophy of Nature:
 Aristotle characterized his study of nature as being both
scientific, in contrast to Plato's "likely story," and natural, in contrast to
being mathematical or metaphysical. The first claim he justified by
delineating the subject of the science, its concern with causes and
principles, and its scientific order of development. The second he
showed by differentiating the natural from other scientific approaches,
particularly the mathematical. This article follows his order in
establishing these foundations and in proceeding from them to outline
the scope of the entire discipline.

a.2 Society Perspective

The perspective of sociology involves seeing through the outside
aarances of people’s actions and organizations” (Berger, 1963). The
sociological perspective is one that observes society through a lens without
personal opinions. It generalizes the causes and actions of individuals into
patterns and categories. However, it not only observes these patterns of
society but also tries to explain such patterns or behaviors. Sociologists are
not concerned with personal characteristics; instead, they aim to find common
attitudes and features as well as hidden patterns in those characteristics and
behaviors across millions of people. One of the main objectives of the
sociological perspective is to find and understand patterns behind recurring
features of social interaction, as well as to examine the social impacts of
these. With this objective in mind, there have developed many sociological
perspectives but there are three major perspectives that have gained
popularity.
In sociology and other social sciences, structural functionalism serves
as a thought school in which each institution, relation, position, and
convention, that together make up a society, has a purpose and each is
essential for the sustained functioning of other members and society in
general. Social change has been seen in structural-functionalism to be an
adaptive reaction to some of society’s difficulties. If one element of the
interwoven social structure changes, friction is produced which is addressed
by the change in the other areas between this and other aspects of the
system. According to the sociologist Durkheim, social cohesion was brought
about by the interrelationship between the various components present in
society, which is a complex system that has its own dynamic traits, external to
people, but that influences their actions. According to this perspective,
different institutions, structures, and processes have a particular purpose, one
that is beneficial to the members of society. This includes education
contributing to the development of society, the legal systems check the
deviations in society, the government governs people and protects citizens,
families contribute to reproduction and many others. Even processes that
others may regard through a negative lens have a purpose from the
functionalist’s perspective. A criminal is someone who is normally thought to
be harmful to society, but structural functionalists believe that criminals
motivate people to behave morally and keep the justice system running.
Philosophy of society
The Philosophy of Sociology refers to the use of philosophical thought to critique
or clarify the discipline of sociology in either its academic form or
intellectual content. With regards to the academic form of sociology,
there is philosophical questioning of (1) the coherence of a discipline
bound by a theory of society and its proper delineation from other
historically related fields (e.g. economics, anthropology); (2)
applications of the demarcation problem in philosophy of science —
whether sociology yields scientific knowledge, or whether it should be
oriented towards doing so. With regards to the intellectual content of
sociology, various lines of philosophical thought (e.g. epistemological,
ontological, ethical) are used in the construction, interpretation, and
modification of conceptual, theoretical, and methodological frameworks
central to sociology. Predominant issues of concern among
philosophers who assess the content of sociology include, thematically,
notions of modernity, culture, collective-intentionality, social structures
and practices, and forms of social reasoning. The philosophical study of
sociology is reciprocated by and closely linked with the sociological
study of a central philosophical concept, knowledge. Here sociologists
address the impact of social relations, processes, and institutions on
knowledge, both in the generic sense ('Sociology of Knowledge') and in
the scientific sense ('Sociology of Science'). Understanding social
influences on knowledge in either of these senses may generally enrich
understanding of knowledge-claims or more specifically inform
solutions to problems of delineation and demarcation.
a.3 Technology perspective

The Technical Perspective defines the technical level view of the

system. The various models defined show how people interact with
processes at various locations within the system, and the things they
handle and use (technical entities). The models also show how these
different aspects and things must relate to one another, both statically
and dynamically, to produce the desired business results. It places
emphasis on the structure of entities, roles, the business locations and
processes, and their active responsibilities and interactions. The
models show all aspects needed to support business activities and
processes and related entities to obtain the desired results for the
various actors. Computational aspects, such as storage and server and
database are added to this model: specific technologies are defined at
the technical level. Patterns for their usage may also be defined.

