AP Human Geography

1. Tuesday, April 10, 2012 1 AP Human Geography An Introduction

2. Tuesday, April 10, 2012 2 Geography Definition: the scientific and systematic study of both the physical and cultural features of the earth�s surface. It is a spatial perspective looking at patterns and distributions on the earth�s surface

3. Tuesday, April 10, 2012 3 A Little History� Thinking geographically is one of the oldest human activities. The word geography was coined by the ancient Greek scholar Eratosthenes, and is based on two Greek words; Geo means �earth�, and graphy means �to write�

4. Tuesday, April 10, 2012 4 Questions that �Geography� Addresses Where are things located? Why are the important? How are places related? How are Places Connected? How are humans affected by these locations?

5. Tuesday, April 10, 2012 5 Geography is divided into two smaller groups of study: �Physical Geography� �Human or Cultural Geography�

6. Tuesday, April 10, 2012 6 Physical Geography Physical Geography is the study of the four spheres Lithosphere Atmosphere Hydrosphere Biosphere

7. Tuesday, April 10, 2012 7 There are many studies within �physical geography� Geomorphology: studies the form and structure of the surface of the earth Climatology: involves the study of long term weather conditions on the earth Hydrography: concerns the distribution of water (oceans, rivers, lakes, and their uses)

8. Tuesday, April 10, 2012 8 Biogeography: studies the flora (plant life) and fauna (animal life) Pedology: the study of soils Ecology: studies the interactions between life forms and the environment Geology: study of rocks and the earth�s interior

9. Tuesday, April 10, 2012 9 Human (or Cultural) Geography is the study of the spatial differentiation and organization of human activity on the earth�s surface. This is what we will focus on in this course

10. Tuesday, April 10, 2012 10 Historical Geography Demography and Population Geography Political Geography: nations, boundaries, geopolitics, military movements, treaties, devolution, choke points, and imperialism Geography of Religions Geography of Languages

11. Tuesday, April 10, 2012 11 Urban Geography: settlements, cities, and transportation systems Economic Geography: industries, economic development, and manufacturing regions Agricultural Geography Medical Geography Social Geography Environmental Geography

12. Tuesday, April 10, 2012 12 Physical Geography would address how Hurricane Katrina formed out in the Atlantic Ocean, gained strength as it passed through the Gulf of Mexico, and made landfall near the border of Louisiana and Mississippi This is where physical and human geography intersect�

13. Tuesday, April 10, 2012 13 Katrina caused massive damage, in part because it made landfall in heavily populated areas including New Orleans, Biloxi, and Mobile All of these areas are low lying, and the cities had constructed a complex system of levees, dikes, seawalls, canals, and pumps

14. Tuesday, April 10, 2012 14 Human geographers are especially concerned with the uneven impact of destruction Most victims were primarily poor, African American, and older individuals The lived in the lowest lying areas and lacked transportation, money, and information that would have enabled them to evacuate in advance

15. Tuesday, April 10, 2012 15 The slow incompetent response to the destruction by local, state, and federal emergency teams was blamed by analysts on the victims� lack of a voice in the politics, economy, and social life of New Orleans and other communities

16. Tuesday, April 10, 2012 16 Relationships like these will be examined throughout this course

17. Tuesday, April 10, 2012 17 A Little More History� Erotosthenes (276?-194? B.C.E.), besides coining our favorite word, also accepted that the Earth was spherical and calculated its circumference within a remarkable .5% accuracy He prepared one of the earliest maps of the known world, correctly dividing Earth into five climatic regions � a torrid zone in the middle, two frigid zones at the extreme north and south, and two temperate bands in between

18. Tuesday, April 10, 2012 18 Even prior to that, Herodotus (484-425? B.C.E.) had found it necessary to devote much of his book to the lands, peoples, economies, and customs of the Persian Empire

19. Tuesday, April 10, 2012 19 2000 years ago, the Roman Empire controlled much of Europe, Northern Africa and Western Asia Using information collected by merchants and soldiers, the Greek Ptolemy (A.D. 100?-170?) wrote an eight-volume Guide to Geography

