Ch 1 Reading Guide
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AP Human Geography
Unit 1: Chapter 1- This is Geography (pgs 2 – 45)
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KEY ISSUE #1: Why is Geography a Science? (pages 2-13)
- Define Human Geography. (Pg. 4)
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Human geography is spatially thinking with the basic questions of answering the Where and Why.
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- Define scale. Why do we need different types of scale (large and small)? (Pg. 5)
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Scale is the relationship between the portion of Earth being studied and Earth as a whole. large-scale shows more detail and emphasizes local issues, such as local laws. Small-scale maps show less detail and emphasize global issues, such as climate change.
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- Look over the description of GIS. What are the advantages of this model of mapping? (Pg. 8) Geographic Information System
GIS maps are more accurate and attractive than those drawn by hand. They are more readily available because they are on the internet as well.
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- Describe the differences between GPS and Remote Sensing? (Pg. 8)
GPS is a system provided to people for them to find locations of things or places, while Remote sensing is the physical satellite orbiting earth and gathering data about earth's surface.
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- Define VGI. Give an example of a mashup map and the data shown? (Pg. 9)
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Volunteered Geography Information (VGI) is the creation and dissemination of geographic data contributed voluntarily and for free by individuals.
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Google street view is volunteers that create mashup maps through layering data and music to create visually stimulating images for an audience
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- Why do we need to know a little bit about projections? Why do we have so many types of projections? How do you choose which to use? Which projections do you like best out of the four on pg. 11? (Pg. 11)
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We need to know about projections because they are how flat maps are made, which is why they can be distorted as well. We have different types of maps because some try to prevent distortion while others are more focused on being pleasing to the eye or easy to understand. I like the Winkel Projection the best because it is easy to comprehend, it still implies the world being a spherical shape, while also keeping the shapes of landmasses true to reality.
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- What are the five types of maps we use to distribute data? (pg. 13)
The maps we use are isoline, which connects places of a particular value by lines. Dot distribution, that depicts data that consists of discrete observations. Choropleth map, which has areas shaded in relation to the measurement of the variable. Graduated symbols maps,they display symbols the will be different in size based on the value of the variable. Finally a cartogram is a map where a specific area is proportional to the value of a particular variable.
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KEY ISSUE #2: Why Is Every Place Unique? (pages 14-19)
- Define place. What three things need to be considered when discussing a particular location? (pg. 14-15)
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Place is a specific point on earth distinguished by a particular characteristic. The three ways to identify location are place name, site, and situation.
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- How do toponyms figure into place? (Pg. 14)
Toponyms are the name given to a portion of earth's surface, so geographers would assign a toponym to a place.
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- What does the site allow us to understand about a place? Give examples. (Pg. 15)
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Site helps us to define a physical characteristic of a place.
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--How can humans work with a site?
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Humans can change and modify site characteristics.
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- What does the situation allow us to understand about a place? How can a place be important due to its situation? (pg. 15)
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The situation of a place is the location of a place relative to another place, it can help us understand more about a place we are unfamiliar with. Places can be important if they are in between other major cities because they can be used when trading as a middle point for many scenarios.
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- Define cultural landscape using your own words. How do we use cultural landscape to better understand our place? (specific examples) (Pg. 16)
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Cultural landscape is things or behaviors that a group of people from a specific area all have in common or are part of their culture. Cultural landscape is used to better understand the people of a region, such as latin america. We can look at maps and learn about their land, but we also learn about their cultural landscape to get to know the people of that region.
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- Why is a region so important in identifying the unique nature of Earth? (Pg. 16-17)
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Regions are important so we can understand how cultures have similarities and can be different at the same time.
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-How do formal regions help us better understand our place?
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Formal regions are where everyone shares a common characteristic, this could help us understand a place because it is a characteristic of an area and its culture.
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-How do functional regions help us better understand our place?
Functional regions are tied to a specific point which is a characteristic and can help us understand place more. The central focus of a functional region can lower the importance of outward focus.
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-How do vernacular regions help us better understand our place?
Vernacular regions can help us understand areas because they are defined by cultural identification aspects.
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- Define spatial association. Do the maps in Figures 1-38 show strong or weak spatial association? Explain your answer.
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Spatial association is the dynamic between the distribution of one feature versus another feature. Figures 1-38 have weak spatial association because there are areas that are more dense with one response than others in comparison to the other areas on the map.
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KEY ISSUE #3: Why Are Different Places Similar? (Pages 20-33)
- How has globalization impacted the world economy? How does globalization impact your life? (Pg. 20)
Globalization has made the economy more diverse and has made it more common to do trade with other countries. Because of globalization I have found some of my favorite foods such as rich and pasta which are more common in other countries.
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What are the positives (+) of globalization?
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Positives of globalization is that more place around the world are exposed to new cultures, foods and activities.
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What are the negatives (-) of globalization?
Negatives of globalization include companies and restaurants being expected to produce more variete in things.
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- How has globalization impacted the cultures of the world? What issues have arisen as a result of this? (Pg. 20)
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Globalization has made uniform cultural preferences more prevalent. Such as fast food restaurants making things that don't vary much from location to location. Globalization of cultural beliefs and forms is becoming more common as well, such as more people adopting Christianity or Islam and learning English. With global culture becoming more aware to people, this may decrease the amount of people with local cultural beliefs and practices.
