Unit 1 Summary: AP Human Geography

Maps and Projections

  • Maps are distorted representations of the globe due to the impossibility of perfectly projecting a three-dimensional object onto a two-dimensional surface.
  • Distortion affects direction, shape, area, or distance.
  • Different map projections serve different purposes.

Common Map Projections

  • Mercator Projection
    • Conformal projection.
    • Accurate direction.
    • Used for naval expeditions.
    • Significant distortion in size and location of land masses (e.g., Greenland appears larger than Africa, though Africa is 14 times larger).
  • Good Homolosine Projection
    • Equal-area pseudo-cylindrical projection.
    • True size and shape of land masses.
    • Distortion in distances near the edges.
    • Not helpful for direction due to being an interrupted map.
    • Interrupted maps remove parts of the globe to reduce distortion, while uninterrupted maps do not.
  • Robinson Projection
    • Distortion near the poles.
    • Preserves size and shape of land masses.
    • Spreads distortion across the entire map.
  • Gall-Peters Projection
    • Accurate at showing the true size of land masses.
    • Significant distortion in the shape of land masses and direction.

Types of Maps

  • Two broad categories: reference maps and thematic maps.

Reference Maps

  • Informational maps.
  • Show boundaries, toponyms, and geographic features.
  • Used to display property lines, political boundaries, elevation changes, public transportation routes, and key features of a place.
  • Topographic Maps: Use contour lines to display terrain and elevation changes; closer lines indicate steeper terrain.

Distance and Direction

  • Absolute Direction: Exact direction (e.g., south is 180 degrees).
  • Relative Direction: Direction based on the surrounding area (e.g., the yellow circle is north of the blue circle).
  • Absolute Distance: Exact distance between two places (miles or kilometers).
  • Relative Distance: Approximate measurement between two places (e.g., driving time).

Thematic Maps

  • Display spatial patterns using quantitative data to display specific topics.
  • Choropleth Maps: Use different colors or shades to display data quantities.
  • Dot Density Maps: Use points to show data occurrence, illustrating spatial distribution.
    • Spatial analysis includes understanding clustered versus dispersed information.
      • Clustered: Circles packed closely together.
      • Dispersed: Circles spread out over a geographic area.
    • Example: Population distribution in the US, clustered on the East Coast, dispersed in the Dakotas, Wyoming, Montana, and Nebraska.
  • Graduated Symbol Maps: Use shapes or symbols to show the location and amount of data, which can be visually informative but potentially confusing due to overlapping information.
  • Isoline Maps: Connect areas with similar or equal amounts of data, commonly used in weather maps for temperature.
  • Cartogram Maps: Show data dynamically, with area size representing the greatest value.
    • Example: Population cartogram showing China and India larger than Canada and Bahrain.
  • Flowline Maps: Show the movement of goods, people, animals, services, or ideas between places.

Geographic Data

  • Collection and categorization.

Data Collection Methods

  • Remote Sensing: Collecting data from satellites orbiting Earth to understand changes over time.
  • Geographic Information Systems (GIS): Computer systems that collect, analyze, and display geographic data, creating layered maps for spatial analysis.
  • Global Positioning System (GPS): Satellites providing absolute location for navigation and finding specific spots.
  • Geospatial Technologies: Include remote sensing, GIS, and GPS, used by businesses, governments, and organizations to locate places and visualize geographic data.
  • Field Observations: Visiting places to record firsthand observations, which is accurate but costly.
  • Personal Interviews: Collecting individual perspectives through questions for insight into an area.
  • Media Reports: Newspapers, online articles, and local news providing insights into an area.
  • Government Documents: Laws indicating cultural values and priorities and providing insight into governing systems.
  • Travel Narratives: Personal perspectives and observations of places.
  • Landscape Analysis and Photo Analysis: Studying images from geospatial technology, photographs, or video recordings to understand changes and human impacts on the environment.
    • Analyzing wildlife, vegetation, geography, and physical elements.

