Transcript Advanced Placement Human Geography

ADVANCED PLACEMENT
HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
Unit One
Geography: Its Nature
and Perspectives
Session 1
ADVANCED PLACEMENT
HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
REVIEW SESSIONS:
UNIT ONE
By Geri Flanary
To accompany AP Human Geography: A Study Guide
3rd edition
By Ethel Wood
KEY CONCEPTS THAT DEFINE
GEOGRAPHY


Location—the position of something on earth’s
surface
Space—the physical gap or distance between two
objects
KEY CONCEPTS THAT DEFINE
GEOGRAPHY

Scale—the relationship between the size of an
object or distance between objects on a map and
the size of the actual object or distance on earth’s
surface
KEY CONCEPTS THAT DEFINE
GEOGRAPHY

Place—a specific point on earth with human and
physical characteristics
KEY CONCEPTS THAT DEFINE
GEOGRAPHY

Pattern—the arrangement of objects on earth’s
surface in relationship to one another
KEY CONCEPTS THAT DEFINE
GEOGRAPHY
Regionalization—the organization of earth’s
surface into distinct areas that are viewed as
different from other areas
 Globalization—the
expansion of economic,
political, and cultural activities to the point that
they reach and have impact on many areas of the
world

WHAT IS
SPATIAL
ORGANIZATION?
SPATIAL ORGANIZATION
Spatial
organization is the
location of places,
people, and events,
and the connections
among places and
landscapes.
WHAT IS A
LANDSCAPE?
Landscape is the
overall appearance
of an area that is
shaped by both
human and natural
influences.
WHY DO
SPATIAL
PATTERNS
OCCUR?
Geographers
believe that the
“why of where” is
critical!
ALL OF THESE CONCEPTS
HELP US
TO UNDERSTAND THE
IMPORTANCE OF SPATIAL
ORGANIZATION.
PATTERNS AND PLACES
The “why of where” explains why a spatial
pattern occurs.
 Specific places become distinct from all other
places when patterns occur.
 Often these patterns and places combine into
regions.
 What are regions? Regions are large areas that
may be compared to other large areas.
 Spatial organization defines human life on
earth, with all of its similarities and
differences.

GEOGRAPHY
AS A
FIELD OF STUDY
GEOGRAPHY…THE BEGINNING
 Geography
as a discipline was first given
structure by the Greeks.
 Geo
means “the earth.”
 Graphein
means “to write.”
 The
Greeks laid the foundation for
cartography.
 Cartography
is defined as “the art and
science of map-making.”
Maps
around
Greece were
more accurate
than maps of the
rest of the world.
HECATAEUS’S MAP OF THE WORLD
The
Greeks
understood that
the earth was
round.
Ptolemy,
a
Greek, estimated
that the
circumference of
the earth was
about 16,000
miles. He was
about 9,000
miles short of
reality, an
assumption that
led Columbus to
believe that he
was near Asia
when he first
landed in the
Americas.
INTEREST IN GEOGRAPHY GREW
THROUGHOUT THE WORLD
WHO?
 Ancient Chinese
 Europeans during
the Middle Ages
 Muslim scholars in
the Middle East

Geographers tended to
be mostly concerned
in practical knowledge
of:
Locations
 Places
 Products

THE REBIRTH OF GEOGRAPHY
17th century Europe: Europeans broadly
studied both physical landscapes and the roles
that humans play in shaping them.
 Modern scientific study of geography

Began in Germany
 Immanuel Kant
defined geography as the
“study of interrelated spatial
patterns—the description and
explanation of differences and
similarities between one region
and another.”

BY THE TURN OF THE 20TH CENTURY…
Geography became a distinct discipline in
European universities.
 Many sub-fields of geography started to
emerge:


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Cultural
Social
Urban
Population
Economic
Political
Today, however, there are two main branches—
physical and human geography.
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
Physical Geography
Focused on the
natural environment
 Inextricably linked to
the study of human
geography

Human Geography
Focused on people
 Who are they?
 How are they alike
and different?
 How do they interact?
 How do they change
the natural landscape
and how do they use
them?

