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AP Human Geography > Unit 1: Thinking Like a Geographer > Flashcards

Unit 1: Thinking Like a Geographer Flashcards

1
Q

Physical Geography

A

study of the spatial characteristics of various elements of the physical environment i.e. landforms, bodies of water, ecosystems, erosion

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2
Q

Human Geography

A

study of the spatial characteristics of humans and human activities i.e. population, culture, politics, urban areas, economics

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3
Q

Four-Level Analysis

A

a framework which helps guide thinking, provide an approach to spatial thinking, and help us think like a geographer. As the levels increase, they provide more of an understanding of the situation and help us detect patterns.

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4
Q

Theory

A

system of ideas and concepts that attempt to explain and prove why or how interactions have occured/will occur.

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5
Q

Concepts

A

key ideas, building blocks, and vocabulary that geographers use to describe our world.

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6
Q

Processes

A

involve a series of steps or actions that explain how or why geographic patterns occur.

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7
Q

Models

A

representations of reality or theories about reality to help see general spatial patterns, focus on the influence of specific factors, and understand variations from place to place

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8
Q

Spatial Models

A

look like stylized maps; illustrate theories about spatial distributions i.e. agricultural use, urban planning, store/factory location

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9
Q

Non-Spatial Models

A

illustrate theories and concepts using words, graphs, or tables; depict changes over time (not space) more accurately than spatial models.

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10
Q

Time-Distance Decay

A

idea that things that are near each other are more connected and related than things that are far apart.

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11
Q

Spatial Patterns

A

refer to the general arrangement of things being studied; use different terms like scattered, clustered, linked, etc. to describe these patterns.

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12
Q

Networks/Nodes

A

set of interconnected entities.

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13
Q

Quantitative Data

A

any information that can be measured and recorded as numbers i.e. total number of immigrants in a city

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14
Q

Geospatial Data

A

data that is both spatial and quantitative; numerical and has a geographical location attached to it as it’s mappable i.e. average annual income by country

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15
Q

Qualitative Sources

A

sources from which you gain non-measurable/non-numerical data i.e. newspapers, interviews, photos, remote satellite images, etc.

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16
Q

Scales of Analysis

A

looking at topics at a local, regional, national, or global scale i.e. Eastern China being more densely populated than Western China (national scale)

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17
Q

Reference Maps

A

designed for people to refer them for general information about places

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18
Q

Political Maps

A

maps that show and label human-created boundaries and designations, such as countries, cities, capitals, etc.

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19
Q

Physical Maps

A

maps that show and label natural features, such as mountains and rivers.

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20
Q

Road Maps

A

maps that show roads, highways, and alleys

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21
Q

Plat Maps

A

maps that show and label property lines and land ownership.

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22
Q

Thematic Maps

A

maps that show spatial aspects of information or a phenomenon i.e. choropleth maps, dot distribution maps

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23
Q

Choropleth Maps

A

maps that use shades of a color, colors, or patterns to show the location and distribution of the data; often show rates/quantitative data in defined areas i.e. % of how many people speak English.

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24
Q

Dot Distribution Maps

A

maps that use dots or other shapes to show the specific location and distribution of something; each dot represents a specified quantity i.e. a triangle stands for one school building.

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25
Q

Graduated/Proportional Symbol Maps

A

map that uses symbols of different sizes to indicate different amounts of something; larger = more and smaller = less; make it easy to see where the largest or smallest of one phenomenon happens.

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26
Q

Isoline/Isometric Maps

A

maps that use lines to connect points of equal value to depict variations in the data across space; lines that close together = rapid change while lines that are far apart = phenomenon occurs relatively the same i.e. maps depicting pressure, temperature

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27
Q

Topographic Maps

A

a type of isoline map that connects points of equal elevation which creates contours that depict surface features.

