AP Human Geography First Semester Exam Review Guide – Flashcards
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As a discipline, modern geography owes its origins to which ancient culture?
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Greeks.
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What is the oldest field of geography?
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Cartography.
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What basic unit of geographic inquiry was developed by Carl Sauer to describe the impact of human activities on the earth's surface?
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The notion of a cultural landscape.
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What name is often given to geography because of its concern with location, distribution, interaction, and changes that occur between people and activities over a given area?
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Spatial science.
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What is the major approach and major methodology that comprises the field of geographic inquiry?
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Regional approach using the descriptive method.
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What is the difference between the concepts of concentration, density, and pattern?
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Concentration is the spread of objects in a given area, Density is the frequency of objects in a given area, and Pattern is the arrangement of objects in a given area.
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An illustration showing different thematic maps as information layers that can be laid one on top of the other in order to identify spatial relationships among data would portray what modern tool of geography?
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Geographic Information System.
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Which map scale between 1:1,00,000 to 1:100 would provide the greatest resolution of detail?
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1:100
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What are isolines used for on a topographic map?
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Isolines are used to connect points of equal elevation.
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What are the main purposes of maps?
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Maps serve as tools for storing reference material, communicating geographic data, showing changes over time, and depicting spatial distribution.
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What would a geographer use on a map to find absolute location?
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Latitude and Longitude.
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How can the implied precision of maps lead to false conclusions?
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Because all maps suffer from distortion, they may reflect map bias, conclusions drawn to one scale may not apply at another, and they use abstract symbols to represent reality.
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What are the characteristics and purposes of cognitive (mental) maps?
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Mental maps guide spatial behavior, differ from person to person, are based on objective knowledge and subjective perceptions, and provide the foundation for routine, daily movements.
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What do the expressions "out west" and "back east" reflect?
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Relative direction.
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What two map properties are accurate on a Mercator map?
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Shape and direction.
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Where do Mercator projections and Polar projections suffer their greatest distortion?
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Mercator suffers the greatest distortion at the poles, while the Polar projection suffers the greatest distortion at the Equator.
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What locational aspect is represented by identifying Richmond as northwest of Williamsburg and near the I-64 and I-95 interchange?
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Situation.
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What is the currently accepted approach to the study of cultural ecology?
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Modern geographers reject environmental determinism in favor of possibilism.
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How is the degree of connectivity between population centers calculated?
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Using the gravity model.
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What process of globalization is based on the idea that improvements in technology have "shrunk" the earth in terms of travel and communications?
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Space-time compression.
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What characteristics do places and regions share in common?
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Both can be identified by their physical and cultural characteristics, both contribute to their cultural identity, both can serve as hearths of innovation, and both can change over time. Neither have well defined boundaries.
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What factors or processes can delay or halt spatial interactions between places?
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Long distances, intervening opportunities, physical or cultural differences, low levels of complementarity, or high cost of transferability.
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What type of region is the reception area of a TV station or the circulation area of a newspaper?
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Functional regions.
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Given the following, identify them as examples of human impact on the environment or the impact of the environment on human; A. Use of polders in the Netherlands. B. Thatched huts in the Pacific. C. Desertification in Africa. D. Terracing in Asia. E. Deforestation in Brazil.
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A. Human impact on the environment. B. Environmental impact on humans. C. Human impact on the environment. D. Human impact on the environment.
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What forces have been responsible for the expansion of the ecumene over human history.
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Population growth pressures, technological innovations, agricultural advancements, discovery of valuable resources.
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What factors affect the uneven distribution of global population?
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Physical environment, level of technology, government policy, conflict
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Which are of the world has the high population concentrations?
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East Asia.
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Given the following hypothetical example; "A local University offers scholarships for a new degree in the field of agriculture. The government adds tax exemptions to anyone who completes the program and uses it to cultivate arable land." What population density measurement would this statement relate to?
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Agricultural density.
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What density formula is the best measure of carrying capacity?
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Physiological density.
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What is the term used to describe the point where a country or regions physiological density is dangerously high?
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Overpopulation.
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Why does a population with a greater number of young people tend to grow rapidly regardless of the level of childbearing?
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Demographic momentum.
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What country has laws in place to limit the number of children born?
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China.
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What are the basic principles of Thomas Malthus work on population?
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Population grows exponentially as a j-curve, food supplies grow arithmetically as a straight line.
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Interpret and analyze population pyramids.
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See pages 55-57 of the textbook for a review of population pyramids.
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What regions of the world are currently in stage 2 of the epidemiological transition, the stage of receding pandemics?
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Africa, Latin America, and most of Asia.
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What diseases are the major cause of death in stages 3 and 4 of the epidemiological transition?
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Heart attacks, cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases.
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...
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See pages 51-54 of the textbook and the Unit 2 class notes for a review of the Demographic Transition Model.
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What category constitutes the most important push and pull factors of contemporary migration?
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Economic.
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From which region of the world have the largest number of recent immigrants to the United States come?
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Latin America.
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What are the two main factors in migration selectively?
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Age and education.
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What is the difference between step migration and chain migration?
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Step migration involves place transition in as series of stages, while chain migration involves the migrant becoming part of an established flow to a prepared location.
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Which of E.G. Ravenstein's laws of migration is not as valid today as it once was?
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No longer valid is the notion that most international migrants are young males.
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What will cause the most long-term, lasting reductions in global fertility rate according to modern demographers?
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Increasing the equality and opportunities for women.
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What is the most important control on a country's fertility rate, infant and maternal mortality rate, literacy rate, and life expectancy?
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Level of economic development.
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What is created by a group's material culture?
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It's built environment.
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What are cultural traits?
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The smallest discernible units of culture that would include objects, beliefs, attitudes and techniques.
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In terms of a cultural hierarchy, the customs and behaviors surrounding automobile ownership in the U.S., make up what level?
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The culture complex.
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What are the spatial and structural characteristics of culture regions?
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Culture regions can be either formals, functional, or vernacular, they are based on a combination of material and non-material elements, they have areal extent when plotted on maps, and they reveal the regional character of the components of culture.
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What forces have been suggested to explain the globalization of culture?
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Standardization of consumer products, space-time compression, increased migration flows, and increased television ownership and internet access.
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What is the difference between cultural convergence and cultural divergence?
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Cultural divergence occurs when cultures do not pass through the successive stages of cultural evolution at the same time creating differences, while cultural convergence involves the sharing of technologies organizations and traits creating similarities.
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What three factors induce cultural change?
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Innovation, diffusion, and acculturation.
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What diffusion processes are responsible for the following: A. The spread of rap music. B. The spread of Christianity and Indo-European languages.
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A. Hierarchical diffusion. B. Relocation diffusion.
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What are the differences between the origins, distribution, and diffusion of folk and popular culture?
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Folk Culture Popular Culture Origin - Anonymous - Economically developed areas Dist. - Clustered because - Widely distributed among of isolation and the economically advanced strong influence of people the physical environment Diff. - Slowly by relocation - Rapidly by hierarchial diffusion diffusion
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What are the negative outcomes of the globalization of popular culture?
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Threat to folk culture, creation of uniform landscapes, loss of traditional values, and destruction of the natural environment.
