Ap human geo final unit 1

What is geography?

Geography is the study of Earth’s surface and how humans interact with the environment and space.

What is geographic inquiry?

A process geographers use to ask questions, collect data, analyze patterns, and make decisions.

Why are maps important?

Maps show spatial information and help us understand location, patterns, and relationships.

What are thematic maps?

Maps that show a specific topic, such as income, population, or climate.

What is geographic data?

Information about locations, places, and spatial patterns collected through maps, GPS, surveys, and satellites.

What is qualitative data?

Descriptive data like interviews, photos, and observations.

What is quantitative data?

Numerical data like population numbers or income levels.

What is geospatial technology?

Tools like GPS, GIS, and satellite imagery used to collect and analyze geographic data.

Why is geographic data powerful?

It helps people make decisions, plan cities, respond to disasters, and understand patterns.

What is distribution?

The way a feature is arranged across Earth’s surface.

What is density?

The number of people or things in a given area.

What is concentration?

How spread out or clustered something is.

What is pattern?

The geometric arrangement of objects, such as clustered, linear, or dispersed.

What is human–environment interaction?

How humans adapt to, modify, and depend on the natural environment.

What is environmental determinism?

The idea that the environment limits or influences human actions.

What is scale?

The relationship between the area shown on a map and the real world.

What is scale of analysis?

The level at which data is studied (local, regional, national, or global).

Large scale map

Shows a small area in detail (ex: neighborhood).

small scale map

Shows a large area with less detail (ex: world map).

What is a region?

An area defined by one or more shared characteristics.

What is a formal region?

A region with uniform characteristics (ex: climate zones, states).

What is a functional region?

A region organized around a central point (ex: delivery area).

What is a perceptual region?

A region based on people’s opinions or feelings (ex: “the South”).

What is site?

The physical characteristics of a place (landforms, climate, elevation)

What is situation?

A place’s location in relation to other places and connections.

Why did New Orleans grow?

Its location on the Mississippi River made it a major trade and shipping hub.

What is a map projection?

A way to show Earth’s curved surface on a flat map.

What do map projections distort?

Size, shape, distance, or direction.

How do you use geography daily?

Using GPS for directions and weather apps for forecasts.

What topic needs review?

Map projections and how they distort Earth.