Types of Data

  • Qualitative Data: Information in word form, subjective, open to interpretation, collected through observations and interviews.
    • Example: Approval rating of school lunch food.
  • Quantitative Data: Numerical data, objective, concrete, collected through censuses.
    • Example: Demographic breakdown of India using population pyramids.

Scale and Geographic Data

  • Changing scales provides different insights.
  • Local Scale: Detailed view of a small area, good for seeing exact data points.
  • National Scale: Loses finer details but shows spatial relationships within a country.
  • Global Scale: Shows broad patterns but relies more on generalization.

Use of Geographic Data

  • Governments:
    • Local: Zoning decisions based on population changes.
    • Regional: Allocating state funds for infrastructure.
    • National: Deciding on federal laws and programs.
    • Global: Supranational organizations (e.g., United Nations) addressing war, famine, and epidemics.
  • Businesses:
    • Local: Understanding median income for store placement.
    • Regional: Comparing store sales to find favorable areas.
    • National: Identifying company policy based on store performance.
    • Global: Seeking new resources, workers, and markets.
  • Individuals:
    • Local: Using GPS, checking crime rates, commute times.
    • Regional: Comparing opportunities in different states.
    • National: Evaluating economic and social performance for voting.
    • Global: Understanding global systems and comparing countries.
    • Zooming out generalizes data.

Spatial Concepts

  • Absolute Location: Exact location using longitude and latitude (coordinates).
  • Relative Location: Location in relation to the surrounding area (using landmarks).
  • Place: Physical and human characteristics of a location.
    • Physical characteristics: Rivers, mountains, climate.
    • Human characteristics: Languages, religions, cultures, demographics.
    • Sense of place: Emotional response and perception of a place.
    • Placelessness: A location lacking unique features or identity.

Spatial Associations

  • Looking at spatial distribution: density, concentration, and patterns.
    • Concentration: Clustered or dispersed.
    • Density: Amount of objects or people in an area.
    • Pattern: Arrangement of things (e.g., grid or linear).

Connections Between Places

  • Time-Space Compression: Increased connectivity reduces the impact of distance.
  • Distance Decay: The farther apart places are, the less likely they are to interact; technology reduces this effect.

Human-Environment Interaction

  • Society impacts the environment, and the environment impacts society.
  • Environmental Determinism: Environment dictates the success of a society (largely criticized for promoting imperialism).
  • Environmental Possibilism: The environment sets limits, but people can adjust and create their own success.

Land Use

  • Repurposing land for specific purposes: agricultural, industrial, commercial, residential, recreational, and transportational.

Natural Resources and Sustainability

  • Renewable Resources: Can be used multiple times (crops, trees).
  • Non-Renewable Resources: Finite resources that are depleted once used (oil, natural gas).
  • Sustainability: Using resources in a way that meets current needs without compromising future generations.

Scale and Scale of Analysis

  • Scale: Distance on a map in relation to Earth's surface (global, national, regional, local, sub-national, sub-state).
  • Scales of Analysis: How data is organized and presented.
    • Global: Shows global patterns without country boundaries.
    • National: Data organized by country.
    • Regional: Data organized by regions (e.g., Federal Reserve Districts).
    • Local: Data organized by local areas (e.g., counties).
    • Small scale maps (zoomed out) use more generalizations; large scale maps (zoomed in) have more details.

Regional Analysis

  • Region: Geographic area defined by unique characteristics or patterns.
    • Formal Regions (Uniform Regions): Common attributes (economic, political, social, environmental).
      • Example: Political boundaries in Latin America.
    • Functional Regions (Nodal Regions): Organized around a node or center point (economic activity, travel, communication).
      • Example: Airports, radio stations.
    • Perceptual Regions (Vernacular Regions): Linked by people's opinions, attitudes, feelings, or beliefs.
      • Example: The Middle East; often based on cardinal directions.