Philosophy of technology
 Philosophy of technology studies the character of technology and its
relations to society. It has various branches, focusing for instance on
the ethics of technology, on the relations between science and
technology, on human-technology relations, or the political dimensions
of technology.
Philosophy of technology emerged as an independent field of
philosophical inquiry in the second half of the 19th century, and
embodies as many approaches as there are philosophical traditions.
Some of them are more ‘theoretical’, others are more ‘applied’. Some of
them focus more on sharpening the concepts with which we can
understand technology, others more on theorizing and evaluating the
social and cultural roles of technology.
Over the last decades of the 20th century, the field made an ‘empirical
turn’. It shifted its focus from studying ‘technology’ as a broad
phenomenon to studying actual technologies, in their detailed relations
with the sciences, with human beings, and with society. Rather than
developing theories about ‘technology’ in general, it started to take
actual technologies as a starting point for philosophical reflection.
Technologies challenge philosophical concepts and theories. When
medical diagnostic technologies get involved in our ethical decisions,
for instance, this challenges our ideas about ethics itself: is ethics
something that only humans can do, or is there room for technologies
as well? When deep brain implants interfere with our moods and
behavior, this challenges our ideas about autonomy, free will, and what
it means to ‘act’.

Activity
1. In your own words, what is your perspective of nature?
- For me perspective of nature is a kind of a creative and controlling force in
the universe, which is very essential for every human kind to be with since
we are so far in a field and has an infinite span of freedom to be ourselves.
Perspective of nature stands as a spot to lead the universe.

2. How does philosophy help society?

- Well, for myself philosophy explains a lot of things whether you like it or
not, philosophy has its own unlikely claims and theories that will make you
also stand on it depends on your claims in life. Philosophy makes people
think on what they wanted to do or to be that no one can interrupt since it
is freely from their cognitive stands.
 3. What do you mean by philosophy of technology?
- Philosophy of technology studies the character of technology and its
relations to society. It has various branches, focusing for instance on the
ethics of technology, on the relations between science and technology, on
human-technology relations, or the political dimensions of technology.

Reflection
- In this module, I found out some strong words that convinced me to
explore more about life, for example the “Philosophy” there are a lot of
things that will enlighten yourself as a person on studying philosophy, it
has, many claims that can lead to the peak of your understanding. The
mere fact that we are humans, we tend to give our all in other things that
will make us a fool but when you read and study especially philosophy,
you’ll be startle on what will you discover perks of doing things that you
seldom do. That is all.
 NDC-TAGUM FOUNDATION, INCORPORATED
Apokon Road, Tagum City, Davao del Norte
Tel. #: (084) 216 – 2552

MODULE 3

SUBJECT: EDUC 15

COURSE: BSED FILIPINO 3

___________________________________________________________________
 DAVE G. CAMPITA

STUDENT

REMEDIOS MAGHANOY, MAED.

Instructor

MODULE 3: VISUALIZING PLACES AND LANDSCAPES

A.1 Landscapes

Landscape’ is a concept which includes the physical environment and

people’s perception and appreciation of that environment. It is not
restricted to the purely visual, but may comprise and encompass the ways
in which individuals and communities perceive the natural and physical
resources, as through traditions, lore, and legends that express the
significant and memorable elements of a landscape. The “sense of a
broad expanse is common to the term “landscape””.

The term ‘landscape’ is not defined in the RMA however the Environment
Court has suggested the following definition:

Landscape means the natural and physical attributes of land together with
air and water which change over time and which is made known by
people’s evolving perceptions and associations [such as beliefs, uses,
values and relationships] .

