AP Human Geography- Unit 1 Thinking Geographically Notecards

Unit 1 Overview: Thinking Geographically Note Cards

Geography- Describing the world around you

Physical Geography- Studying the natural phenomena that exist on Earth like mountains, rivers, and lakes

Human Geography- Studying how human activity affects or is influenced by the earth's physical geography

Cultural Landscape- The built forms that cultural groups create in inhabiting Earth —farm fields, cities, houses, and so on —and the meaning, values, representations, and experiences associated with those forms

Space- The areas we occupy as humans; it has no value until the people who occupy it make it their own

Spatial Interaction- A geo-graphic outlook that seeks to identify and explain the uses of space

Absolute Location- The exact location of something on the Earth denoted by latitude and longitude

Relative Location- The position of one place or person in relation to the position of another place or person

Place- How we modify space based on who we are as a group of people

Human Environment Interaction- Describes the ways in which humans influence and are in turn influenced by their surrounding environment

Geospatial data- Information that describes objects, events or other features with a location on or near Earth’s surface

Quantitative data- Data that geographers can use for mathematical calculations and statistical analysis to make real-life decisions based on these mathematical derivations. It answers questions such as “How many?”, “How often?”, “How much?”

Qualitative data- Information that cannot be counted, measured or easily expressed using numbers. It is collected from text, audio and images, etc

Data Aggregation- The process of collecting and organizing large amounts of information

Mental Map (Cognitive Map)- An image of a portion of the earth's surface that an individual creates in his or her mind

Map- A two-dimensional representation of a geographical area

Cartography- The science of map making done by cartographers

Projection- A method for representing the surface of Earth or a celestial sphere on a plane (two-dimensional) surface; all map projections distort some aspect of Earth's surface

Mercator Projection- A map projection that is useful for navigation because the lines connecting points on the map represent the true compass direction; however, landmasses become increasingly distorted the farther away they are from the equator

Peters Projection- A map projection that shows all land masses with their true areas but distorts their shapes

Goode Projection- A map projection that avoids shape distortion and the restrictions of a rectangular map by creating "interruptions" in the map's continuity; in each section, map projection regions are shown"equally," like an orange peel being laid out in a flat surface

Robinson Projection- A map projection that attempts to create the most visually appealing representation of Earth by keeping all types of distortion relatively low over most of the map

Reference Map- Emphasize the location of things on the Earth’s surface

Thematic Map- Emphasizes the spatial patterns of geographic data

Isoline Map- A map that uses a line to connect or link different places that share a common or equal value, such as elevation

Topographic Map- A graphic representation of the three-dimensional configuration of Earth's surface

Proportional Symbol Map (Graduated Symbol)- A map that uses symbols (such as circles or dots) of different sizes to represent numerical values

Choropleth Map- A thematic map that shows data aggregated for a specific geographic area, often using different colors to represent different values

Dot Density Map- A map that uses dots to represent objects or counts; the dot can represent one object (a one-to-one dot density map) or it can represent a number of objects (a one-to-many dot density map)

Cartogram- A map that distorts the geographic shape of an area in order to show the size of a specific variable; the larger the area on a cartogram, the larger the value of the underlying variable

Distortion- The misrepresentation of the area or shape of a feature on a map. There are no map projections that can maintain a perfect scale throughout the entire projection because they are taking a spheroid and forcing it onto a flat surface.

Eratosthenes- Ancient Greek who coined the term geography and calculated the circumference of Earth

Ptolemy- Ancient Greek who gathered early maps and descriptions of the world an organized them into a book called Geographia, which was the first atlas

Visualization- Use of sophisticated software to create dynamic computer maps, some of which are three-dimensional or interactive.

