Comments : AP Human Geography – Geography as a Field of Inquiry
Narration
All the major geography textbooks open with a discussion about geography as an academic discipline.
These chapters vary somewhat in length and content, but they all convey the notion that geography
developed as an academic, scientific discipline in nineteenth-century Europe and subsequently spread
through other parts of the world. Geography, however, is a much older field of inquiry. All societies
practice geography whether they have a written language or not. For students beginning to study
geography, it is important to understand that geography is essentially a survival skill and that everyone in
the world has a personal geography. Every individual that moves around stores information about the
nature of the world. It is important that students understand the link between an individual’s geography and
academic geography. The nature and quintessential contribution of geography to their education is to give
them a global perspective and the ability to use geographic concepts on different scales, thus expanding
their personal geographies to the entire globe.
With recent advancements in computer technology, geographers have developed Geographic Information
Systems and a field called Geographic Information Science. These technologies have demonstrated the
utility of the geographic perspective to individuals in a wide variety of occupations. Geographers are
becoming much more involved in the economy than they were in the past, and the demand for students
trained in geography is dramatically increasing. This contrasts with common assumptions that geography is
a discipline that is largely focused on teaching young children place names. The AP Human Geography
course should approach the study of geography in an analytic framework with the foundation that
geographers can help solve significant problems.
Most geographers believe that geography is inherently interesting to nearly everyone. This assumption can
be partially supported by the widespread popularity of National Geographic magazine.
Geography in its modern form has been significantly impacted by the Darwinian revolution in the midnineteenth century. Although geography as a science existed in German intellectual communities during the
early part of the nineteenth century, the major transition in science following the publication of the Origin
of Species had a big impact on geography.
Human Geography – Evolution of Key Geographical Concepts and Models Associated with
Notable Geographers
Narration
Most students have little interest in learning the names and dates of great geographers of the past and their
contributions to the field. It is much better to introduce geographic models and concepts in the context of
some problem or theme that is interesting to students. Because of its origins, geography as a discipline is
linked very clearly to European commercial and political ambitions, and many geography texts tend to
portray places from the European point of view. Of course, this situation has changed somewhat, because
geography is now taught in all parts of the world and reflects diverse locations. There is a strong bias in
North American textbook writers to assume that geography exists only in English. Most textbooks make
little effort to incorporate geography written in other parts of the world. AP teachers are constantly
wrestling with ethnocentric books that focus on the details of the suburbanization, inner city change, or folk
and country-western music in the United States. It is useful for North American students see textbooks and
maps in other languages or from other countries and make use of the World Wide Web to take them outside
the bounds of their textbook.
AP Human Geography – Key Concepts Underlying the Geographical Perspective: Space,
Place, and Scale
Narration
Those teachers familiar with the themes of geography will see that they fit neatly into the concepts
fundamental to the AP course. The geographic concepts emphasized in the AP syllabus are space, place,
scale, pattern, and regionalization. In addition to these terms, the course is focused on spatial interaction
and spatial behavior, so all the fundamental themes that have been described elsewhere are embedded
deeply in this course. The only real difference in these sets of terms that are used in this course is the
elevation of the concept of scale to one of the key concepts.
Scale means the level of generalization. It is used both in geography and in vernacular speech. Complex
systems can be examined from several scales, or levels of detail or generalization. The important thing
about scale is that different levels of information are conveyed in different scales. Depending on the scale
of one’s questioning, the conclusions one reaches may vary. An example of that is viewing something on
the global scale such as the migration of humans through time, versus the expansion and suburbanization of
an individual city or movement of people within the neighborhood structure of that city.
AP Human Geography – Key Geographical Skills: How to Use and Think about Maps and
Spatial Data Sets
Narration
Maps are geographers' most important tools. In fact, it is said that if something can’t be mapped, it is not
geography. Maps make up the basic mental images held by geographers who strive to make them more and
more accurate. Maps have driven the science for thousands of years.
The use of cartography distinguishes geography from other disciplines. Geographers are constantly relying
on maps to communicate their concepts and search for solutions to problems. A map is a two-dimensional
or flat scale-model of the earth’s surface. Because the earth is spherical in shape, it is impossible to draw a
map that is totally accurate on a flat piece of paper. Therefore, all maps "lie" or distort some features of the
earth's surface. In order to show the 3-D surface of the earth on a flat map, geographers make use of
projections. To understand projections, one can imagine a globe with a light inside of it. By wrapping a
piece of paper around the lighted globe (perhaps in a cylinder or cone), a cartographer could trace
landforms from the globe as they are "projected" onto the paper.
Cartographers make two very important decisions when they create maps. The first is determining which
projection they will use; the second is deciding what the scale or level generalization is. It is easy to
understand why scale or level of generalization is a key decision. The size of the area under consideration
and the level of detail under analysis determine the appropriate scale. Projection decisions are more
difficult because the influences of the projection are subtle. There are four types of distortions that result
from the surface of the earth being put down as a flat map. The first is shape — that is, an area can be
elongated or squashed. The second is distance — distance between two points can be increased or
decreased. Third, the relative size of the area can be altered. Fourth, the direction from one place to another
can be distorted. It is impossible to have a map that shows shape, distance, size, and direction all correctly,
although it is possible to have a map that shows one thing correctly. Cartographers have to make decisions
about which type of map is most appropriate for each of their projects or questions.