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28
Q

Cartogram

A

a map in which the size of countries is scaled to a specific statistic, like population or average temperature; good for comparisons with a spatial aspect

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29
Q

Scale

A

the ratio between the size of things in the real world and the size of things on a map i.e. a quarter inch = 2.5 miles on a map.

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30
Q

Small Scale Maps

A

a map that shows a larger amount of area with less detail i.e. Earth at Night Map

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31
Q

Large Scale Maps

A

a map that shows less area with more detail i.e. North America at Night Map

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32
Q

Absolute Location

A

the precise point at which something is, usually represented by latitude and longitude or (x, y).

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33
Q

Relative Location

A

location that describes where something is based on the location of something else i.e. “Salt Lake City is just south of the Salt Lake and West of the Rockies near I-15.”

34
Q

Connectivity

A

how well two locations are tied together by roads or other links.

35
Q

Accessibility

A

how quickly and easily people in one location can interact with people in another location.

36
Q

Direction

A

used to describe where things are in relation of each other i.e. cardinal direction (N, S, E, W), intermediate direction (SE, NW).

37
Q

Patterns

A

the general arrangement of things, in the distribution of the phenomenon across space that gives us clues about the causes or effects of the distribution.

38
Q

Absolute Distance

A

measured in feet, miles, kilometers, meters, etc. i.e. “The absolute distance from your home to your school is 2.2 miles.”

39
Q

Relative Distance

A

indicates the degree of nearness based on time or money and is usually dependent on the mode of transportation i.e. “It takes 10 minutes to get from my home to my school on car.”

40
Q

Distribution

A

the way a phenomenon is spread out over an area.

41
Q

Clustered/Agglomerated Distribution

A

when phenomenon are arranged in a group or a concentrated area i.e. the clustering of McDonald’s in a metropolitan area.

42
Q

Linear Distribution

A

when phenomenon are arranged in a straight line i.e. the amalgamation of towns across a railroad line.

43
Q

Dispersed Distribution

A

when phenomenon are spread out over a large area i.e. large malls in a city.

44
Q

Circular Distribution

A

phenomenon that are equally spaced from a central point, forming a circle i.e. homes of people that shop at a certain store.

45
Q

Geometric Distribution

A

phenomenon that form a general shape or arrangement i.e. the roads that form squares in the Midwest

46
Q

Random Distribution

A

phenomenon which have no order in their position i.e. pet owners in a large city.

47
Q

Landscape Analysis

A

defining and describing landscapes.

48
Q

Field Observation

A

a part of landscape analysis; refers to visiting the landform firsthand and record data there like notes, photos, sketches, interviews, etc.

49
Q

Spatial Data

A

information that can be tied to a specific place i.e. information you collect after field observations.

50
Q

Aerial Photography

A

a type of observed data; professional images captured from planes within the atmosphere.

51
Q

Fieldwork

A

refers to observing and recording information on location, or in the field i.e. census from the population, interviews, informal observations from geographers, land surveys, photographs, sketches.

52
Q

Geovisualization

A

2D/3D interactive maps that allow seeing geographic information through all of the levels of scale (local, regional, national, global).

53
Q

Global Positioning System (GPS)

A

a geospatial technology that uses the location of multiple satellites to determine and record the receiver’s exact location; used in locating borders, mapping lines or points, and navigating ships/cars/aircraft.

54
Q

Global Positioning System (GPS)

A

a geospatial technology that uses the location of multiple satellites to determine and record the receiver’s exact location; used in locating border, mapping lines or points, and navigating ships/cars/aircraft.

55
Q

Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

A

computer system that can store, analyze, and display information from multiple digital maps or geospatial data sets; used for analyzing crime data, monitoring the effects of pollution; analyzing travel time, and urban planning.

56
Q

Remote Sensing

A

a geospatial technology that uses cameras or other sensors mounted on aircrafts/satellites to collect digital images or video of the earth’s surface; used for determining land cover/usage, monitoring environmental changes, assessing spread of spatial phenomenon, and monitoring the weather.

