AP Human Geography | U1 Thinking Geographically [AMSCO EDITION]

physical geography

the study of the spatial characteristics of various elements of the physical environment. ex. landforms, bodies of water, climate, ecosystems, and erosion.

human geography

ex. population, culture, politics, urban areas, and economics.

reference map

maps that are designed for people to refer to for general information about places. ex. political maps, physical maps, road maps, and plat maps.

thematic map

maps that are designed to show spatial aspects of information or a phenomenon. ex. choropleth maps, dot distribution maps, graduated symbol maps, isoline maps, and cartograms.

choropleth map

a map that uses various colors, shades of one color, or patterns to show the location and distribution of spatial data. ex. the percentage of people who speak english.

dot distribution map

a map used to show the specific location and distribution of something across a map. ex. one dot might stand for one school building or for millions of people who own dogs.

graduated symbol map

A map that uses symbols of different sizes to indicate different amounts of something. larger sizes indicate more of something, while smaller sizes indicate less. ex. n/a

isoline map

a map that uses lines that connects points of equal value, to depict variations in the data across space. ex. toporaphic maps.

topographic map

a map that connects points of equal elevation, creating contours that depict surface features. ex. weather maps, barometric pressure, temperature, and precipitation.

cartogram

a map that shows sizes of countries (or other areal units) are shown according to some specific statistic. ex. Canada and Morocco are roughly the same size because they have similar population, although Canada is about twenty times larger in area.

cartographic scale

refers to the way the map communicates the ratio of its size to the size of what it represents. ex. one inch equals ten miles, or 1/200,000 ~ 1:200,000

small-scale maps

a map that shows larger amount of area with less detail. ex. global scale of earth at night.

large-scale maps

a map that shows a smaller amount of area with a greater amount of detail. ex. north america at night.

absolute location

precise spot where something is according to a system of latitude and longitude. ex. mexico city is 19 degrees north latitude, and 99 degrees west longitude.

relative location

description of wear something is in relation to other things. ex. salt lake city, utah is just south of the great salt lake and just west of the rocky mountains, on interstate 15 about halfway between las vegas, nevada, and butte, montana.

field observations

used to refer to the act of physically visiting a location, place, or region and recording, firsthand, information there. ex. writing notes, taking photos, sketching maps, counting and measuring things, and interviewing people.

remote sensing

The use of cameras or other sensors mounted on aircraft or satellites to collect digital images or video of the earth's surface. ex. determining land cover and use, monitoring environmental changes, assessing spread of spatial phenomena, and planning urban area.

global positioning system (gps)

GPS receivers on the earth's surface use the locations of multiple satellites to determine and record a receiver's exact location. ex. locating borders precisely, navigating ships, aircrafts, and cars, and mapping lines or points.

geographic information systems (gis)

computer system that can store, analyze, and display information from multiple digital maps or geospatial data sets. ex. analyzing crime data, monitoring the effects of population, analyzing transportation time, and planning urban area.

space

space is the area between two or more phenomena or things. ex. space is arranged, used, and reflected in peoples altitudes and beliefs.

location

identifies where specific phenomena are located either on a grid system or relative to another location. ex. absolute + relative location.

place

refers to the specific human and physical characteristics of a location. a group of places in the same area that share characteristics from a region. ex. n/a

site

can be described as the characteristics at the immediate location. ex. soil type, climate, labor force, and human structures. the site of Riyadh is a desert climate, large labor force and a modern Islamic city.

situation

refers to the location of a place relative to its surroundings and its connectivity to other places. ex. the arabian peninsula is between the continents of africa and asia and riyadh is connected to the world with a large modern airport.

sense of place

related to the concept of place is the sense of place. humans tend to perceive the characteristics of places in different ways based on their personal beliefs. ex. the characteristics of rome italy, might be described differently by a local resident than by an outsider or by a catholic than by a hindu.

toponyms

toponyms provide insights into the physical geography the history, or the culture of the location. ex. Fernandina Beach, Miami Beach, and Pensacola Beach.

time-space compression

the shrinking "time distance" or relative distance between locations because of improved methods of transportation and communication. ex. nyc are seperated by an ocean but the development of air travel greatly reduced travel time. though the absolute distance hasn't changed, the distance feels closer.

friction of distance

indicates that when things are farther apart, they tend to be less well connected. ex. weakening of a radio signal.

distance decay

the inverse relationship between distance and connection. ex. waves, earthquakes, and storm systems. when a new pet store opens, its influence is strongest in the area closest to the store, but only among the pet owners who have a connection to the store.

pattern

refer to the general arrangement of things being studied, and geographers must be able to describe patterns accurately and with precision. ex. the concept of distribution, is used to describe patterns.

human-environment

the connection and exchange between humans in the natural world. ex. topics of natural hazards, physical geography, water scarcity, poor soil, extreme climates, and a changing climate.

sustainability

sustainability is an overarching theme of human geography and relates to trying to use resources now in ways that allow their use in the future while minimization negative impacts on the environment. ex. encouraging companies to increase the use of renewable, less air-polluting energy sources, and decrease the use of non-renewable fossil fuels.

land use

the study of how land is utilized, modified, and organized by people. ex. plants, irrigation, etc.

built environment

the physical artifacts that humans have created and that form part of the landscape. ex. buildings, roads, signs, farms, and fences.

cultural landscape

anything built by humans. ex. different physical landscape, etc.

environmental determinism

the belief that land forms and climate are the most powerful forces shaping human behavior and societal development while ignoring the influence of culture. ex. atlantic ocean road.

global scale

the entire world ex. global earth at night image

world scale

multiple countries of the world ex. north america, and south asia

national scale

one country ex. the united states, and thailand

regional scale

a portion of a country or a region(s) within a country ex. the midwest, and eastern china

local scale

a province, state, city, county, or neighborhood ex. tennessee, and moscow

region

regions have boundaries, unifying characteristics, cover space, and are created by people. ex. formal and functional regions.

formal region

these are sometimes called uniform regions, or homogeneous regions and are united by political, physical, cultural, and economic traits. ex. political: brazil in south america, physical: sahara, a vast desert in nothern africa, cultural: southwestern nigeria where most people speak yoruba, economic: such as gold coast of africa

functional region

organized around a focal point and are defined by an activity, usually political, social, or economic that occurs across the region. ex.