Mathematics is the study of numbers, quantities, and shapes. On the other hand, geography is the study of places and relationships between people and their surroundings. No one can think that these both can have something to do with another. No one can think that these both can have something to do with another.
Well, they have a connection with each other. You must be wondering how is mathematics used in geography? Read along to know more about this unique combination and its use for your kids.
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Geography studies places and relationships between people and their surroundings. Besides this, geography is also the study of anything that happens on or above the Earth’s surface, including how people live and use this surface. It is also a scientific and mathematical description of our Earth in its universe.
It is said that mathematics is an intellectual game that often has many important applications. Like all other revolutions we may have read in the history of the world, mathematics has its own kind of revolution.
Mathematics is not only about numbers; it is the science of order, structure, and connection that has evolved from basic practices of counting, measuring, and describing the shapes of objects.
Adequate knowledge of mathematics is necessary to understand many concepts in geography. The dimension and magnitude of the Earth, the cycle of days and nights, change of seasons, lunar and solar eclipses, tides, currents, movements of winds, falling of rain, factors influencing the climate of a region, etc., are a few areas of geography which need the knowledge of mathematics.
A student of geography is required to have sufficient knowledge of drawing and understanding the maps. The study of mathematics can undoubtedly help them in this task. They can locate and describe the position of a particular place on the world map. They can also understand and calculate the local, standard and international time with the help of their knowledge of mathematics.
Mathematics also helps calculate the time required to travel from one city to another. Geography uses mathematics to calculate the distance of the places, areas, gradient of hills, and heights of places. Different places’ locations are also stated in terms of degrees and by using the calculation the layout of areas can be predicted. Now let us read how mathematics is used in geography in a little more detail.
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Different areas of mathematics are used for different areas of geography. For surveying small areas in the field plane, euclidean geometry is used. Both the traditional elements of mathematics, spherical geometry and trigonometry, are used to construct map projections.
In the new era of geographical, mathematical applications, topology is used in the spatial analysis of networks. Dynamic processes in geomorphology can be studied using differential equations.
You can analyse the data of regional geography using various statistical techniques such as factor analysis, trend surface analysis, multiple discriminant analysis, and cluster analysis.
Therefore, we can say that different mathematical models are used in various forms to untangle the problems in geography. But let’s make it a little simple for kids to understand by quoting two basic examples in detail.
The Earth is not perfectly round but an oblate spheroid, which means it is spherical in shape. Earth has a little greater radius at the Equator than any other part. If a person doesn’t have adequate knowledge of mathematics, it won’t be possible for them to judge all this. The knowledge of mathematics has helped geographers to know the radius, shape, etc., to calculate precise surface locations.
Physiography is another word for physical geography, used to know the processes and patterns occurring naturally in an environment, such as the atmosphere, biosphere, etc.
Mathematical calculations are necessary to find the gradient of hills, distance, heights and areas of places. Mathematical calculations are also necessary for physical geography, without which it will not be possible to determine why the things happening in our environment are causing changes in the atmosphere.
It becomes crystal clear that knowledge of mathematics occupies a key place in the study of geographers. We can even say that mathematics for geographical concepts is like that golden chain that firmly fixes many pieces of different pearls to form a beautiful necklace.
At Real School Of Montessori, we promote a lucid understanding of concepts instead of bookish knowledge. This helps children build a strong foundation of knowledge. We believe in making their concepts clear by giving them relevant examples, as we did in this article. Visit our website for more informative and conceptual content.
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