Photogrammetry- The science of taking measurements of Earth's surface from photographs

Remote Sensing- The scanning of Earth by satellite or high-flying aircraft in order to obtain information about it

Global Positioning System (GPS)- A system of 24 satellites that orbit Earth twice daily and transmit radio signals Earthward; the basis for many map-based apps that provide directions on how to get from one place to another

Geographic Information System (GIS)- A software application for capturing, storing, checking, and displaying data related to positions on Earth's surface; allows the rapid manipulation of geospatial data for problem-solving and research

Mashup- A map that combines data from multiple sources

Distribution- The arrangement of features in a space

Density- Part of distribution and it explains how many of something there are in a space

Concentration- Part of distribution and it explains how spread out a feature is in a space

Pattern- Part of distribution and is the geometric or regular arrangement of something in an area. It can be linear, random, or centralized

Clustering- Part of concentration and it explains that things are close together

Dispersed- Part of concentration and it explains that things are far apart

Sense of Place- How a person feels about a particular place and why it's important to him or her

Diffusion- The pattern by which a phenomenon such as the movement of people, or their ideas, technologies, or preferences, spreads from a particular location through space and time

Hearth/ Node- Central points where the functions of a functional region are coordinated and directed

Relocation Diffusion- Occurs when individuals or groups with a particular idea or practice migrate from one location to another, thereby bringing the idea or practice to their new homeland

Expansion Diffusion- Occurs when ideas or practices spread throughout a population, from area to area, in a snowballing process, so that the total number of know-ers or users and the areas of occurrence increase

Hierarchical Diffusion- Occurs when ideas leapfrog from one important person, community, or city to another, bypassing other persons, communities, or rural areas

Contagious Diffusion- The wavelike spread of ideas in the manner of a contagious disease or forest fire, moving throughout space without regard for hierarchy

Stimulus Diffusion- Occurs when a specific trait is rejected, but the underlying idea is accepted

Globalization- The expansion of economic, political, and cultural processes to the point that they become global in scale and impact

Transnational Corporation- A company that conducts research, operates factories, and sells products in many countries, not just where its headquarters or shareholders are located.

Distance Decay- Also known as the "first law of geography"; the idea that near things are more related than distant things, and interaction between two places decreases the farther apart they are

Time-Space Compression- The decreasing distance between places, as measured by travel time or cost; often summarized by the phrase "the world is shrinking"

Site- The unique physical features of a location

Situation- Where something is in comparison to something else

Toponym- A place name, especially one derived from a physical feature like Crystal Lake

Land Use- The term used to describe the human use of land. It represents the economic and cultural activities (e.g., agricultural, residential, industrial, mining, and recreational uses) that are practiced at a given place.

Natural Resources- Materials or substances that occur in nature and can be used for economic gain

Environmental Determinism- The belief that the physical environment is the dominant force shaping cultures and that humanity is a passive product of its physical surroundings

Possibilism- The belief that any physical environment offers a number of possible ways for a society to develop and that humans can find ways to overcome environmental challenges

Sustainability- The use of Earth's resources in ways that ensure their availability in the future.

Scale of Analysis- Scales of analysis include global, regional, national, and local. Patterns and processes at different scales reveal variations in, and different interpretations of, data

Map Scale- (Ratio, Written, Graphic) The ratio of inches on the map corresponding to inches, feet, or miles on the ground.

Region- A geographical unit based on one or more common characteristics or functions

Formal Region- A geographical area inhabited by people who have one or more traits in common

Functional Region- A geographic area that has been organized to function politically, socially, culturally, or economically as one unit

Vernacular Region- A geographic area that is perceived to exist by its inhabitants, based on the widespread acceptance and use of a unique regional name

Congested/ Overlapping Boundary- Sometimes regions will "overlap". For example countries such as Armenia and Azerbaijan can be considered as being in Central Asia whereas others may consider it in the Middle East

Transitional Boundary- A boundary that shows the change from type of land use to another, like a grassland into a desert

Development- A process of improvement in the material conditions of people through diffusion of knowledge and technology.

Uneven Development- The unequal improvement in the material conditions of different groups of people because of unequal access to and diffusion of knowledge and technology