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
Physical Geography

What are some of the
topics studied?





landforms
climate
vegetation
soils
earth’s internal forces
Human Geography

What are some of
the topics studied?
culture (folk and
popular)
 agriculture and rural
land use
 urban growth
 industrialization
 demographics (e.g.
migration)
 politics
 economics

SOME FAMOUS GEOGRAPHERS
ERATOSTHENES
 Greek
scholar
 3rd century B.C.E.
 Accurately calculated the circumference
of earth
 Used
geometry
to
conclude
the
circumference of earth based on the
distance between the two cities of
Alexandria and Syene and the angle of the
sun at each place
PTOLEMY
 Greek
scholar
 Lived 500 years after Eratosthenes
 Recalculated the circumference of
Earth incorrectly (9000 miles short)
 His Guide to Geography included many
maps
 Developed a global grid system that was a
forerunner to our modern system of
latitude and longitude
IDRISI
 Arab
geographer
 11th century
 Directed an academy of geographers
Gathered data
 Consulted mariners and travelers
 Scientific expeditions

 His
final map of the world was lost, but
many partial maps have survived.
GEORGE PERKINS MARSH
 American
geographer
 19th century
 Best known for his classic work, Man and
Nature (1864)
 Focused work on impact of human
actions on the natural environment
 Well known quote: “Conserve the earth, or
live to pay the disastrous consequences.”
CARL SAUER
 Geographer
 20th
from California
century
 Argued that cultural landscapes
should be the main focus of
geographic study
 His study is basic to environmental
geography.
KEY POINTS TO REMEMBER FROM
THIS SESSION…

Concepts that
define geography


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
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
Location
Space
Scale
Place
Pattern
Regionalization
Globalization
Patterns and places
Spatial organization
 The “why of where”


Geography as a
field of study
Cartography
 Immanuel Kant
 Sub-fields of geography
 Differences between
physical and human
geography


Famous geographers
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Eratosthenes
Ptolemy
Idrisi
George Perkins Marsh
Carl Sauer
ADVANCED PLACEMENT
HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
Unit One
Geography: Its Nature
and Perspectives
Session 2
KEY GEOGRAPHICAL SKILLS
USING MAPS TO UNDERSTAND
SPATIAL PERSPECTIVE
 Location:

Where is it?
Absolute location
 Precise position of a place on the globe (e.g.
latitude and longitude; other grid systems;
street address)
 Important historical example: The U.S.
Land Ordinance of 1785 (Much of the U.S.
was divided into a system of townships to
facilitate the sale of land in the West.)
USING MAPS TO UNDERSTAND
SPATIAL PERSPECTIVE
Absolute location continued…

Meridians and Parallels

Meridian: an arc between the North and South
Poles used to measure longitude
The prime meridian is located at the observatory in
Greenwich England at 0°.
 The meridian at the opposite side of the globe at 180° is
called the International Date Line.


Parallel: a circle drawn around the globe that is
parallel to the equator; parallels measure latitude

The equator is at 0° latitude.
USING MAPS TO UNDERSTAND
SPATIAL PERSPECTIVE

Relative location: the location of a place in
relation to other human and physical features on
the landscape

Compared to absolute location, it is subject to
modification. An example is Samarkand.
SAMARKAND
Relative location defines a place in terms of how
central or isolated it is in relation to other places.
 Central Asia—13th century

Samarkand lay on a major trade route called the
Silk Road making the city central to Eurasian trade.
 The relative location changed when sea-based trade
became faster and more efficient.
 Samarkand became a more isolated place.
 Absolute location remained the same, but relative
location changed.

USE OF MAPS
AND
MAP
PROJECTIONS
USE OF MAPS
Reference Material

Efficient tools for
storing information
Show roads or
waterways
 Show connections

Communications/Education

Used to explain
spatial perspectives
to others


Thematic
Examples: soil types;
economic prosperity;
spatial arrangements
EXAMPLE OF MAP USED TO
COMMUNICATE AND EDUCATE
WHAT IS A MAP PROJECTION?
A map projection is a way to
represent the round earth on a flat
surface.
 Definition:
 No
map projection is as accurate as a
globe!
MAP PROJECTIONS AND DISTORTIONS
 Some
distortions (inaccuracies) are
evident in ALL map projections!
 Types
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
of distortion:
Distance
Direction
Shape
Area
Scale
TYPES OF MAP PROJECTIONS

Mercator Projection
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Designed in 1569 for a specific purpose—to navigate
across the Atlantic Ocean between Europe and the
Americas
Perfect for “true” direction
Distorts size of areas, particularly close to North and
South Poles
TYPES OF MAP PROJECTIONS

Robinson Projection
An attempt to balance all distortions by making
errors in all four ways: shape, size, distance, and
direction
 Good projection for general use; often found in
classrooms

TYPES OF MAP PROJECTIONS

Peters Projection
Introduced by historian and geographer Arno Peters
 Focuses on keeping land masses equal in area
 Shapes are distorted

CONTOUR MAPS
Designed to show the nature of local
topography (the natural land surface)
 Contour lines are drawn to represent a consistent
height above sea level.

