AP Human Geography Unit 1 Review

Geography

Study of locations and reasons for their existence.

Physical Geography

Focus on natural features like landforms and climate.

Human Geography

Analysis of human populations, cultures, and activities.

Spatial Approach

Examines the 'why of where' regarding locations.

Cartography

Science and art of map-making.

Eratosthenes

Greek scholar who calculated Earth's circumference.

Carl Sauer

Pioneer in the field of human geography.

Five Themes of Geography

Framework for geographic analysis: location, place, etc.

Absolute Location

Exact position of a place on Earth.

Relative Location

Position of a place in relation to others.

Latitude

Measures distance north/south of the Equator.

Longitude

Measures distance east/west of the Prime Meridian.

Equator

Zero-degree latitude line; hot climate zone.

Tropic of Cancer

23.5 degrees north of the Equator.

Tropic of Capricorn

23.5 degrees south of the Equator.

Prime Meridian

Zero-degree longitude line through the UK.

Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)

Standard time measured from Greenwich, England.

International Date Line

180-degree line where new day begins.

Population Density

Number of people per square mile.

Sustainability

Using resources to ensure future availability.

Nonrenewable Resource

Resource consumed faster than it can regenerate.

Renewable Resource

Resource that can replenish naturally over time.

Environmental Determinism

Belief that environment shapes social development.

Possibilism

Humans can adapt to and modify their environment.

Cultural Landscape

Human imprint on the environment reflecting culture.

Built Environment

Physical artifacts created by humans in landscapes.

Culture

customs, materials traits and beliefs that together constitute a group's distinct tradition

Hearth

the region where innovative ideas originate

Relocation Diffusion

diffusion of a characteristic as people move from place to place (physical movement) Ex: moving from Italy to New York

Expansion Diffusion

spread of a feature from one place to another in an additive process

Stimulus

Spread of an idea after reestablishing it after initial failure Ex: McDonald's in India serving chicken instead of beef

Hierarchical

The spread of an idea from persons or nodes of authority or power to other persons or places Ex: fashion trend from celebrity

Reverse Hierarchical

Spread of a trait from a lower class to a higher class Ex: Wal-Mart coming from a tiny town in Arkansas

Contagious

The rapid, widespread diffusion of a characteristic through the population Ex: a video going viral on YouTube

Cultural barriers

rule or expectation in a culture that prevents the something from diffusing to a new location ex: No beef hamburgers at McDonald's in India

Region

is an area of Earth defined by one or more distinctive characteristics

Regionalization

the organization of earth's surface into distinct areas that are viewed as different from one another

Formal/uniform region

Everyone shares in common one or more distinctive characteristics Ex: Texas, a voting district

Functional/nodal region

Organized around a central node or core Ex: TV stations, market center

Node

core area

Perceptual/vernacular region

A place that people believe exists as part of their cultural identity Examples: "The South" or "The Country"

Mental maps

A map based on a person's perception of their area of interaction.

Activity space

the local areas within which people move or travel in the course of their daily 'activities'

Scale

General concept referring to the size of spaces, ranked from small to large (local, national, regional, global).

Cartographic scale

know what the value might represent - large or small scale map

Geographic scale/spatial association

General concept referring to the size of spaces, ranked from small to large (local, national, regional, global).

Large scale map

maps show a small area on the Earth such as 1/1,000. (enLARGEd) More detail Ex: City map

Small scale map

maps show a large area on the earth such as 1/1,000,000. Less Detail Ex: World map

Reference maps

Maps that are used to find information; mainly location

Political map

shows political boundaries

Physical map

shows physical features such as mountains and rivers

Road map

show highways and roads

Plat map

shows division of land

Thematic maps

Maps that are used to find information pertaining to a certain topic

Choropleth

Maps in which a specific variable is depicted with shading, patterns, or colors.***Used to find relationships between geographic areas

Dot distribution

a thematic map in which a dot represents some frequency/occurrence of the mapped variable.

Graduated/proportional symbol

Maps in which the size of the symbol varies in proportion to the intensity of the mapped variable.

Isoline/flow line map

use lines of equal value to represent data like elevation, barometric pressure or temperature

Cartogram

Shows the place in its correct location, but the size and shape of the place will be altered/distorted.

Population density

Type of map that displays where people live in a specific area. Usually done so by square miles or square kilometers

Map projection

The method of transferring locations on Earth's surface to a flat map

Distortion

Problem caused by trying to represent a three-dimensional object on a two-dimensional surface.

Map projections

be able to identify and understand pro's/con's for each

Mercator

Purpose was to use when navigating ships across the Atlantic from Europe to the America's.

Robinson

The purpose of this projection is to try to correct the distortions of other maps.

Peters

The purpose is to show the actual land area (size) of places.

Goode Homosoline

Purpose is to show all the world in one view.

Polar

Best to show information at the poles; Easy and convenient; Distance from the center is accurate

Winkel Triple

Cross between Robinson and Mercator; becoming more common because it minimizes distortion

Remote sensing

process of capturing images by airborne platforms Ex: aerial and satellite photographs

Satellite Navigation Systems

Based on a global network of satellites that use data to determine precise position of something on earth.

GIS

Store, analyze, and display information in layers from multiple digital maps Ex: John Snow cholera map

Satellite imagery

images collected of earth by imaging satellites

Aerial photography

images taken from the air

Globalization

Actions or processes that involve the entire world and result in making something worldwide in scope.

Housing bubble

the economy of the world is so connected that when the housing bubble burst in the USA countries all over felt the economic downturn

Transnational corporations

companies found in multiple countries

Uniform landscape

where many communities look/feel very similar to others

Uneven development

parts of the world don't benefit as much from economic growth as others

Negatives of globalization

loss of culture, placelessness, interconnected economy

Time-Space compression

the reduction in the time it takes to diffuse something to a distant place, as a result of improved communications and transportation systems

Distance decay

the lessening interaction between places as the friction of distance increases; reduced with technological improvements

Census

census counts every resident in the United States and is performed every 10 years