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Why is Geography Important?

Geographer H. C. Darby once said, "Geography is both science and art." This quote, which describes both the scientific and creative side of geography, highlights some of the confusion that many people feel about geography.

It's not surprising that many of us have a somewhat flawed interpretation of what geography actually comprises. Many people mistakenly believe that it is simply about borders, state capitals and names of geographical locations. In actuality, geography is the mother of many different scientific disciplines, including the following:

  • Cartography (the study and making of maps)
  • Ecology (the study of Earth's ecosystems)
  • Geology (the study of Earth's composition)
  • Glaciology (the study of glaciers)
  • Meteorology (the study of Earth's weather)
  • Mineralogy (the study of minerals)
  • Paleontology (the study of prehistoric life).

Environmental Geography
Environmental geography concerns the exponential growth of humankind, its effects on resource consumption and the problems that arise when the Earth's limited resources are over-consumed.

Global warming is a prime example of a new field of scientific research within environmental geography, since it attempts to explain the over-consumption of oil (a natural resource) by humans and the environmental impact that decades of over-consumption and combustion of petroleum products has had on the world at large.

While the United States may be the highest consumer of natural resources of any country on Earth, the U.S. does not necessarily extract most of those resources from within its own borders. For example, the U.S. imports oil from the Middle East and metals mined in South America and China. The over-consumption of resources within the continental United States, therefore, affects other countries through global warming, air and water pollution and the political conflicts over rights to natural resources.

Tips for Learning Geography
Although geography as a subject might seem overwhelming at times, learning geography doesn't have to be difficult and, in fact, can be fun. Here are a few tips for learning geography:

  • Have your child learn the name of their street, town and state. Bring out maps to point out all of these spots to your children.
  • Play geographical games, such as Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego.
  • Read geographical magazines, such as National Geographic.
  • Talk about different places and imagine what it would be like to visit them.
  • Use pictures from books, magazines and newspapers to help your children associate geographic terms with visual images. For example, by showing your child a picture of an ocean, you can stimulate conversation about the features of an ocean.
  • Use songs, rhymes and mnemonic devices to memorize the names of states, capitals and countries.

Geography Terms
Here are just a few common geography terms to sharpen up your geography skills:

  • Continent: a large landmass
  • Desert: an arid region that has little or no vegetation
  • Equator: an imaginary circle that horizontally divides Earth at its widest point
  • Island: land that is surrounded by water on all sides
  • Lake : a body of water that is surrounded by land.
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