SCALE
SCALE

Refers to the size of the unit studied
The phenomena as it exists on different levels, from
small to large
 Local, regional, or global scales


Example: Mt. St. Helens, Washington (1980)


region


* The eruption began as an immediate local
concern for the immediate area (local scale).
* Ash and volcanic flow eventually affected the
region (regional scale).
* Volcanic matter eventually spread to other areas
of the globe (global scale).
SCALE


Also refers to the mathematical relationship
between the size of an area on a map and its
actual size on earth’s surface.
Examples:
 Fraction


1/24,000 (translation: 1 inch on the map = 24,000 inches
on earth’s surface; both numerator and denominator must
be the same unit of measurement)
Ratio
Example: 1:24,000
 Note: The unit on the left refers to the distance on the map
and the number on the right always refers to the same unit
of distance on earth’s surface.

SCALE

Graphic/Bar Scale


Safest to use because it will “shrink” or “grow”
if the size of the map is altered when
photocopied or scanned
Verbal/written statement
Example: 1 inch equals 1 mile
 Varies greatly if the size of the map is altered
during photocopying or scanning

SMALL SCALE MAPS V. LARGE SCALE
MAPS
 Small
scale maps show large areas.
SMALL SCALE MAPS V. LARGE SCALE
MAPS
 Large
scale maps show small areas.
LOCAL-GLOBAL CONTINUUM
We often separate scale into local, regional, and
global levels.
 In reality, the levels interact in a local-global
continuum, in which phenomenon at one level
influence those at other levels.

TIME ZONES
TIME ZONES
What is a time zone? A time zone is a region
that has adopted the same standard time,
usually referred to as the local time.
 Because the sun hits the earth at different times
as it spins on its axis, time zones are meant to
make time more uniform.
 Longitude plays an important role in calculating
time. The earth is divided into 360 degrees of
longitude.

TIME ZONES
Lines of longitude are placed 15° apart,
subdividing the earth into 24 sections. Time
zones often follow lines of latitude.
 Neighboring zones are exactly one hour apart.
 Sometimes meridians stray and follow political
borders. An example is China (one time zone).

TIME ZONES

Daylight Savings Time

The clock is pushed ahead one
hour in the spring.

Clock is set back to the original time in the
fall.
TIME ZONES

International Date Line
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Consequence of world time zones
Satisfies the need for the date to change somewhere on
earth
Occurs at 180° longitude
Divides the world from pole to pole through the Pacific
Ocean
SOLAR TIME
Used before adoption of time zones
 Based on the position of the sun in the sky
as the day progresses
 Became
problematic once railways and
communications connected people in different
regions during the 19th century

TIME ZONES IN U.S. (SET IN 1883)
Pacific, Mountain, Central, and Eastern
Standard Time Zones
KEY POINTS TO REMEMBER FROM
THIS SESSION…

Geographic Skills

Location
 Absolute and relative
location
 Historic examples


Scale

Definition

Types:
Fraction
 Ratio
 Graphic/bar
 Verbal/written
 Small scale v. large
scale
 Local-global continuum

Maps and Map
Projections
Reference materials
 Communication and/or
education
 Types of map
projections


Time Zones
Purpose
 Solar time

ADVANCED PLACEMENT
HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
Unit One
Geography: Its Nature
and Perspectives
Session 3
INTERPRETATION OF
PLACES AND
PATTERNS
•Place
PLACE: THE GEOGRAPHIC TERM
is
deceptively
complex.
•Place
describes
the unique
location of a
geographic
feature.
•Each
point on
earth is
different from
all others.
•Place
may be
identified in
four ways:
• Place name
• Site
• Situation
• Absolute
location
PLACE NAMES
Toponym is another term for a place name.
 Humans name places to distinguish them from
other places, an action that helps to define the
uniqueness of each place.
 Examples:

Three Rivers (descriptive)
 Medicine Hat—Alberta (history)
 New Jersey (historical migration)

Alberta
SITE

What is it? Site is the sum of physical and humantransformed characteristics of a place.

Physical site characteristics include:




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


Climate
Topography
Soil
Water
Resources
Vegetation
Elevation
Humans transform sites to suit their needs so that
the sites are part of the human mosaic, not the
physical site itself.
SITUATION
Situation refers to relative location.
 Situation is important in determining the
centrality or isolation of a place.
 Situation helps us to find an unfamiliar place by
comparing its location to a place that we know.

ABSOLUTE LOCATION
Mathematical location
 Use of parallels and meridians to determine
location
 Absolute location is unique for every place
on earth.

