Name: ____________________________ TP: ______
HW: Reading Guide – Chapter 1
AP Human Geography
Due Date: Tuesday, September 8, 2015
Chapter 1 – Basic Concepts - Rubenstein 10th Edition
AP HUMAN GEOGRAPHY Required NOTE-TAKING FORMAT – 2015/2016
All chapter notes must be hand-written and based on the student’s independent reading. Take notes on all specifics
identified on this Chapter Guide. Rewrite all chapter heading/subheadings to organize your thoughts. Highlight these
headings in your notes! This note-taking strategy will help you with your FRQ skills you need for the exam May 13th! All
answers must be in complete sentences and in PEN, blue or black only! BOLDLY number each question i.e., Q1 and
underline each glossary term as you take personalized notes. Some answers can be written on this Chapter Guide.
Introduction~ Pages 2-4
1. Compare and contrast the disciplines of history and geography (historians vs. geographers).
Key Issues 1- How Do Geographers Describe Where Things Are? Pages 5-13
2. Define map.
3. Identify and explain why geographers utilize maps.
4. Who first used the term “geography” and what does the term mean? (May need to be looked up!)
5. Provide examples of developments in geography for each of the following:
Chinese
Muslims
Age of
Exploration/
Discovery
6. Identify one major difference between Erathosthenes’s world map (Figure 1-4) and the map of Ortelius (Figure 1-6).
7. Read the feature “Mapping a Disaster” section covering Hurricane Katrina. How are the three contemporary maps
shown demonstrate issues within New Orleans?
7. Define map scale.
a. What is the advantage of a map which shows only a small portion of the earth’s surface – like a neighborhood – that
is, a large-scale map?
b. What advantage does a map which shows the entire globe, a small-scale map, have?
8. Explain the ways in which a globe is limited in communicating information.
9. When geographers convert the round Earth to a flat map, they use a projection. All projections have some distortion (only a globe
has none). List the four things that typically become distorted in various projections and explain the distortion.
10. Two important projections are the Mercator and the Robinson. Complete the chart below to compare their advantages and
disadvantages.
Mercator
Advantages
Disadvantages
Robinson
Name: ____________________________ TP: ______
HW: Reading Guide – Chapter 1
AP Human Geography
Due Date: Tuesday, September 8, 2015
11. Make a connection between the key terms: meridian & longitude.
12. Identify what the prime meridian is and explain its significance.
13. Make a connection between the key terms: parallel & latitude.
14. How are latitude and longitude used together?
15. How is 0 º longitude a human creation? Why was it established in such location?
16. How did we end up with 24 time zones around the world?
17. Use page 11 and the information in the reading to annotate the map below.
a. Draw and label the Prime Meridian and International Date Line.
b. Label the country that moved the International Date Line in 1997.
18. Why is the method of remote sensing vital to the state of California in 2015? What changes do you think are being tracked the
most and why? (Hint: Why do you think your grass isn’t so green anymore…)
19. Identify and describe the purpose of “ground truthing.”
20. Complete the following regarding a Global Positioning System
Elements/Components
Uses/Implementation
21. With Google Maps as reference, create neatly hand-drawn versions of 3 layers the greater Chicago area.
Layer 1: Vector data (neighborhoods/cities): Chicago, suburbs, neighborhoods throughout city (i.e. The Loop)
Layer 2: Lector data (highways and trains): 94, 290, 55, 41, the CTA
Layer 3: Raster data (landforms): Lake Michigan, Chicago River, parks
Draw in boxes on the next page 
HW: Reading Guide – Chapter 1
AP Human Geography
Due Date: Tuesday, September 8, 2015
Name: ____________________________ TP: ______
22. State a question you have about the area where you live. Now describe a mashup that you could create using GIS that would
answer your question.
Key Issues 2- Why is Each Point on Earth Unique? Pages 14-19
23. Explain the difference between place and location.
24. List 4 ways in which places can receive a name.
25. Why are site factors important for settlements?
26. Refer to the text and Figure 1-15. Describe how Boston has been modified by human action.
27. Identify and explain why Shanghai is a great center for trade and distribution of goods.
28. Complete the chart below which details types of regions identified by geographers:
Formal Region
Functional Region
Vernacular Region
A.K.A.
Definition
Example
29. Identify the origin of the world culture and its meaning. Explain why culture is such a complex concept. (Hint: Geographers study
two meanings!)
30. Culture: What People Care About! Geographers study why the customary ideas, beliefs, and values of a people produce a
distinctive culture in a particular place. Especially important cultural values derive from a group’s language, religion, and ethnicity.
These 3 trails are helpful for identifying the location of a culture and essentially how cultural values become distributed around the
world. Below, extend each of the “central bubbles” into a smaller bubbles that relate to each of the “central bubbles.”
Ethnicity
Language
Religion
Name: ____________________________ TP: ______
HW: Reading Guide – Chapter 1
AP Human Geography
Due Date: Tuesday, September 8, 2015
31. This question may be one of the most important and foundational of them all!!!
a) Geographers divide the world into regions of _______________ countries and regions of _______________ countries.
b) Identify and explain the differences between these two types of countries (Hint: think development).
32. Identify and explain how geographers try to identify cultural, economic, and environmental factors that display similar spatial distributions.
Key Issue 3- Why Are Different Places Similar? Pages 20-29
33. Identify scale and explain the growing importance of this concept in geography.
34. Why is the recession that began in 2008 an example of globalization?
35. Provide an example of how globalization has the ability to threaten a local culture.
36. How does the communications revolution allow for the preservation of cultural diversity?
37. In the boxes below, draw 10 dots in each so that the density is the same in each, but illustrate and label the two different kinds of
concentration.
38. Explain the ways in which ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation play a role in geography.
39. How does the spread of the Euro within European countries illustrate relocation diffusion?
40. For each type of expansion diffusion listed, come up with a mini-sketch that illustrates the type of diffusion.
a) Hierarchal Diffusion:
b) Contagious Diffusion:
c) Stimulus Diffusion:
41. Identify the 3 core hearth regions in which global culture and economy are increasingly centered.
42. Identify and explain the three major reasons why these three areas are considered hearths.
43. Explain why there is an increasing economic gap between regions in the world in regards to uneven development.
44. What are the main differences between countries in the core regions and those in the periphery?
Key Issue 4- Why Are Some Human Actions Not Sustainable? Pages 30-37
45. Identify the differences between renewable resources and nonrenewable resources and explain the two major misuses of
resources.
46. Explain the differences between conservation and preservation.
47. Explain what the price and affordability of a resource depends on.
48. What is one way in which society can choose to support sustainability?
48. Identify and explain the two different arguments presented by sustainability critics. Also, what is the one agreement that critics
and defenders of sustainable development?
49. Why would maps of Earth’s hydrosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere be important in the quest for sustainability?
50. Why are human geographers interested in ecosystems involving interaction of humans with the biosphere and abiotic spheres?
Provide an example.
51. The Netherlands and the Florida Everglades face threats to their sustainability. Which is better positioned to face future
challenges? Explain your answer by referring to the text and figures 1-44 and 1-45.