AP Human Geography Chapter 1 Flashcards

Geography Fundamentals

• Geography encompasses the study of Earth’s physical and cultural landscapes, examining spatial patterns and interrelationships.
• Tobler's First Law of Geography notes that all things are interconnected, with proximity enhancing relationships.

Spatial Concepts

• Distance decay refers to the diminishing effect of distance on cultural or spatial interactions.
• The distance decay effect highlights how interaction between two locales decreases as the distance increases.
• Friction of distance signifies that overcoming distance involves effort, money, and energy.

Branches of Geography

• Physical geography studies the natural environment, including climates, landforms, and vegetation.
• Human geography focuses on the spatial distribution of people and human activities, analyzing their relationships.

Place and Sense of Place

• Place refers to the meaningful associations people have with specific locations.
• Sense of place describes emotions and memories people associate with particular locations.

Coordinate Systems

• Latitude is measured in degrees, with the equator at 0 degrees and poles at 90 degrees north and south.
• Longitude, or meridians, runs from pole to pole, with the Prime Meridian established at 0 degrees.

Map Interpretation

• The International Date Line roughly follows 180 degrees longitude, affecting calendar dates based on direction traveled.
• Small scale maps represent large areas with less detail; large scale maps focus on local specifics with greater detail.
• A representative fraction shows the size relation between map objects and their real-world counterparts.

Mapping Techniques

• Isolines connect points of equal data value on a map, while isoline maps depict variations across surfaces.
• General-purpose maps provide a broad overview of areas, contrasting with physical maps that detail Earth’s topography.
• Political maps illustrate boundaries between countries, whereas image maps use satellite imagery for representation.
• Cartograms distort space to emphasize particular data attributes, while dot maps visualize density through dot representation.
• Choropleth maps use color to denote ranked classes of variables across defined regions.

Cartography and GIS

• Cartography is the art and science involved in mapmaking.
• Geographic Information Systems (GIS) integrate various data forms (maps, satellite images, statistics) to create informative maps.

Determinants of Cultural and Physical Geography

• Possibilism suggests that the environment restricts certain conditions, yet social factors predominantly shape culture.
• Density refers to the frequency of a phenomenon in a given space, while concentration describes how spread out objects are.
• Dispersed indicates objects that are relatively far apart; patterns represent the geometric arrangement of phenomena in an area.

Identifying Locations

• Locations can be identified through name, mathematical coordinates, site characteristics, and situational context.
• Uniform regions are characterized by distinct features or landscapes, while functional regions are defined by activity nodes and distance decay.

Important Vocabulary

• Toponym refers to a name derived from a place or region, highlighting the significance of location in cultural identity.