The New Zealand Institute of Landscape Architects Best Practice Note

identifies three broad categories of landscape attributes:

 Biophysical elements, patterns and processes;

 Sensory or perceptual qualities (such as the view of a scenic
landscape or the distinctive smell and sound of the coast); and
 Associative meanings and values including spiritual, cultural or
social associations (such as waahi tapu, heritage sites, and popular
walking or fishing spots)
 Landscape is not a single resource such as soils or vegetation. It is an
integrative concept which is applied to a group of resources within a
spatial area and which incorporates the human values associated with
them. The extent of the spatial area may be defined by biophysical and/or
perceptual/associative characteristics, but often relates to ‘catchments’ or
locations/ areas/units that share particular landscape attributes.

Although there is considerable overlap between the concepts of natural

character and landscape, as set out in Policy 13(2) of the NZCPS, “natural
character is not the same as natural features and landscapes or amenity
values”. “Natural character” strongly emphasizes natural ecological,
hydrological and geomorphological processes, whereas “landscape” also
takes into account the overall composition, spatial structure and aesthetic
values of an area, together with its meanings and associations for different
segments of society. This includes the sense of place and identity that
communities attach to their local environs.

A.2 Visualizing places

Physical models of historic buildings and archaeological sites are
valued elements in cultural heritage exhibitions. These miniature but otherwise
lifelike representations draw the attention of visitors and keep them visually engaged
by showing many details and, at the same time, offering a comprehensible overview.
They provide a picture of past environments, in which visitors, with minimal mental
effort, can imagine themselves walking around. Creating a mental image of a
building or environment using only maps and elevations, however, requires spatial
visualization ability and experience in interpreting technical drawings, which not all
individuals possess. It also requires some knowledge of the structures represented,
about materials and colors, for instance, in order to fill in information lacking in the
drawings.

B. Place uniqueness, Place – Making and Place – Marketing

 The uniqueness of a place is defined as locale. Outdoor classroom

design includes assessing the physical site: geographic location,
topography, weather, water, vegetation and security. Uniqueness of
Place (a point on Earth): Unique Location of a Feature Four ways to
identify location:  - Place Names  - Site  - Situation  -GPS:
Latitude/Longitude
 Place is defined as a particular location or space or the particular area
normally occupied by something. An example of place is Manhattan. An
example of place is the spot where a particular book belongs.

Broadly defined, place is a location. The word is used to describe a

specific location, such as the place on a shelf, a physical environment,
a building or locality of special significance, or a particular region or
 location. The term can be used for locations at almost any geographic
scale, depending on context.

Place also includes descriptions of a site’s features and environmental

conditions. The physical and human characteristics of a place make it
unique. Physical characteristics include the natural environment, such
as landforms, elevation, water features, climate, soil, natural
vegetation, and animal life. Human characteristics include the size and
density of the population, the ethnic and religious makeup of the
population, language patterns, and other aspects of the culture. Human
characteristics also include the built environment, such as houses,
roads, and other infrastructure.

 Marketing geographics involve the compartmentalization of the

consumer market into smaller, more manageable segments using
geographic location as the main determining factor. There are many
other ways to perform the same basic function of market
segmentation, but Geographic’s are preferred by many companies
that either sell general merchandise on a large scale or value the
placement of consumers over any individual criteria. Marketing
Geographic’s are used by companies of all sizes, although there are
differences in approach depending on the area covered and the goals
in mind.

Activity
1. Discuss Landscapes.
- For me, Landscapes are those beautiful creation that God created, now
landscapes including beach views land views mountain views and many
more as long as the place gives that beautiful captivating point of view.

2. What is visualizing places?

- It is the examine or sense of place dimensions.
 3. Define places.
- Places, places are… those where people stay and live their individual
lives.

Reflection
- This module makes me realize things that I’ve almost forgotten, it is
to be happy in simple things that we have, now I can appreciate
those simple things that is in me… just like the topic included in this
module… stated the Landscapes, sometimes we cannot see it until
we cannot see it. What I mean is we can only appreciate small things
to us when they’re already gone.