huge ap human unit 1

1.1-1.7 bacille save me

A formal region is...

united by one or more specific traits. 

1. Economic 

2. Social 

3. Political 

4. ENvironmental

A functional region is...

rganized around a central node (focal point), relationship is typically based around economics, travel or communication.

A perceptual/vernacular region is...

based on a person’s perspective or perception of a certain location.

• Informal! 

• Sense of place!

Cultural Ecology

The study of how humans interact or adapt to the environment. 

Environmental Determinism

• 8th Century - European colonialism

• Belief that climate and landforms are the most powerful forces shaping human behavior and societal/cultural development.

• Fixed mindset of human capability

Possibilism

• Modern

• Limitations imposed by natural environment, but focuses on the role of human culture to modify and respond to the environment to better fit human needs

scale

Scale is the relationship of the size of a map to the amount of area it represents on Earth.

small scale

On a small scale map, more area would be shown in less detail (think “zoom out”)

large scale

On a large scale map, less area would be shown in greater detail (think “zoom in”)

 scale of analysis

• Scale of analysis is the level at which data is displayed on a map.  It is important for you to identify the scale of analysis in four different ways: global, regional, national OR local.

How is data gathered?

Fieldwork/Field Observations: Physically visiting and recording, firsthand info there.

The US Census

1. Representative Districts - voting & democracy

2. Distribution of public funding for schools, law enforcement, roads, etc.

3. Personal, government & business decision making.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) 

Computer system/software that stores, analyzes, and displays information from multiple digital maps or data sets.

Satellite Navigation Systems/Global Positioning System (GPS) 

• Satellites orbit the earth and communicate to GPS receivers. 

• Absolute locatio

Remote Sensing 

• Cameras/sensors mounted on aircraft or satellites (high altitude) to collect digital images of the earth’s surface. 

Toponym

1. place name; reflects the culture & history (Los Angeles/San Diego)

Site/Physical Landscape:

1. Environmental  features; includes climate, water sources, elevation, topography

 Distance Decay

• Interaction between two places declines as the distance between the two places increases

Time Space Compression

Increasing sense of accessibility and connectivity which seems to bring humans in distant places closer together.

dot density

dots represent the specified quantity of a spacial characteristic

chloropleth maps

various colors or patterns to show location and distribution of spatial data

cartograms

size of countries are shown according to a specific variable. Area is distorted to show a variable.

Absolute location/SITE

EXACT AND PRECISE (address, coordinates, latitude and longitude) + things that never change

Relative location/SITUATION

Relationship to another place (ex: library is near park)

Projection

scientific method of transferring locations on Earth’s surface to a FLAT map

Winkel Projection

• relative sizes of landmasses on map

• same as reality

• sparsely populated places become distorted (n&s poles, greenland, etc)

Mercator Projection

• shape is distorted very little

• direction is consistent

• RELATIVE SIZE IS DISTORTED TOWARDS THE POLES

• places higher in latitude seem larger than they are

Robinson Projection

• Makes the world look visually pleasing

• distorts both size and shape

• stretching near poles

globalization

Globalization is the process of increased interconnectedness among people, businesses, and governments worldwide, driven by flows of ideas, goods, services, technology, culture, and information across borders.