AP HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

UNIT ONE:NATURE AND PERSPECTIVES

What is Geography?Eratosthenes – 1st to Coin the Word GeographyGeo + Graphy = Earth + To Write

2 ? Geographers Ask: Where? And Why?

2 Main Areas of Geography: Physical & HumanPhysical: Natural forces….climates, landforms, etc.Human: human activities…Religion, language…

ways we make a living, cities, etc.w/in human – 2 main areas: culture & economy1st ½ of book – culture…. 2nd ½ - economy

What is Geography?Geography is the study of Earth in a spatial perspective

What does spatial mean?Spatial = spaceHow things are laid out, organized, and arranged on the

earth in different scales.

What are scales?The level at which we look @ thingsExamples: local, regional, national, or global

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Using a map to spatially locate the source of a 1854 cholera outbreak in London.

What scale is this map drawn at?

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Map Scale: How much does it show? 5 streets? City? Country? Or..Continent?Locally or local scale: large scale; see unique

aspectsGlobally or global scale: small scale; can see

similarities

**NOTE: large scale = small area small scale = large area; the smaller the scale the less detail is given (see slide)

Show map scale 3 ways: fraction (1/24,000) or ratio (1:24,000)

Graphic bar scale (see p. 10, fig. 3) written statement (“1 inch equals 1 mi.) -left = distance on map -right = dist. on the Earth

Note: large scale = small areasmall scale = large areaThe smaller the scale the less detail is given.

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Scales on mapsOn this map the scale is

given as a representative fraction (1/253,440) and also as a ratio (1:253,440).

The fraction and the ratio mean the same thing: that one unit of distance

on the map represents 253,440 of the same units on the ground.

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Which map would show the largest area?

1 / 2,500,739

Or

1:10,000

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Scale Differences: Maps of FloridaThe effects of scale LARGE SCALE = small area…Small scale= LARGE AREA

MAPSMaps: science of mapmaking = cartographyMap = 2D or flat- scale model of some part of the Earth

Mental Maps – Cognitive landscape in the human mind – accurate around our areas of home, school and workplace…elsewhere may be blank

2 main purposes of maps:Storing Reference Info: Ex.: How do we get from here to

there? …or… Where is Zimbabwe?Communications Tool

Ex.: Show migration or spread of disease

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Types of maps & info on maps:

physical maps: show landforms of an area

Use colors to show relief— difference levels in land elevations

-green usually = lo elevations

-orange or brown = hi elevations

Topographical Presents horizontal &

vertical positions of features represented

-shows relief in measurable form.

-Uses contour lines (isolines) to show the shape & elevation of an area

(shape of the Earth’s surface)

-Lines close together indicate steep terrain

-Lines far apart indicate flat terrain.

IsolinesIsolines calculate date

between points to show change in data

This Isoline map shows overage rainfall in Mexico

Weather maps showing temperature contours – use isotherms – and are the most common isoline maps

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Political maps: show places divided by states (aka “countries”), cities, counties, etc.

-usually show rivers, major lakes, oceans, etc., elevations….capital cities show w/ star

Economic maps: type of thematic

map that shows natural resources

in areas and/or ways that people

make a living; legends may show

mines, factories, power plants, etc.

NOTE: the economy of a country is the way the money is earned, used, spent, controlled, issued, invested, etc.

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Thematic Maps: Provides info on a

single topic (population, rainfall…)

Using Thematic Maps: shows comparison of statistical data, like population or income

-can view facts about places by comparing the patterns of shaded areas or colors on the map.

Dot Map

Thematic MapsChloropleth:

(Gk.: for “place” + “value or magnitude”):

Thematic map w/ areas colored, shaded, dotted, or hatched so have darker/lighter areas in proportion to density of whatever aspect U R are looking

-show amt. of some “phenomenon” (some event or thing which occurs) like ratios, %, etc., using these colors

Flow-line maps – use lines of varying thickness to show the direction and volume of a particular geographic movement pattern

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Cartogram:Shows some

quantity or value by shape or size of a region

GDP

Military Spending

p. 47 Rubenstein – Population Distribution

Reference Maps- Tool to view boundaries of census geographies, cities, counties, cities/towns, urban areas, congressional districts, census tracts, census blocks, & more. Note: some of these terms overlap

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To create maps, cartographers project the round Earth onto a flat surface — making a map projection.

There are many different map projections.Distance, shape, direction, or size may

be distorted by a projection. Each has advantages and disadvantages.

MAP PROJECTIONS

MERCATOR PROJECTIONFlemish Cartographer: Gerardus Mercator

1569Purpose: Navigate ships across the Atlantic

Ocean between Europe & the AmericasUsed grid system of meridians and parallels -

good for travelling east and westBUT…distorts size of areas especially @ North

and South polesAntarctica and Greenland look HUGE on map

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Mercator Projection

Mercator is conformal, meaning shapes stay the same.

ROBINSON PROJECTIONTries to correct for distortion in high north and

south by curving those areas inward on paperLongitude lines get closer @ North & South

Poles – so sizes of landmasses are more accurate

BUT…other landmasses look smaller Robinson attempts to balance all distortions

by making errors in all 4 ways:Shape, size, distance and directionGood for general use and often used for wall

maps in classrooms

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Peter’s ProjectionArnold Peters – 1974Focuses on keeping landmasses equal in areaShapes are distorted - resulting in map quite

unfamiliar w/ most viewersBUT…Humanitarian Aid groups tend to like

this map because other maps have made Africa and Latin America seems smaller than they are

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Peters Projection

Goode’s Homosoline ProjectionLike the Robinson Projection - it tries to

balance aarea and formSacrifices a bit of both to create a more

visually practical representation of the earth’s surface

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Interrupted Goode Homolosine Projection

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Land Ordinance of 1785: pp. 10-12 Township & Range system used to divide western lands of USA

Township (TS) = 6 sq. miles per sideeach TS divided into 36 sections (1 mi x 1

mi.)sections divided into quarter sec.’s which = a

typical “homestead” (160 acres) for settlersUsed principal meridians (some of the N & S

lines) & base lines (some E & W lines) to form squares

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Township & Range System in the

U.S.

Using GRIDS to lay out land areas Principal meridians & east-west

baselines of the township system. Townships in NW Mississippi &

topographic map of the area

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: Remote sensing GIS GPS

remote sensing: satellites orbiting (or other long-distance) give data RE: surface

-shows vegetation, ice, weather patterns, etc.; scans like TV camera using pixels

-resolution: smallest feature that can be picked up by

the camera -some 1 meter across…weather

satellites pick up several km across (need lg. area)

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GPS: Global Positioning System: using map to find way to another location

Can use hand-held or computers in cars - gets signal from GPS satellites

GIS INFORMATION SYSTEM Created fusing remote sensing Hi-perform. computer system;

processes geog.-data -In layers: can show 1 or several at

a time (F.1-5, p.12) -Shows earthquake faults, pop.

data, manufacturing, soil types, etc. EX: of use: street map + pop. map

= bus routes needed (# w/in walking distance of stop)

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Layers of a GIS

Fig. 1-5: A geographic information system (GIS) stores information about a location in several layers. Each layer represents a different category of information.