Introduction to AP Human Geography

1. Introduction to AP Human Geography

2. Introductory Questions • Why do students study geography? (3 examples) • How does geography affect your life? (3 examples) • How would your life be different if you lived in Japan? (3 examples)

3. Intro. Cont.. • In this course, we will examine why different areas have developed differently in terms of culture, economics, politics, and urban development. • Geography is a means to understand why certain areas are similar to and different from each other. Human geography in particular, helps us to focus on “how the world is and how it might be.” • Geography is a means to understand why certain areas are similar to and different from each other. Human geography in particular, helps us to focus on “how the world is and how it might be.”

4. Intro. Cont… • Human geography is different from other branches of geography because its primary focus is people. It studies human groups and their activities, such as language, industry, and the building of cities; it is a social science. (It looks at how people modify their environment, how they interact over space, as opposed to with space). • Other Fields of Geography • Population geography – The study of the distribution of humankind across the earth • Cultural geography – The study of the geography of human cultures • Political geography – The study of the interaction between political processes and the distribution of all other activities • Economic geography – The study of how various people make their living and what they trade • Urban geography – The geographic study of cities • Physical Geography – The study of the characteristics of the physical environment • Historical Geography – The study of the geography of the past and how geographic distributions have changed.

5. Are You a Geo-Genius 1) Which state is bordered on the southwest by the Savannah River- South Carolina or Indiana? 2) Which state produces more gold than any other state- Nevada or Nebraska? 3) Which state is located closer to the Tropic of Cancer – Louisiana or Wyoming? 4) Which state has a longer border with Canada – Alaska or Idaho? 5) Which state does not have a coastline New Mexico or New Hampshire?

6. Chapter 1 Introduction to Geography

7. History of Geography • Classical Western World • (1) Erastosthones (275-195 B.C.) Director of library in Alexandria, calculated circumference of the Earth • Hipparchus (180-127 B.C.) – Alexandria library director, first two place a grid on the earth • (2) Ptolemy ( 127 A.D. – 150) – Wrote Guide to Geography • Non-European World • Muslim Scholars - Al-Edrisi (1099-1154), Ibn-Battuta (1304-1378), and Ibn-Khaldun (1332-1406) produced texts • The Tribute of Yu 5th Century B.C. describes geogrpahy of Chinese Empire • Phei Hsiu – father of Chinese cartography • (3) Kangido – Korea 1402, included East Asia, India, Islamic World, Africa, and Europe, far more extensive than knowledge of the Roman World

8. Since the 1400’s… • General geography (1650) • Bernhard Varen – German professor • (4) Special geography = regional geography, begins with explanation of local physical env. and then analyzes places in terms of categories, such as local population, customs, and politics. • (5) General geography = topical/systematic geography, examines topics of universal application, basic approach for the outline of your textbook • Human-environment tradition • (6) Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) • Cosmos – enormous intellectual impact in the United States, statue central park • (7) George Perkins Marsh (1801-1882) • Man and Nature (1864) – U.S. ambassador to several Mediterranean countries, precursor of today’s env. movement

9. “The information that any citizen needs in order to make an informed decision on an important question of the day is largely geographic.”

10. Geography Today • Association of American Geographers • (8) 55 topical specialties • www.aag.org • Where?, What?, When?, Why?, and Why there? • Four approaches • Area analysis – examines site, situation, and region. • Spatial analysis – examines patterns in the distribution of human actions, movements and env. processes across Earth’s surface • (9) Physical System Analysis – use models to analyze physical env. • Geographic information systems analysis – use computer based GIS and GPS systems

11. Area Analysis • Site • (10) Exact location of a place • Situation or relative location • Location of a place relative to other places • Accessibility • (11) Constant change • Scale

12. Regions • Formal regions • Exhibit uniformity across a cultural or physical characteristic • Functional regions • Defined by interactions among places • Vernacular regions • (12) Widespread popular perception of existence

16. Spatial Analysis • Distribution – the distribution of a phenomenon means its position, placement or arrangement throughout space • Three properties of distribution • (13) Density – describes the frequency of occurrence of a phenomenon in relation to a geographic area (fig. 1-11) • Concentration – refers to the distribution of a phenomenon within a given area • (14) Pattern – geometrical arrangement of objects in an area

18. Movement • Distance – Interaction of people and places across distance • Measurements (several ways to measure) • (15) Absolute – measured in terms of miles or kilometers • Time – i.e. something is 20 minutes away • Cost – monetary amount required to overcome a distance (explains importance of water to growth of cities) • (16) Friction of distance – effort to overcome distance when we transport items • Distance decay • As distance increases, importance of a particular phenomena decreases • Ex. Newspaper circulation

20. Three Types of Diffusion • (17) Relocation diffusion – i.e. a nomadic tribe relocating • Contiguous diffusion – occurs from one place directly to another place • (18) Hierarchical diffusion – upward or downward in an organization (Roman Catholic Church) • Barriers to diffusion • Cultural barriers • Oceans, deserts, distance, time • Political boundaries, cultural differences

