ap human flashcards
Physical Geography
Spatial characteristics of the environment like bodies of water, landforms, climate, and ecosystems.
Human Geography
Spatial characeristics of humans and human activities. For example, population, culture, politics, ubran areas, and economics.
Models
Representations of reality or theories about reality to help geographers see general spatial patterns, focus on influence of specific factors, and understand variations from place to place. They help describe and sometimes predict spatial activity and phenomena.
Simple: Models in human geography are simplified versions of reality. They help geographers see general patterns in space, understand the effects of specific factors, and notice differences between places. These models can explain and sometimes predict how things happen in different areas.
Spatial models
(Spefici kind of model) A specific type of model that focuses on how things are arranged across space. They illustrate patterns and distributions, showing how different factors influence the spatial layout of features like cities, transportation networks, or land use. Spatial models often use maps or diagrams to visualize spatial relationships.
Simple: Stylized maps show theories about how things are spread out in space. They are used for agricultural and urban land use, city distribution, and locations of stores or factories.
Non spatial Models
Illustrate theories and concepts using words, graphs, or tables. They show changes over time rather than across space with more accuracy than spatial models.
Simple:They focus on showing changes or patterns over time rather than across physical space. These models are used to explain and analyze trends, behaviors, and phenomena that do not necessarily involve spatial arrangements.
Time distance decay
Time-distance decay refers to the idea that the farther away two places are from each other, and the longer it takes to travel between them, the less likely it is that they will interact. This concept highlights how geographical distance and travel time can reduce the strength of relationships and interactions between locations.
Spatial patterns:
Referr to the general arrangment of things being studied.
Spatial patterns refer to the arrangement and organization of objects, people, or phenomena across the Earth’s surface. These patterns help geographers understand how things are distributed and the relationships between different places. Spatial patterns can reveal important information about social, economic, environmental, and cultural processes.
Physical maps
Show and lbel natural features such as mountains rivers, and deserts.
Road maps
Show and label highways, streets and alleys.
Choropleth maps
They use various colors shades to show the location and distribution of spatial data. They often show rates or other quantitiative data like amnt of people who speak english.
Thematic maps
Show spatial aspeccts of information or of a phenomenon.
Dot distribution maps
They are used to show the specific location and distrubition of something across a map.
Graduated symbol maps
They use symbols of different sizes to indicate different amounts of something. Larger sizes indicate more of something and vice versa.
Absoloute Location
Precise spot of where something is according to a system with longitude and lattitude.
Lattitude
Its the distance north or south of the equator. Think the bars on a latter left to right lines.
Longitude
Distance east or west of the prime meridian. Up and down lines.
equator
imaginary line that circles the globe exactly halfway between north and south poles. The equator is defined as 0 degrees and the poles as 90 degrees north and 90 degrees south.
Prime meridian
an imaginary line that runs from pole to pole through Greenwhich England. IT is 0 degrees and on the opposite side of the globe is 180. International date line roughly follows this line.
International Date line
the International Date Line is an imaginary line that runs from the North Pole to the South Pole and is roughly located at the 180° longitude. When crossing this line, the calendar date changes by one day. If you cross the line from east to west, you move forward one day, and if you cross from west to east, you move back one day. This line helps standardize time and date across the world.
Distribution
The way a phenomenon is spread out of an area. Essentially distribution is a description of the pattern of where specific phenomeneon are located.
Relative location
A descrption of where something is in relation to other things.
Clustered distribution or agglomerated
Phenomena are arranged in a group or concentrated area such as resturants in a food court at a mall or the clustering of cities along the border of the US or mexico.
Linear distribution
Phenomena are arranged in a straight line such as the distribution of towns alone a railroad line.
Dispersed distribution.
Phenomena are spread out over a large area such as the distribution of large malls in a city.
Circular distribution
Phenomena are equally spaced from a central point, forming a circle, such as the distribution of the homes of people who shop at a partiucular show.
Geometric distribution
Phenomena are in a regular arrangment such as the squares or blocks formed by roads in the midwest.
Random Distribution
Phenomena appear to have no order to their position such as the distribution of pet owners in a city.
