Geography
Dylan proceeded to the next slides, showing a variety of civilized structure.
" Now, let's proceed to part 2: civilized geography. At the beginning, I asked what the relationship was between men and nature. Does anyone have some ideas?" A few students raised their hands, and the first one commented on the use of natural resources. Another one said that civilization used geography to claim new territories and be the basis for warfare. Dylan smiled and nodded on both.
" You are indeed both correct. First of, nature is the source of not only agriculture, as I showed before, but also for architecture, infrastructure, and goods production. Geography classifies features often in ways that support civilized interaction. It is often the job of geographers to precede cultivation efforts. Forests are of course the source of wood, which is used in a variety of products from paper to ember. Fresh water is important for agriculture, and rivers are often the first feature that identifies an ecosystem. Civilization has also sought to use geography to help in navigation: topography, which is the study of the from of the landscape, is important in exploration."
" Then, secondly, geography, in the sense of cartography, is used to lend credibility to a nation's borders. Rivers and mountains are a form of natural boundaries, and are the main source of border delimitation. Despite that, borders may be assigned at random, trough straight lines. Foremost, borders serve as a official delimitation between governmental jurisdiction, but may also serve as a way to determine different cultural groups. In fact, this second use was the basis of early border-making. The construction of centralised communities moving into villages, and expanding into cities, is a development that has closely followed cultural and scientific advancement. In general, with the advent of medical science, the availability of social security, and the advances made in construction technology has led to a mass urbanisation."
" Unfortunately, geography has been used in the way of waging war. Intelligence of enemy surroundings is often crucial in battlefield success. Rivers can be used as natural obstacles to thwart enemy movement, and the availability of reliable maps an geographers who advice tactical decisions based on landscape features is an important part of military strategy."
Dylan moved to his last slide: " Now, let's get some glossary involved with the research of cultural geography. A culture has several properties that distinguish one another. The most important of these are values and norms. Values are what a culture considers to be the importance of social ideas and ethics. Norms are a culture's in-alienate ideas of what 'ought-to' within individuals. It is generally what society thinks of an individuals normal beliefs, thoughts, and actions. There exist abstract values: liberty, equality, and freedom are values that almost all societies share. More direct values, like social security, democracy, and morals lead almost directly to political decisions. Norms are more practical, being a society's commands, permissions, and prohibition. Norms include justice, honesty, and privacy. Norms determine a culture's obligations, rights, and lead to national symbols and conventions. Some norms are unwritten, which are called behavioural norms. These are designed to protect societal groups that are perceived as privileged. These include pregnant women, ethical minorities, elderly, and the physically and mentally impaired."
Dylan then ended his slide-show, as he saw he had only 10 minutes before next term. " All right. That's all for today. For your study, I want you to examine the following ecosystems and their properties. These involve the Uesureyan Fields, and an extreme one: the volcanoes of the Rokin Islands. These are treated in your books, chapter 2 to 4. Chapter 1 is an introduction to basic geographic terms and methods of research, which you can read at your own discretion. For your assignment, I will direct you to the questions of chapter 2 and 3. Questions of chapter 4, which deals with landforms and soil, I shall hand out in the next class. Those wanting to do them beforehand may do so at their own estimation." With that, he closed the slide-show, and concluded:
" That is all for today. I will expect you on the next lesson, the day after tomorrow. Have a good day! Don't forget your assignment!" With that, the bell ringed, and the students stood up. Dylan walked to the door, saying 'see you soon' to them.
After that, he walked to his desk, and led out a soft sigh. " Well, that could have gone worse." With that, he closed his laptop, walked to the door, and pulled of the light. His next course was in the fourth period, in which he would teach a class of mostly off-worlders. This was slightly harder for him, as he knew little of the curriculum on other planets and institutions. He walked to the teacher's room, where he'd talk to Mark about his first class.
Teacher's Room
Dylan entered the common room, and saw a few of his colleagues there, including Mrs. Ironhart. He waved to her, and said: " Good morning, Rose. I'm new here, but I've seen your work before coming here. Your work on astronavigation is important for sure. I'm glad that my geography class may offer some help to your course." He listened to Rose's answer, and smiled. Then, he looked over to where Mark was sitting. He noticed that he was not there, and therefore walked to Mark's office.
He saw some students walking in the halls and greeting him, smiling and greeting them back. He then stood before Mark's office. He knocked on it, waiting for Mark to let him in.
(OOC:
@Jack Pine I think this warrants a short JP?)
