1. Introduction to AP Human Geography
Mr. Stepek

2. Geography thru history
“geography” from the Greek (Eratosthenes)
“geo” = Earth
“graph” = to write or describe
 geography = “to write about or describe the Earth”
Eratosthenes (“Father of Geography”)
calc. Earth’s circumference within .5% accuracy
idea of climate zones
Aristotle
Earth is a sphere, natural process, hotter by equator
Ptolemy
wrote Guide to Geography (“Geographica”) an 8-volume series detailing the cities and peoples of the Earth.
“codified” mapmaking
Strabo
also wrote a descriptive history of known people and places
Insert a picture illustrating a season in your country.

3. Map scale (relationship of distance on a map to that in reality)
Expressed in terms of words, fraction, ratio, or bar scale
Large scale = small area
Small scale = large area

4. “level of aggregation”/ “generalization” (over what “spatial unit” are you analyzing a phenomenon)

5. Scale (“level of analysis”)
Over what “scale” would these environmental problems be analyzed?
Acid rain (factories produce sulfur which drops elsewhere)
NATIONAL or REGIONAL
Garbage, landfill, recycling, etc.
LOCAL
Climate change
GLOBAL

6. Models: Abstract generalization to help explain a common pattern.
Non-spatial models show a pattern on other than a map.
Spatial models show commonalities in the patterns on landscapes
Qualitative vs. Quantitative analysis
“qualitative” refers to information about subjective characteristics (softness, beauty, feelings); information that can't actually be measured.
“quantitative” refers to data that can be measured and written down with numbers.

7. “Mapping a 3-dimensional world on a 2-dimensional surface” = Map Projections
Method
Goal
“Equal area” – relative sizes of landmasses are maintained, but shape is often grossly distorted.
“Conformal” – shapes of landmasses and local direction maintained while sacrificing accurate size.

8. Azimuthal or Planar Projections

9. Mercator Projection (1569)

10. Classic size distortion example: South America vs. Greenland

11. Gall-Peters Projection

12. Goode’s homolosine “Interrupted” projection

13. Robinson Projection

14. All projections have some degree of distortion:
size, shape, distance, or direction