Thinking Geographically: AP Human Geography Chapter 6 Study Guide

Introduction to Human Geography

• Definition: Human geography is the study of why people choose to live where they do. It involves discovering who lives where, how they live, and why they live there.

• Overview of Chapter 6 Content: This chapter reviews the nature and perspectives of geography, core concepts (space, place, location, scales, and regions), essential skills for the AP course, new technologies used by geographers, and spatial behavior and interaction.

Geography as a Field of Inquiry

• Nature of Study: Geography explores where, how, and why different places, people, and environments exist and their mutual effects. Geographers examine these elements in spatial terms.

• Core Geographic Questions:

  • Where is it?

  • Why is it located there?

  • How do people adapt to their environment?

  • Why do they build dwellings in a particular style?

  • Where do they come from and how do they survive?

• Historical Figures and Origins:

  • Eratosthenes: Known as the "father of geography," this ancient Greek scholar and mathematician defined geography as geo (earth) and graphos (to write).

    • Specific Achievements:

      • Computed the circumference of the Earth using stades (stadium lengths).

      • Invented pi ($\pi$).

      • Calculated the tilt of the Earth's axis.

      • Invented the system of latitude and longitude.

      • Measured the equator at approximately $25,000\,miles$.

  • Herodotus: An ancient Greek scholar who drew the first map of the known world in $450\,BCE$ as part of his study of the Greco-Persian Wars. The map focused on the Mediterranean Sea and its surroundings.

Core Geographic Concepts

• Space: The extent of area occupied by something, referring to physical and cultural objects.

  • Absolute Space: A measurable area with definite boundaries; essential for cartography and spatial analysis.

  • Relative Space: Concerned with where something is in relation to other things; changes as interrelationships between people, places, and things change.

• Site and Situation:

  • Site: The physical location of a place (e.g., the site of Foxburg is on the banks of the Allegheny River in northwestern Pennsylvania).

  • Situation: The location of a place based on its relation to other places (e.g., Foxburg lies equidistant between Erie and Pittsburgh and is $3\,miles$ upstream from Emlenton).

• Place: Another word for location, examined for its values and attributes.

  • Sense of Place: The physical, cultural, and emotional attributes a location has to an individual personally.

  • Placelessness: The condition where a place loses its "special" or unique flavor due to mass merchandising, fast-food restaurants, and brand-name retail stores.

  • General Attributes of All Places:

    • Have location, direction, and distance from other places.

    • Change over time.

    • Interrelate with all other places.

    • Have size and scale.

    • Possess both physical and cultural aspects.

    • Can be grouped into regions based on similarities and differences.

• Location:

  • Absolute Location: The actual space a place occupies on Earth, expressed using mathematical forms like degrees, minutes, and seconds ($latitude\,and\,longitude$), street addresses, or the U.S. system of township, range, and section.

  • Relative Location: The location of a place in relation to other places, varying by perspective (e.g., "down South," "Pittsburgh is $90\,miles$ north of Morgantown, West Virginia").

  • Global Grid System:

    • Latitude: Distance north/south of the equator, measured in equidistant lines called parallels that decrease in length toward the poles.

    • Longitude: Distance east/west of the Prime Meridian, measured in meridians (lines of equal length) that meet at the poles.

• Scale:

  • Frame of Reference: The level at which something is studied, such as global, regional, or local scales.

  • Map Scale: The ratio of a unit on a map to the same units on the Earth's surface.

    • Small-scale Map: Shows a smaller amount of detail for a larger area.

    • Large-scale Map: Shows a larger amount of detail for a smaller area.

  • Scale Representation:

    • Representative Fraction (RF): e.g., $1:250,000$.

    • Verbal Scale: e.g., $0, 1, 2\,miles$.

• Regions: Areas displaying common traits (culture, government, language, landforms) used to group space spatially.