22. 4 Physical Systems • Atmosphere (air) –surrounding Earth to an altitude of less than 300 miles (lower atm. pure air is 78% N and 21% O) • (19) Lithosphere (Earth’s solid rocks) – consists of Earth’s crust and a portion of upper mantle directly below the crust, extending down 45 miles • Hydrosphere (water) – surface water, vapor in the atmosphere, ice in glaciers, and groundwater in soil and rock • (20) Biosphere - living organisms on Earth

23. Human-Environmental Interaction • (21) Reciprocal interaction – env. affects human life and cultures and humans alter the env. • Culture • Everything about the way people live: language, food, religion, social ceremonies • (22) Natural landscapes • Without evidence of human activity • Cultural landscapes • Reveals how humans modify local environment

24. The Geographic Grid • Longitude • Measures distance east to west around the globe beginning at the Prime Meridian • Prime Meridian – 0 Degree • International Date Line – see figure 1-19 • 0-180 degrees East or West • (23) Greenwich Mean Time • Latitude • Location on the Earth’s surface between the equator and either the north or south pole • (24) Parallels – lines connecting all points at the same latitude • 0-90 degrees North or South

27. 0 1 2 3 4 Map Making • Cartography • Scale • Fraction 1/24,000 • Ratio 1:24,000 • Written statement “1 inch equals 1 mile” • Bar style • Detail and area • (25) Small scale map = less detail, large denominator (1:1,000,000) • (26) Large scale map = more detail, small denominator (1:100,000)

30. Projection • Scientific method of transferring locations on Earth’s surface to a flat map • 4 types of distortion – (see page 30) • (27) Shape – objects are stretched more in some parts so that their shape changes • Distance – latitude and longitude lines • (28) Relative size – items become larger or smaller • Direction – lat. & long. orientation changes

32. Geographic Information Technology • Automated cartography • Manual techniques - expensive • (29) Computer Assisted Drawing (CAD) • Sophisticated, specialized digital cartography systems • Easier, cheaper editing • Also used for product design, i.e. Cannondale

33. Natural Landscape – w/o evidence of human activity

34. Cultural Landscape - Reveals how humans modify local environment

35. Questions: 1) When does an area become a cultural landscape and stop becoming a natural landscape? 2) Are all landscapes cultural landscapes? 3) How much of land in the U.S. should be preserved?

36. Accessibility – can be as valuable as mineral deposits or fertile soil • Accessibility Survey • How accessible is NYC? Philadelphia? Tanzania? • How accessible are your teachers? 3. How accessible are you, can your friends easily contact you? 4. How might your answers have been different 50 years ago? 5. What are the positives and negatives of increased accessibility?

37. Remote Sensing Acquisition of data about Earth’s surface from a satellite orbiting the planet or from high-flying aircraft

38. Satellites • (30) Landsat – see page 35 • First launch 1972; most recent launch 1999 • Sensors measure radiation of colors of visible light • Pixel size at first (resolution): 59 x 59 meters • IKONOS resolution now: 1.5 x 1.5 meters • Weather satellites • Very large pixels – cover several kilometers on a side

40. Remotely Sensed Data • Human activities • Changes in plant growth • Drainage patterns • Erosion associated with agriculture • (31) Logging and forest management • Wetland monitoring • Wartime applications

42. GIS – (32) Geographic Information Systems • Database software for digital information • Contains same information as regular database • PLUS • Spatial characteristics such as boundary information or coordinates • An identifying characteristic that locates the item in space (i.e., address) • Layers • Information with specific characteristics • Soils, hydrology, land ownership • Can be combined for analysis

44. Digital Geographic Information • (33) Raster • Grid cells of data • Remote sensing images • Pixels • (34) Vector • Point, line, polygon data • X and Y coordinates • Different uses and spatial accuracies

45. Digital Data • Conversion of paper to digital formats • Digital database creation • Remote sensing images • Digitizing • Tracing lines • Available types of data • (35) Topographic maps • DRG and DLG • US Fish and Wildlife Service National Wetlands Inventory • Census Bureau TIGER files

46. GIS Spatial Analysis • Calculating densities and distribution of population • “Counting” lakes • Monitoring environmental changes with satellite images • Analyzing changes in (36) food production and land use

47. Chapter 1 Vocab. Space-time compression – the reduction in the time it takes for something to reach another place Hearth – the place where an innovation originates Expansion diffusion – spread of features from one place to another Contagious diffusion – rapid widespread diffusion throughout a population, for example a disease Stimulus diffusion – spread of an underlying principle, like the use of Windows Uneven Development – Increasing economic gap between regions in the core and periphery as a result of globalization End of Chapter 1

48. Chapter 1 Vocab. Cont.. • Transnational Corporation – multinational corp. operates factories and sells products in many factories • Polder – piece of land created from draining water • Cultural Ecology – geographic study of human-environment relationships • Environmental Determinism – Human environment causes social development • Possibilism – People have the ability to adjust to their environment • MDCS and LDCs • Culture – body of customary beliefs, material traits and social forms that constitute a distinct group

49. Chapter 1 Vocab. Cont.. • Regions • Formal • Functional • Regional