20. Tuesday, April 10, 2012 20 He codified basic principles of cartography (map-making), and prepared numerous maps Ancient Greek and Roman maps were later compiled in the Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World

21. Tuesday, April 10, 2012 21 Little changed in Europe in map making or geography for hundreds of years after Ptolemy Elsewhere, development continued� Phei Hsiu (or Fei Xiu) was the �father of Chinese Cartography� and produced an elaborate map of the country in A.D. 267

22. Tuesday, April 10, 2012 22 The Muslim Geography Ibn-Battutah (1304-1368?) wrote Rihlah (�Travels�) based on three decades of journeys through northern Africa, southern Europe, and much of Asia A revival of geography occurred in Europe during the Age of Exploration and Discovery

23. Tuesday, April 10, 2012 23 Ptolemy�s maps were rediscovered, and his writings translated Columbus, Magellan, and others who sailed across the oceans in search of trade routes required accurate maps Cartographers such as Gerardus Mercator (1512-1594) and Abraham Ortelius (1527-1598) took information collected and created more accurate maps

24. Tuesday, April 10, 2012 24 During the 18th Century, the rapid development of geology, zoology, and botany along with other natural sciences increased geographical investigation It increased awareness of the intricate interconnections in space and between places

25. Tuesday, April 10, 2012 25 During the 19th century, national censuses, trade stats, and ethnographic studies gave more strength to human geography as a discipline of study

26. Tuesday, April 10, 2012 26 The Four Traditions of Geography The four traditions of geography were originally espoused by geographer William D. Pattison at the opening session of the annual convention of the National Council for Geographic Education, Columbus, Ohio, November 29, 1963. His four traditions attempted to define the discipline: 1) spatial tradition 2) area studies tradition 3) man-land tradition 4) earth science tradition.

27. Tuesday, April 10, 2012 27 Spatial Tradition (also called Locational Tradition) Movement and transportation Quantitative techniques and tools, such as computerized mapping and Geographic Information Systems Central Place Theory Areal distribution Spatial patterns

28. Tuesday, April 10, 2012 28 Area Studies Tradition (also called Regional Tradition) Description of regions or areas World regional geography International trends and relationships How regions are different from one another The chorographic tradition (regions)

29. Tuesday, April 10, 2012 29 Man-Land Tradition (also called Human-Environmental, Human-Land, or Culture-Environment Tradition) Human impact on nature Impact of nature on humans Natural hazards Perception of environment Environmentalism Cultural, political, and population geography

30. Tuesday, April 10, 2012 30 Earth Science Tradition Physical geography The lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere Earth-sun interaction Offshoots are geology, mineralogy, paleontology, glaciology, geomorphology, and meteorology The study of the earth as the home to humans

31. Tuesday, April 10, 2012 31 deBlij addressed the NCGE in 1999 on why geography matters The speech can be found here: http://geography.about.com/library/misc/bldeblij1.htm He discussed several topics, please take the time to read it, and its stress on the importance of geography

32. Tuesday, April 10, 2012 32 Two Approaches� �to studying geography Regional: such as the World Geography class; studying geography through a series of regions, (Latin America, Southeast Asia, Western Europe, etc) Systematic: (Human Geography, Physical Geography, Historical Geography)

33. Tuesday, April 10, 2012 33 Works Cited Fellmann, Jerome D., Arthur Getis, and Judith Getis. Human Geography : Landscapes of Human Activities. New York: McGraw-Hill Companies, The, 2005. O�Brien, John. Notebook 1. Advanced Placement Human Geography. Naples, Florida W.D. Pattison, "The Four Traditions of Geography" Journal of Geography Vol. 63 no. 5: 211-216. Rosenberg, Matt. "The Four Traditions of Geography." about.com. 2008. 7 Aug 2008 <http://geography.about.com/od/studygeography/a/4traditions.htm>. Rubenstein, James A.. An Introduction to Human Geography. Ninth. Oxford, Ohio: Person Prentice Hall, 2008.