AP Human Geography - Unit 1: Thinking Geographically

Types of Maps

  • Reference Maps: General-purpose maps.
  • Thematic Maps: Maps that emphasize a particular theme or subject area.
    • Isoline: Connects places with particular values using lines.
    • Dot distribution: Uses points/dots to represent data, showing clustering or dispersal.
    • Each dot represents a predetermined number of observations.
    • Choropleth: Uses shading/patterns proportional to the measurement of a variable in recognizable areas.
    • Graduated symbol: Displays symbols that change size according to the value of a variable.
    • Cartogram: Size of a country/state is proportional to the value of a particular variable.

Spatial Patterns

  • Types: Absolute and relative distance and direction, clustering, dispersal, and elevation.

Map Distortions

  • All maps are selective; they cannot represent all information.
  • Map projections inevitably distort spatial relationships in shape, area, distance, and direction.
  • Projection: A scientific way of transferring locations on Earth’s surface to a flat map.
  • Scale: The relationship of a feature’s size on a map to its actual size on Earth.

Data Gathering and Geospatial Technologies

  • Data may be gathered in the field by organizations or individuals.
  • Geospatial technologies:
    • Geographic Information Systems (GIS): Computer system to capture, store, query, analyze, and display geographic data.
    • GIS is valuable to urban planners, retailers and local government officials who use the technology to help them determine where to build roads, stores and parks
    • Remote Sensing: Acquiring data about Earth’s surface from satellites or other long-distance methods.
    • Satellite Navigation Systems: Global Positioning System (GPS) accurately determines the precise position of something on Earth.

Geospatial and Geographical Data

  • Used at all scales for personal, business, organizational, and government decision-making.
  • Census Data:
    • Counts the population of a nation, state, or other geographic region.
    • Records information about population characteristics (age, sex, occupation, etc.).
    • May include data about agriculture and business sectors.
    • Usage:
      • Research, marketing, and planning.
      • Determining school construction or bus route placement.
      • Figuring out the number of representatives a community will have in government.
  • Satellite Imagery:
    • Shows physical features, urban areas, refugee camps, traffic, military targets, agriculture.
    • Cannot show life expectancy, literacy rates, internet access, income levels.
    • Locating mineral deposits, determining the size of freshwater sources, damaged areas.

Spatial Concepts

  • Absolute and Relative Location:
    • Relative Location: Position relative to another landmark (e.g., 50 miles west of Houston).
    • Absolute Location: Fixed position identified by specific coordinates (latitude and longitude).
  • Space:
    • General, objective location or area.
    • Examples: America, Texas, Nevada, Massachusetts.
  • Place:
    • Physical and human aspects of a location.
    • Human characteristics include population nature/size, cultures, ways of life.
    • Used to compare and contrast two places on Earth.
  • Flow: Interaction and movement of people, goods, and information.
  • Distance Decay: Intensity decreases as distance increases.
  • Time-Space Compression: Increasing sense the world is becoming smaller.
  • Pattern: The geometric or regular arrangement of something in an area.

Nature and Society Concepts

  • Sustainability: Ability to be maintained at a certain level; avoiding depletion of natural resources to maintain ecological balance.
  • Natural resources: Materials/substances (minerals, forests, water, fertile land) that occur in nature and can be used for economic gain.
  • Land Use: Management and modification of natural environment/wilderness into built environment (settlements) and semi-natural habitats (fields, pastures, woods).

Environmental Interaction Theories

  • Environmental Determinism: Theory that the physical environment (including climate) sets hard limits on human society and development.
  • Possibilism: Theory that the environment sets constraints, but culture is determined by social conditions. Humans increase the environment's capacity to meet needs through:
    • Industrial Revolution
    • Agricultural Advancement
    • Technological Revolution

Scales of Analysis

  • Global, regional, national, and local.
  • Patterns and processes at different scales reveal variations in data interpretations.

Regions

  • Defined by one or more unifying characteristics or activity patterns.
  • Types:
    • Formal (Homogenous): Area within which everyone shares one or more distinctive characteristics.
    • Functional (Nodal): Area organized around a node or focal point. The defining characteristic is dominant at the central focus/node and diminishes outward.
    • Vernacular (Perceptual): Place that people believe exists as part of their cultural identity; emerges from an informal sense of place rather than scientific models. Boundaries are transitional, contested, and overlapping.

Regional Analysis

  • Geographers apply regional analysis at local, national, and global scales.