Unit 1: Thinking Geographically - Key Concepts

  • Thinking Geographically

    • Key Concepts:
    • Space: The geometric surface of Earth, defined by location and distance.
    • Activity Space: Area of daily activities.
    • Place: Bounded areas with human significance; identified by toponyms.
    • Regions: Types of places, e.g., urban, work, resource locations, transportation nodes.
    • Sequent Occupancy: Historical cultural influences on a place.
    • Scale: Relationship of locations to the whole Earth; includes map scale (absolute) and relative scale (classification levels).
    • Types of Regions:
      • Formal Regions: Bounded spaces with homogeneous characteristics (e.g., common language).
      • Functional Regions: Central places affecting areas (e.g., market areas).
      • Vernacular Regions: Perceptual areas based on residents' mental maps.

  • Location Concepts

    • Absolute Location: Defined by coordinates (latitude and longitude).
    • Relative Location: Compared to known places.
    • Site: Physical characteristics of a place; Situation: Interrelates with other places.
    • Distance:
    • Absolute: Measured in linear units (miles, kilometers).
    • Relative: Based on interaction likelihood (Distance Decay, Tobler's Law).
    • Friction of Distance: Inhibits interaction; Space-Time Compression reduces relative distance.

  • Central Places and Economic Relationships

    • Central Places: Nodes for human activity (economic exchanges).
    • Central Place Theory: Analyzes city locations and market areas.
    • Core and Periphery Models: Display regional relationships in various phenomena.
    • Patterns: Clustered, agglomerated, linear, etc.; influenced by land surveys (e.g., rectilinear surveys).

  • Density Measures

    • Arithmetic Density: Number of items per area.
    • Physiologic Density: People per unit of arable land.
    • Agricultural Density: Farmers per unit of arable land.

  • Diffusion Patterns

    • Expansion: Originates centrally and spreads outwards.
    • Hierarchical: Moves down from major to minor nodes.
    • Contagious: Spreads to adjacent locations.
    • Stimulus: General principles lead to new innovations.
    • Relocation: Moves across significant barriers.

  • Geographic Tools

    • Map Types:
    • Topographic: Contours and features.
    • Thematic: Subject-focused.
    • Choropleth, Isoline, Dot-Density, Flow-Line maps, and Cartograms.
    • Map Scale: Expresses relation between map distance and real distance.

  • Map Projections

    • Types affect size/shape accuracy (Equal-area vs. Conformal).
    • Notable projections: Robinson and Goode’s Homolosine.

  • Models in Geography

    • Geographical models generalize real-world patterns.
    • Spatial models show landscape patterns.
    • Gravity model quantifies transportation flow.

  • Geographic Technology

    • GIS: Integrates multiple data layers for analysis.
    • GPS: Satellite-based location tracking.
    • Remote Sensing: Aerial/satellite data collection techniques.