Ap Human Geography Chapter 1 Outline

Chapter 1 Outline:

1. Geography

a. Human geography

i. Study of human activities and where and why they are located where they are.

b. Physical geography

i. Study of natural forces and where and why they occur

c. Place and Region.

i. A place is a specific point on Earth uniquely distinguished with its own attributes. ii. A region is an area of land consisting of a unique combination of cultural and physical features.

d. Scale, Space, and connections

i. Scale is the relationship between the area of Earth being examined and its real-life measurements. ii. Space refers to the gap between two objects. iii. Connections are relationships bridging the space between people and places.

2. How Do Geographers Describe Where Things Are?

a. Maps

i. Early

Greek Ptolemy (A.D. 100-170) established basic principles of mapmaking and also made dozens of maps, which where not improved upon for thousands of years.

5. By the seventeenth century, maps depicted accurate positions of continents and the positions of oceans. ii. Map Scale

1. The amount of detail and area displayed on a map depends on its scale.

2. Scale refers to the relationship of a feature’s size on Earth to its size on the map.

3. The appropriate scale of a map depends on the information being portrayed. iii. Projection

1. The scientific method of transferring locations on Earth’s surface to a flat map is called projections.

2. Four types of distortion can result: size, distance, relative size, and direction.

3. Equal are projections are beneficial because the relative sizes of the features on the map are the same as in reality.

4. The Robinson projection is useful for displaying information across oceans.

5. The Mercator projection is advantageous because shape is rarely distorted and direction is consistent. iv. U.S. Land Ordinance of 1785

1. Divided much of the country into a system of townships and ranges to facilitate the sale of land to settlers in the West.

2. A township is a square 6 miles on each

GIS is more efficient than drawing a map by hand.

4. Each type of information can be stored in a layer.

5. A simple map might only show one layer, while most maps combine several layers.

6. Layers can be compared to show relationships among different kinds of information.

7. GIS enables geographers to calculate whether relationships between objects on a map are significant or not. ii. Remote Sensing

1. Obtaining data about Earth’s surface is known as remote sensing.

2. Remote-sensing satellites constantly scan Earth’s surface.

3. Used to research environmental variables. iii. GPS

1. System that accurately determines the exact location of something on Earth.

2. GPS is most commonly used in the navigation of aircraft and ships.

3. Useful for creating layers in a GIS.

3. Why Is Each Point on Earth Unique?

a. Place: Unique location of a feature

i. Place Names

1. A toponym is the name given to a place on Earth.

2. A place may be named for a: person, association with religion, indication of original settlers, or from the features of the physical environment.

3. The Board of Geographical Names was established in the late nineteenth-century to officiate the appointment of names on U.S. maps.

4. Names can also change as a result of political