Brooke Hove

Why Geography is Important

The earliest human beings asked the question whats over

there? more times than we could probably ever count. Geography is
the answer to this question today; it is the oldest science and is known
as the mother of all sciences. National Geographic defines
geography as the study of places and the relationships between people
and the environments they live in. This study is so important that it has
led to many other fields of science like geology, biology, mathematics,
astronomy, anthropology, biology, and more because there will always
be more for us to discover about the earth we live on, we will never be
done searching for answers.
There are two main branches in Geography one of which is
Human Geography that studies the way the earth is affected by human
life and how human life is influenced by the environment of the earth,
and the other branch is Physical Geography which is the study of the
natural processes and natural features of the earth.
Why should we study Geography? Most primary, secondary, and
university students today are encouraged to learn more about
geography to expand their knowledge in life on this world. Past editor
of National Geographic, Gil Grosvenor, claims that if we dont
understand geography in a democracy we will all make some bad

decisions. It doesnt matter your level of importance in the government

even the highest level may make a decision that isnt good due to the
lack of understanding geography. He says that, Democracy demands
that you be literate, that you be educated, and that you understand
issues. Geography points us to where there are issues in the world
and helps us focus on where we need to improve and where we can
find the resources to start working progress towards corrections and
advancements across the entire globe.
Geographers research and teach ideas that are very important to
everyday life today. Some things we take for granted and tend to
overlook how much time and detail was put into technology that helps
us frequently. Some common examples are the maps we use to get to
where we need to go and the GPS systems we now have at the tips of
our fingertips whenever we need them. These maps didnt just create
themselves; cartographers have been drawing maps and charts for
more than 5,000 years and are continuously updating them to show us
all kinds of information. There are political, physical, thematic,
choropleth, dot distribution, isoline, statistical, cartogram, and
proportional arrow maps to illustrate different knowledge however we
need it. Everything that is studied in geography helps recognize
problems that need answers and we should all be concerned about the
issues in our world because many affect or will eventually affect the
way we live where we are. Some issues are harder or bigger than

others but many can be further advanced through what geographers

discover.

Works Cited

"What Is Geography?" National Geographic Education.

Nationalgeographic.com, n.d. Web. Feb. 2015.

Rosenberg, Matt. "Geography 101 - Geography Overview." About

Education. Geography.about.com, n.d. Web. Feb. 2015.

Grosvenor, Gil. "Why We Need Geography." National Geographic

Voices. Nationalgeographic.com, 18 Nov. 2010. Web. Feb. 2015.

Golledge, Reginald. "Geography and Everyday Life." Directions

Magazine. Directionsmag.com, n.d. Web. Feb. 2015.

"Fundamentals of Mapping." Fundamentals of Mapping. Icsm.gov.au,

n.d. Web. Feb. 2015.