  • Formal (Uniform) Region: High consistency in a cultural or physical attribute. Examples: French-speaking Canada, Dairying region of North America, Political boundaries (Poland, Thailand, Iowa, Manitoba), Tropical or Desert regions.

  • Functional (Nodal) Region: Centered on a node or hub with interconnecting linkages (trade, transport, communication). Examples: Metropolitan Area of Chicago, Bank of America, Port of New Orleans and hinterlands, Mall of America area.

  • Perceptual (Vernacular) Region: Defined by feelings and prejudices; may not be factual. Examples: Dixie, Bible Belt, Heartland, Sunbelt, Silicon Valley, Rust Belt, Hillbilly region, Society Hill, Urban street gang's turf, Chinatown, or constructs of a mental map.

Key Geographic Skills

1. Concepts and Processes: Analyzing and comparing geographic theories, concepts, and models to explain strengths and weaknesses.

2. Spatial Relationships: Analyzing and describing spatial patterns, networks, and relationships across world regions.

3. Data Analysis: Identifying and interpreting quantitative data from maps, tables, charts, satellite images, and infographics.

4. Source Analysis: Analyzing/interpreting qualitative data from visual imagery like maps, photos, and cartoons.

5. Scale Analysis: Explaining spatial relationships using various scales of analysis.

Maps and Models

• Projections: Versions of maps that minimize specific attributes at the expense of others. All projections result in distortions of conformality (location), distance, direction, scale, or area.

  • Conformal Projections: Used for angles (navigation/meteorology); includes Mercator and Lambert Conformal Conic.

  • Equidistant Projections: Used for accurate distance from a center; includes Equidistant Conic and Equirectangular.

  • Azimuthal Projections: Used for directional relationship from a central point (azimuth); includes Lambert Azimuthal Equal-Area.

  • Compromise Projections: World maps like Winkel Tripel and Robinson that balance characterisitcs.

• Mental Maps: Internal mental images used for navigation and daily life; they contain perceptions of safety and neighborhood emotions.

• Thematic Map Types:

  • Graduated Circle: Size of circle conveys number of occurrences in an area.

  • Dot: Displays pattern, distribution, and dispersion ($1\,dot = 10,000\,acres$ in the corn example).

  • Choropleth: Displays average values of data using shaded areas (e.g., Corn harvested acres ranging from "Less than $5,000$ to "$150,000\,or\,more$").

  • Note on Bias: Map authors have intentions; users must account for bias and purpose.

• Models: Simplified generalizations of real life that isolate specific ideas. Maps are a 2D form of model.

New Geographic Technologies

• Remote Sensing: Detecting nature of an area from a distance using cameras on airplanes, kites, balloons, or satellites. Used for water pollution monitoring, desertification, and military surveillance. Modern Landsat satellites relay digital images for scientific study.

• Geographic Information System (GIS): Merges mapping software with a database to overlay data layers on a locational grid. Used to study regional, social, and economic problems.

Spatial Behavior and Interaction

• Spatial Interaction: The interconnectedness between places depending on human interaction.

• Diffusion: The movement of people, ideas, customs, and information.

  • Relocation Diffusion: Physical transfer of a trait to a new region (e.g., Christianity to the New World by Spaniards, Islam to Indonesia by traders).

  • Expansion Diffusion: Spread of a trait to neighboring regions.

    • Hierarchical: Spread from highest authority (king/ruler) downward (e.g., English in India under British rule).

    • Contagious: Even spread outward from a hearth (e.g., Christianity's spread from European monasteries).

    • Stimulus: Spread of a general concept (e.g., development of written language by Native American groups).

• Spatial Distribution: The array of items on Earth's surface, characterized by density, dispersion, and pattern.

  • Density: The number of items within a unit of area. For example, comparing the visual impact of $1,000,000\,people$ in Switzerland versus the People's Republic of China.

Important Statistical Data

• Equator Circumference: $\approx 25,000\,miles$.

• Corn for Grain, Harvested Acres (2002): United States total was $68,230,523\,acres$.