Yohanna Martinez

Mrs. Leaver
AP Human Geography
16 May 2016

Life in Geography
Everyday life is heavily imprinted on by its physical surroundings. Geography has been
able to develop improved technologies that have increased our understanding of the world. Not
only has it facilitated critical thinking and problem solving, it also increased the capability of
gathering and analyzing information. Tools, such as map-making, show the differences in
geography throughout the world, and by analyzing its aspects, it can allow us to correlate the
daily lives of people with their environment.
In the beginning of my AP Human Geography class, we were asked to experiment with
the National Geographic MapMaker in order to understand some of the distinctions and patterns
that occur around the globe. The application offered different layers of information that you
could choose to display on a world map. In one particular layer, the Lights at Night were
displayed, which showed the amount of city lights seen around the globe from space. This layer
is significant because it allows geography to demonstrate a correlation between the location of
people and how they live their lives. It was clear on the map that the lights were more prominent
in developed countries rather than in developing countries. This is because in developed
countries, where urbanization and industry dominates, the size of cities expands in order to
accommodate the working lives of its population, increasing the amount of infrastructure and
buildings, which consequently leads to a cluster of lights. Thus, by analyzing the geographic
information that the map has given us, we can conclude that most activity occurs where a

country is stable with experience in industrialization and modernization. or where the population
is huge.
Technologies, such as GIS, GPS, and remote sensing, as well as base maps allow us to
analyze the lives a people according to geographical patterns. With the lights at night map, the
lights were mainly on coastlines, signifying that because of the greater opportunity of trade along
coats, the lives of people were more industrialized and therefore more lights. In other maps, such
as a map depicting the ring of fire, locations of volcanoes, the lives of people according to that
geography can also be inferred. Next to natural disasters, such as volcanoes, peoples lives would
be in precaution to an explosion or may have already been devastated by an eruption. The
everyday lives of people would have to adjust to this location. This is also significant because
though people can live in different countries, when they are affected by the same disaster, their
lives would follow a similar pattern. A map showing the vegetation around the world also
strongly emphasized the influence of geography on the daily lives of people. People would have
to take into account the amount of food able to grow in their area and adjust their lives
accordingly.
Geography helps us understand the different perspectives of people on daily lives. With
its technologies, geography helps us analyze geographical patterns applicable to everyday lives.
Through critical thinking, geography also conveys the concept that the distinct lives of people
are shaped by their distinct environments and with that knowledge, we can conclude that similar
environments lead to similar lifestyles.