Unit 1: Geography: Its Nature and Perspectives

AP Human Geography: Semester 1 Study Guide

Unit 1: Geography: Its Nature and Perspectives

Understand map projections: why are they necessary, what are the major projections (especially Robinson, Mercator, Azimuthal, Molleweide, and Goodes), and what kinds of distortions do different projections result in.

Know which form of alternative energy Iceland is most known for.

Terms/Concepts to Know:

Scale (Large vs. Small)

Possibilism

Environmental Determinism

Formal/Uniform Region

Functional/Nodal Region

Vernacular/Perceptual Region

Unit 2A: Population

Understand patterns of population density, .

Know where the world’s largest frontier is located.

Know which country is most likely to increase its percentage of the world’s population the most over time.

Understand how the natural increase rate works.

Understand the stages of the Demographic Transition Model (DTM).

Understand Thomas Malthus’ theory – and the critiques of it.

Terms/Concepts to Know:

Carrying Capacity

Ecumene

Overpopulation

Desertification

Physiologic Density

Arithmetic Density

One-Child Policy (China)

Unit 2B: Migration

Be able to describe current migration patterns within the U.S.

Terms/Concepts to Know:

Chain Migration

Brain Drain

Intervening Obstacle

Intervening Opportunity

Pull vs. Push Factors

Interregional Migration

Unit 3A: Cultural Diffusion, Folk vs. Popular Culture, and Language

Understand what is mean by “traditional architecture”.

Be familiar with how the world’s languages are related to each other – for example, what language branch is Mandarin part of, how are Romanian and Spanish grouped together?

Which countries have the most linguistic diversity?

Know some examples of monolingual states.

Know common food taboos.

Terms/Concepts to Know:

Human/Landscape Analysis

Dialect

Isogloss

Lingua Franca

Language Family

Toponym

Unit 3B: Religion and Ethnicity

Be familiar with the beliefs and practices of the world’s religions – for example, which religion is Shiva associated with or what is the most important religious holiday in Judaism or the sects of Islam and where they are concentrated or how religions are distributed within the United States?

Which religion most allows its followers to simultaneously follow other religions: Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, or Christianity?

Know the cultural hearths of the world’s main religions.

Know which religion is the largest in terms of total number of followers.

Terms/Concepts to Know:

Genocide

Ethnocentrism

Unit 4: Political Geography

Be able to give examples of modern theocracies.

Know examples of stateless nations.

Be able to give examples of shatterbelts in recent history.

Be able to explain why some places, like Quebec, might want to secede from the states they are currently in.

Terms/Concepts to Know:

Regionalism

Gerrymandering

Reapportionment

Reunification

Supranationalism

Theocracy

Domino Theory

Centripetal Force

Centrifugal Force

European Union (EU)

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

Warsaw Pact

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

United Nations (UN)

Shatterbelt

Nation-State

Satellite State

Stateless Nation

Unitary Government

Exclave

Unit 5: Agriculture and Rural Land Use

Be able to explain the various agricultural revolutions (First/Neolithic, Second/associated with Industrial Revolution, and Third/Green).

Be able to explain Von Thunen’s model of land use.

Be familiar with agricultural patterns in the U.S.

Know what crop is most commonly grown using intensive subsistence farming (bonus – this question is one there twice!?!).

Understand the difference between plantation crops, market-gardening crops, subsistence crops, and slash-and-burn crops.

Be able to indicate where, according to Carl Sauer, rice domestication first occurred.

Terms/Concepts to Know:

Transhumance

Double-Cropping

Terraced Irrigation

Pastoral Nomadism

Mediterranean Agriculture

Unit 6: Industrialization and Economic Development

Be able to explain Rostow’s development model.

Understand World Systems Theory, especially Wallerstein’s conception of it (core, periphery, semi-periphery).

Recognize patterns of industrialization (which regions are most industrialized?).

Know why the automobile industry has been so influential in industrial development (both economically and socially).

Know that a sea-based empire will focus on establishing settlements along the coast to use for trade.

Know what Pittsburgh’s main industry was at it developed.

Understand the various economic sectors: primary, secondary, tertiary, quaternary, and quinary.

Know the distribution of oil reserves.

Terms/Concepts to Know:

Human Development Index (HDI)

Just-in-Time Delivery

New International Division of Labor

Unit 7: Cities and Urban Land Use

Be able to identify cities that are especially tied in to global networks.

Know the models of urbanization: Sector Model, Concentric Zone Model, Central Place Theory, Multiple Nuclei Model.

Understand how land values fluctuate depending on where the land is located relative to the central business district (CBD).

Be able to explain how cities in the western U.S. differ from cities in the eastern U.S.

Terms/Concepts to Know:

Federal Capital

Gateway City

Frontier City

Edge City

World City

Primate City

Gentrification

Megalopolis

Agglomeration

Deglomeration

Barrio

Ghetto

Blockbusting

Redlining

Counterurbanization

Urbanization

Township and Range System

Metes and Bounds

Suburb

Office Park

Industrial Park

Tenement