With the advent of computer programs designed to manipulate data, cartography has undergone dramatic
change. Geographers now talk about Geographic Information Systems (GIS), which are computer programs
designed to manipulate cartographic data and technology related to remote sensing (data collected from
satellites and broadcast to the surface of the earth). A GIS is a high-performance computer and software
package that processes geographic data and prints it out in cartographic form. The key thing about a GIS is
that it stores information about location in layers. Any number of layers of data can be stored in GIS and
the computer software can superimpose layers upon other layers. A related technology is Global
Positioning Systems (GPS). This is a new technology that enables precise navigation and enables the user
to locate any particular point on the surface of the earth and give it accurate latitude and longitude
coordinates. Thus, information can be "geocoded," entered into the GIS, and elaborate maps can be made.
AP Human Geography – Key Geographical Skills: How to Understand and Interpret the
Implications of Associations among Phenomenon in Places
Narration
The concept of place is one of the five fundamental themes. All places on the surface of the earth have
distinguishing human and physical characteristics that interrelate with each other. Place is frequently used
to talk about the physical landscape, the physical environment, or the cultural environment, but in fact all
these elements interact with each other and give character to a place. For example, the physical geography
of a place is influenced by the interaction of the energy balance, the water balance, the hydrological cycle,
tectonic cycles, and the erosion cycle. All these aspects of the physical environment affect each other. The
nature of vegetation affects soil fertility and erodability. Animals, solar insulation, and climate all affect the
vegetation. Vegetation, in turn — because of its reflectivity and absorption of energy — affects
ecoclimates. In addition, human elements make up some portion of the landscape. The interaction of
culture and the movement of energy and people work on each other and the physical environment. What
geographers do is study the interaction of the major elements which give character to a place. So when one
is doing geography, one is trying to understand the value of places.
AP Human Geography – Key Geographical Skills: How to Define Regions and Evaluate the
Regionalization Process
Narration
It has been said that making regions is the highest form of geographer’s art. Indeed, classifying places is
difficult, but nonetheless we all use the idea of regions every day. We speak about places such as the Great
Plains, the Caribbean, Europe, or sub-Saharan Africa. These all are regions. In the past, geographers
believed there were natural and God-given regions, and the task of geography was to discover those
regions. As that search continued, it became apparent to geographers that regions were mental constructs.
By interpreting landscapes and other information, geographers decide how to divide the surface of the earth
into regions. Today we understand that all individuals (geographers and nongeographers alike) engage in
the process of regionalization, that is, finding out what areas have more in common with each other than
areas outside their boundaries.
All regions have certain characteristics in common. They have a location, boundaries, and area. We talk
about formal regions that are homogenous and functional regions defined in terms of functions or
interactions of different kinds. Regions can be organized in hierarchical order (for example, Europe,
Western Europe, and the Wine Regions). People may have quite contrasting views as to how the earth
should be regionalized. Different groups perceive the amenities and disamenities of different parts of the
world and make regions according to their perception or understanding of what the world is like.
Whenever geographers make a region, they must be aware that other people can come up with equally valid
classifications. Every effort must be made to ensure that the criteria used to define a region are such that
another person using the same criteria can come up with the same set of regions. Regions should be
replicable.
AP Human Geography – Key Geographical Skills: How to Characterize and Analyze
Changing Interconnections among Places
Narration
In the five fundamental themes (the material developed by the Geographic Education National
Implementation Project), the term "spatial interaction" is replaced with the term "movement," because
editors thought that the term movement would be more accessible or understandable to the greatest number
of people. One of the greatest aspects of geography is the effort to understand how places are
interconnected and how these interconnections change with technology and over time. Great emphasis is
placed on migration, economic activity, and urbanization.
AP Human Geography – Sources of Geographical Ideas and Data: The Field,
Census Data, etc.
Narration
Geographers use ideas and data from a wide variety of sources. In the past, field observations and the
collection of data by individual research geographers were the primary means of gathering information for
geographic analysis. Today, however, very few geographers do independent fieldwork. Geographers rely
on major governmental efforts to gather relevant data. For example, data gathered by the United States
Census Bureau is the most obvious source of demographic data in the United States. Geographers in most
parts of the world rely on such compilations for the base of their analysis. Whenever possible, students in
an AP course should be encouraged to make their own field observations and conduct fieldwork. It is useful
to have students think about the process of fieldwork as incorporating the process of description and
hypothesis building.
Description can be divided into four parts. First is observation or sensing the environment directly by one's
own body or instruments such as barometers or thermometers. The second part is selection during which
the geographer determines which observations are significant to the character of the place. Third is
measurement in which the geographer attempts to measure, as best as possible, those elements deemed to
be significant. The fourth part is classification and developing taxonomies for categorizing the
measurements made of significant observations. Once the classification system has been made, it is
possible to think about the relationships among elements. Data gathered by governmental observations,
while serving the fundamental core of our understanding of the empirical world, must be, at the same time,
regarded with caution. Students must be made aware of the great difficulty of gathering accurate data.
Censuses, for example, are extremely expensive. Because of that, many countries are unable to take a
regular census. In addition, governments that gather statistics do so for a reason. That reason may or may
not match the interests of geographers. Furthermore, individuals and groups may be uncooperative with
government efforts to gather statistics. More limitations on data relate to individuals' right for privacy. For
example, in the agricultural census of the United States it is not possible to get information on individual
farms no matter how large the size. Therefore, all the data is aggregated. When data is aggregated, the scale
is changed, and its utility for certain kinds of questions is reduced. So, two general problems permeate all
data sets. One is the limitation of the data in terms of timeliness. The second is the accuracy of the data that
is a reflection of people's willingness to cooperate and provide information, and the need to protect people's
privacy.