AP HUG Unit 1

Reference Maps

Maps used primarily for navigation and locating places, providing information about boundaries, names, and unique identifiers of regions.

Physical Maps

Maps that illustrate landforms and physical features such as mountains, rivers, and lakes.

Political Maps

Maps that show boundaries between governmental units like countries, states, and cities.

Road Maps

Maps that display and label highways, streets, and alleys for navigation purposes.

Fieldwork

The practice of physically visiting locations to gather firsthand information for geographic study.

Thematic Maps

Maps that focus on specific themes or purposes, emphasizing relationships among geographic data.

Isoline Maps

Maps that show weather patterns and elevation through lines connecting points of equal value.

Spatial Patterns

Refers to the arrangement and placement of objects and events on Earth's surface, revealing insights into geographic phenomena.

Cartographic Projections

Methods used by cartographers to represent the three-dimensional Earth on two-dimensional maps.

Population Pyramids

Graphs that display the age and sex distribution of a population, aiding in understanding demographic trends.

Choropleth Maps

Maps that use color or shading to represent data values across geographic areas, useful for visualizing population density.

Dot Distribution Maps

Maps that use dots to represent the presence of a feature, providing a visual representation of distribution patterns.

Clustering

Indicates objects are close together, often analyzed through density, which measures the number of occurrences in a defined area.

Dispersal/Distribution

Describes how objects are spread out over an area, highlighting areas of concentration or scarcity.

Patterns/Spatial Associations

Suggest relationships between two or more phenomena, indicating potential correlations.

Absolute Location

Refers to a precise point on the Earth's surface, often defined by coordinates (latitude and longitude) or a specific address.

Relative Location

Describes a place's location in relation to other locations, providing context (e.g., 'next to my house').

Absolute Distance

Measured using standard units (miles, kilometers), providing an exact measurement between two points.

Relative Distance

Distance defined in relation to other places, emphasizing the connections and interactions between locations.

Absolute Direction

Uses cardinal directions (north, south, east, west) to describe location precisely.

Relative Direction

Based on personal perspective, using terms like left, right, up, or down to describe the direction of a location

Challenges cartographers face when creating maps

representing the three-dimensional Earth on two-dimensional maps, leading to various map projections.

Mercator Projection

Used mostly for navigation, latitude and longitude at right angles, accurate directions, notable distortion mostly around the poles

Gall-Peters Projection

Maintains land area accuracy but distorts shapes, making continents appear elongated.

Robinson Projection

oval shaped, provides a visually appealing representation with no major direction, most places have distortion and compressed at the equator, inaccurate measurements

Azimuthal Projection

preserves direction, seen from top of the Earth, can only see the poles, distorts shape and areas,

Fieldwork

involves physically visiting locations to gather firsthand information, including written accounts, media reports, and landscape analysis.

example of fieldwork

the US Census, which is mandated by the Constitution and provides critical demographic data.

GIS (Geographic Information System)

computer system designed for capturing, storing, checking, and displaying data related to positions on Earth's surface.

Thematic Layers

represent specific themes or topics, such as crime data, pollution effects, and urban planning, allowing for targeted analysis.

GPS (Global Positioning System)

utilizes satellites to provide absolute location data, essential for navigation in various modes of transport including ships, cars, and aircraft.

Remote Sensing

involves collecting data from a distance using sensors on satellites or aircraft, allowing for environmental monitoring without physical contact.

Jobs of remote sensing

include tracking environmental changes, weather forecasting, and disaster management.

Aerial photography

captures high-resolution images from planes or drones, often used by governments for disaster recovery and damage assessment.

Regionalization

the process of dividing space into smaller areas for analysis, aiding in understanding local dynamics.

Human Environment Interaction

people learn to adapt and use what the environment offers them and to change that environment to meet their needs.

Sustainability

the use of the earths land and natural resources in ways that ensure they will continue to be available in the future.

Cultural Ecology

study of how different cultural groups adapt to or alter the environment to suit them

Environmental determinism

18th century belief that climate and landforms are the most powerful forces shaping human behavior and societal/cultural development, limits on human advancements in a place due to the environment, doesn’t take technological advancements into consideration

Possibilism

more modern interpretation, acknowledges limitations imposed by natural environment BUT focuses on the role of human culture to modify and respond better to fit human needs

Small Scale Maps

show LARGE area with SMALL amounts of data, zoomed out, global, less detail

Large Scale Map

show SMALL area with LARGE amounts of data, zoomed in, detailed, smaller areas