Unit One AP HUMAN GEO

UNIT ONE: THINKING GEOGRAPHICALLY

1. Introduction to Maps

Learning Target: Identify types of maps, the types of information presented in maps, and different kinds of spatial patterns and relationships portrayed in maps.

Reference maps are designed for people to refer to for general information about places. The two main reference maps are political and physical
Thematic Maps are used as a communications tool – tell us how human activities are distributed

Cartogram

Choropleth

Dot Density

Isoline

Proportional Symbol

Spatial Patterns Represented on a Map
absolute and relative distance and direction	Clustering: Grouped/bunched together	Dispersal: appears to be distributed over a wide area	Elevation: using levels of how high/low something is located on the land
Map Projections (distortion in shape, size, distance, and direction)
Mercator Map Shape and directions of countries are fairly accurate Greatly distorted toward poles	Robinson Map Everything is distorted in small amounts	Goode Continent sizes are accurately portrayed Directions and distant aren’t accurate	Gall Peters Shape of countries especially near the equator are distorted

2. Geographic Data

Learning Target: Identify different methods of geographic data collection.

Geospatial Data: all information including physical features and human activities

Geographic information system (GIS) is a computer system for capturing, storing, checking, and displaying data related to positions on Earth's surface

GPS stands for Geographic Positioning System: This system uses data from satellites to pin-point a location on earth and help people find their way to a destination.

Remote sensing: refers to the process of taking pictures of the Earth's surface from satellites (or, earlier, airplanes) to provide a greater understanding of the Earth's geography over large distances.

Spatial information can come from written accounts in the form of field observations, media reports, travel narratives, policy documents, personal interviews, landscape analysis, and photographic interpretation.

3. The Power of Geographic Data

Learning Target: Explain the geographical effects of decisions made using geographical information.

Geospatial Data: all information including physical features and human activities

Census data: an official count of individuals in a population (in the USA, it happens every 10 years)

4. Spatial Concepts

Learning Target: Define major geographic concepts that illustrate spatial relationships.

Absolute location: The precise spot where something is located

Relative Location: where something is in relation to other things

Space: extent of a area and can be in a relative and absolute sense

Place: refers to the specific human and physical characteristics of a location.

Distance Decay: a geographical term which describes the effect of distance on cultural or spatial interactions

Time-Space Compression: is the increasing sense of connectivity that seems to be bringing people closer together even though their distances are the same

Pattern: The geometric or regular arrangement of something in an area

5. Human-Environmental Interaction

Learning Target: Explain how major geographic concepts illustrate spatial relationships.

Sustainability: the goal of the human race reaching equilibrium with the environment; meeting the needs of the present without while also leaving resources for future generations

Natural Resources: a physical material constituting part of Earth that people need and value

Environmental Determinism: How the physical environment caused (determined) social development

Possibilism: the physical environment may limit some human actions, but people have the ability to adjust to their environment

6. Scales of Analysis

Learning Target: Define scales of analysis used by geographers explain what scales of analysis reveal

Scale: the relationship between the distance on the ground and the corresponding distance on a specific map - also a concept describing how "zoomed in" you are while studying a geographic trait (Global (Globalization), Regional, National, State, and Local)

Scale of Analysis: how zoomed in or out you are when looking at geographic data

7. Regional Analysis

Learning Target: Describe different ways that geographers define regions.

Region: a place larger than a point and smaller than a planet that is grouped together because of a measurable or perceived common feature

Formal Region: a region that is based quantitative data data (that can be documented or measured) - all government areas are this because they share a government (Example: Wisconsin)

Functional Region: a region based around a node or focal point - terrestrial radio broadcasts are an example of this (example: Radio station broadcast area, DC metro)

Vernacular (Perceptual) Region: an area that shares a common qualitative characteristic, it's only a region because people believe it's a region (example: midwest)