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- Using the chart below, define the types of distribution and explain how it is useful in the important concept? (Pg. 22-23)
| Distribution Type | Definition | Usefulness |
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| Density | “The frequency with which something exists within a given unit of area.” | Density is useful because what is being measured can be many different things from people to trees. It can also be measured in different units like kilometers, miles, or anything else. |
| Concentration | “The extent of a feature’s spread over a given area.” | It is used to describe changes in distribution, it's also good to show where things are more prevalent than others. |
| Pattern | “The geometric or regular arrangement of something in a particular area.” | Pattern distribution is good for looking at visual distributions and what patterns are found in many cities or other areas. Like house layout or streets. |
| Space | “the physical gap or interval between two objects” | Space is used to understand the general gap or area between things. |
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- Define behavioral geography. Give two examples of spaces that are friendly to a certain gender, ethnic, or sexual orientation groups. (Pg. 24)
Behavioral geography is a topic of human geography that highlights the importance of learning and understanding the psychological basis for individual human actions in space. The Castro District in San Francisco is welcoming to LGBTQ+ people because of inclusive policies and practices. Another more general space is, lots of performing arts spaces are seen as welcoming spaces to people who identify as LGBTQ+ and people of color because most theaters, companies and people in those communities try to push for equality and variety in performers.
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- Using figures 1-53 on pg. 27, compare and contrast the two maps. Write down two observations you can make by analyzing the Gender Gap map and the Distribution by Gender map. (Pgs. 27)
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On both maps it is prevalent that northern Africa does not have the best equality rates. On the gender gap map gender equality is very high in Canada and a lot of west/northern european countries while on the income map, while those countries still have high numbers in comparison to others, less of those countries are in the top tier.
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- Define in your own words cultural identity. (Pg. 28)
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Cultural identity is aspects such as beliefs, practices, or even preferences that are specific to someone and their culture to the point of it being part of their identity.
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--How would you describe the *typical *Minnesota cultural identity? Create a shortlist of cultural traits for Minnesota’s cultural identity.
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Typical/stereotypical things apart of a Minnesotan cultural identity could be:
- love of hot dish
- getting annoyed when it's still snowing in March or April
- duck duck gray duck
- pop not soda
- long talks with friends after making it clear that it should be time for them to leave (Minnesotan goodbye)
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- What promotes diffusion? What limits diffusion? How can these limits be removed? (Pg. 30)
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Human migration and the internet promotes diffusion, while limitations to human travel and connection to people of other cultures limit diffusion. The internet is helping to break this limit because people can connect online from people of many different backgrounds.
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- Explain the 3 main types of diffusion and give an example of each type. (Pgs. 30-31)
-hierarchical
“The spread of a feature or trend from one key person or node of authority or power to other persons or places” example: hip hop or rap music starting from african americans and becoming popular in widespread media
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-contagious
“The rapid widespread diffusion of a feature or trend throughout a population” example: Tiktok goes viral and now everyone knows said tiktok and will quote it to each other, memes
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-stimulus
“The spread of an underlying principle, even though a characteristic itself apparently fails to diffuse” example: competitors adopting features of Apple products (extra cameras)
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- How has space-time compression come about in recent years? What does this space-time compression promote? (Pg. 33)
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Social media and the internet has helped improve space time compression with the ability to see what is happening in other places with a quick google search. Space time compression promotes bringing people together even if they are far apart in physical distance.
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- How can diffusion create uneven development around the globe? What happens to those located on the periphery? (Pgs. 24 and 30)
With countries trying to work with other countries for resources and power, those countries that have more are getting more diffused while other countries who do not have as many resources or desirable materials are left out. For those countries on the periphery, the gap just increases between them and the higher powers, and more of their people are poor or don't have enough resources.
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KEY ISSUE #4: Why Are Some Actions Not Sustainable? (Pages 34-42)
- Define sustainability. What human actions are damaging the sustainability of resources? How can we help improve sustainability? (Pg. 34)
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Sustainability is a way of using earth's renewable and natural resources in a way that doesn't restrict use of resources in the future. High use of natural gas and coal is one thing damaging sustainability. To improve sustainability we would have to reduce the use of nonrenewable resources and limiting the renewable resource use to a point where the environment can continue to supply them.
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- Describe Humboldt and Ritter’s theory of environmental determinism. How did Huntington use environmental determinism to relate the environment to civilization? What flaws can you pick out in this theory? (Pg. 39)
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The theory of environmental determinism is an approach that said the general laws sought by human geographers could be found in the physical sciences. Which then meant that geography was the study of how the physical environment caused human activities. Humboldt and Ritter said that natural science laws should be applied to the physical environment and human actions to better understand them. Saying that the study of social and natural processes is fundamentally the same. The issue with this is that nature and humans are on different ways of growing and improving and you cant actually apply natural sciences to human actions.
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- How does possibilism differ from environmental determinism? How does possibilism relate to increased technology? (Pg. 39)
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Possibilism says that humans have the possibility to adjust their environment and choose a course of action, while environmental determinism says that we should apply natural laws to describe humans and nature. Possibilism says that people have the ability to adjust to their environment, which can help explain technology as a way to adapt to our environment and continue to adapt by making our technology better, higher in quality, and more prevalent.
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