PATTERNS: THE ARRANGEMENT OF
THINGS ACROSS EARTH’S SURFACE
●
●
●
●
●
A linear pattern: found along rivers, streets, or
railroad tracks
PATTERNS: THE ARRANGEMENT OF
THINGS ACROSS EARTH’S SURFACE

Centralized Pattern: found in many cities
where houses and public buildings may circle
around the mosque or house of worship
PATTERNS: THE ARRANGEMENT OF
THINGS ACROSS EARTH’S SURFACE

Random pattern: no apparent regular
distribution
PATTERNS: THE ARRANGEMENT OF
THINGS ACROSS EARTH’S SURFACE

Rectilinear pattern: reflects a rectangular
system of land survey adopted in much of the
country under the Land Ordinance of 1785;
towns laid out on a grid; checkerboard rural
pattern
REGIONS AND REGIONALIZATION
REGIONALIZATION: WHAT IS IT ?
Regionalization
is the
organization
of earth’s
surface into
distinct areas
that are
viewed as
different from
other areas.
TYPES OF REGIONS
Formal Regions



Formal regions are also
called uniform regions.
Formal regions are
similar in terms of one or
a few physical or cultural
features.
Characteristics may be
predominant but not
universal.

Examples: a state; an
area in which Islam is the
predominant religion
TYPES OF REGIONS
Functional Regions



Functional regions are also
called nodal regions.
A functional region has a
center that directs
movement.
A core area has distinct
characteristics when there is
movement toward the
periphery.
 Examples: followers of a
baseball team; broadcast
area of a radio station
TYPES OF REGIONS
Perceptual Regions
Perceptual regions are
also called vernacular
regions.
 Perceptual regions are
places that people
believe to exist as part
of their cultural
identity.
 Almost all human
beings define their
lives by thinking
about perceptual
regions.

IDENTIFY THESE TYPES OF REGIONS…

The broadcast area of a local television news
station


An area in which the majority of people practice
Islam


Perceptual/vernacular
The “Sunbelt”


Formal/uniform
Your “hometown”


Functional/nodal
Formal/uniform
Regions identified by the U.S. Census Bureau for
data collection

Formal/uniform
INTERCONNECTIONS AMONG PLACES
PLACES CONNECT TO FORM
PATTERNS. IT’S ALL A MATTER
OF SCALE!
GLOBALIZATION


Globalization is the expansion of economic,
political, and cultural activities to the point that
they reach and have impact on many areas of
the world.
Critics:


Globalization is a threat to regional and local
uniqueness.
Proponents:
Local and regional uniqueness show few signs of
disappearing.
 The world is a web of interconnected places.

INTERCONNECTEDNESS
 Time-space
convergence
results from the rapid increase
in the use technology and transportation
in the late 20th century.
 Time-space
compression
refers to the social and psychological effects of
living in a world in which time-space convergence
has rapidly reached a high level of intensity.
NEW GEOGRAPHIC
TECHNOLOGIES
GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM
(GIS)
Captures, stores, analyzes, and displays
data
 Data may be manipulated to create an image or
map that is more accurate than anything drawn
by hand
 Example:
One layer may show soil composition, another may show forest
cover, and yet another may show a
road system.

GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM (GPS)
Uses a series of satellites, tracking stations, and
receivers to determine absolute locations on
earth
 Variety of uses such as mapping vegetation
arrangements and even navigating airplanes and
ships
 Recently used in automobiles to guide drivers

HOW GEOGRAPHERS WORK:
FIELD AND CENSUS DATA
GEOGRAPHY AS A CAREER
Teachers
 Government workers


Largest employer: U.S. Census
Bureau
Environmental workers
 Consultants

Architects
 Builders
 Politicians
 Transportation officials

FIELD-BASED SKILLS AND
OBSERVATIONS
Ability to manipulate and interpret GIS
 Ability to use remote sensing data and GPS
 Cartography and computer mapping
 Data analysis and problem-solving

MORE THAN ANYTHING,
GEOGRAPHIC SKILLS ARE BASED ON
CAREFUL OBSERVATIONS OF THE
WORLD AT DIFFERENT SCALES, A
CURIOSITY ABOUT WHY OBJECTS
ARE WHERE THEY ARE, AND THE
DESIRE TO SEE THE WORLD
THROUGH A GEOGRAPHER’S EYES.
KEY POINTS TO REMEMBER FROM
THIS SESSION…

Places and Patterns






Toponyms
Site
Situation
Absolute location
Patterns
 Linear
 Centralized
 Random
 rectilinear
Regions and
Regionalization





Definition
Formal
Functional
Perceptual
Examples of each type


Interconnections
 Globalization
 Time-space convergence
 Time-space compression
Geographic Technologies
GIS
 GPS


How Geographers Work
 Careers
 Field observations
REVIEW QUESTIONS
iScore5 app…
QUESTION 1
QUESTION 2
QUESTION 3
QUESTION 4
QUESTION 5