57
Q

Space

A

the area between two things/phenomena; at the heart of geography.

58
Q

Location

A

identifies where specific phenomena are located on either a grid or relative to another location; used to define how much space is between locations.

59
Q

Place

A

refers to the specific human or physical characteristics to a location.

60
Q

Region

A

a group of places that share the same characteristics.

61
Q

Site

A

a way to refer to a place; characteristics of the immediate location i.e. climate, soil type, labor force, human structures.

62
Q

Situation

A

a way to refer to a place; refers to the location of a place relative to its surrounding and its connectivity to other places i.e. Riyadh is located in the center of the Arabian Peninsula; situation can change like how it changes when a new highway is built.

63
Q

Sense of Place

A

the idea that people tend to perceive characteristics differently based on personal beliefs i.e. how a Hindu vs. Catholic would view the Vatican City.

64
Q

Toponym

A

place names; can provide insight of its history, physical geography, or culture i.e. Miami Beach (Geography), Pikes Peak (Explorer), Iowa (Native Tribe); BUT be careful, as it can differ i.e. Iceland v. Greenland.

65
Q

Time-Space Compression

A

the fact that relative distance is shrinking because of improvements in transportation i.e. NYC and London being easily traveled to by air.

66
Q

Spatial Interaction

A

refers to the contact, movement, and flow of things between locations; connections can be physical (roads) or through info (Internet); spatial interaction is growing right now!

67
Q

Flow

A

refers to the patterns and movements of ideas, people, products, and other phenomena i.e. flow of cultures, migrations, trade, etc.

68
Q

Friction of Distance

A

indicates when things are further apart, they are less connected; movement incurs some sort of cost, such as energy, physical effort, time, or expenditure.

69
Q

Distance Decay

A

the specific concept that when things are further apart, they are less connected.

70
Q

Human-Environment Interaction

A

the connection and exchange between humans and the environment/nature.

71
Q

Built Environment

A

the physical artifacts that humans have created and that are apart of our landscape i.e. buildings, signs, fences, etc.

72
Q

Cultural Landscape

A

cultural attributes to describe a place; anything built by humans is a part of the cultural landscape i.e. the architectural style differences of houses in Germany vs. houses in China.

73
Q

Environmental Determinism

A

belief that landforms and climate are the most powerful forces shaping human behavior and societal development while ignoring the influence of culture i.e. how some civilizations were more superior than others because of climate.

74
Q

Possibilism

A

an “edit” of the less modern Environmental Determinism theory; a view that acknowledges limits on the effects of the natural environment and focuses more on the role that human culture plays; different cultures will respond to something based on their resources, beliefs, etc.; if there are issues they will get over problems with creativity.

75
Q

Global Scale

A

the entire world i.e. Earth at Night.

76
Q

World Regional Scale

A

multiple countries i.e. South Asia, North America.

77
Q

National Scale

A

one country i.e. Iran, Uzbekistan.

78
Q

National Regional Scale

A

a portion of one country or a region(s) within a country i.e. the Middle East, Eastern China.

79
Q

Local Scale

A

a province, city, state, county, or neighborhood i.e. Tennessee, Moscow.

80
Q

Formal (Uniform) Regions

A

united by one or more traits i.e. political (Brazil in South America), physical (Sahara Desert), economic (Gold Coast of Africa), cultural (Southwestern Nigeria, where lingual similarities exist).

81
Q

Functional (Nodal) Regions

A

organized around a focal point and are defined by political, social, or economic activity that occurs across the region; united by transportation/communication i.e. pizza delivery areas (pizza place is center), political nodal region (state/country has government in center), locations flights connect from airport (airport is node).

82
Q

Perceptual (Vernacular) Regions

A

regions defined by the informal sense of place that people ascribe to them; by perception; boundaries vary widely i.e. the South, the Middle East (these regions exist but their boundaries are dependent on who you talk to).

AP Human Geography (4 decks)

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