Geography as a Field of Inquiry
All the major geography textbooks open with a discussion on the 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 19th 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 individualís 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 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 mid-nineteenth 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 had a big impact on geography.
Evolution of Key Geographical Concepts and Models
Associated with Notable Geographers
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.
Key Concepts: Space, Place, and Scale
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 in both 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 the different levels of information are conveyed in different scales. Depending on the scale of oneís 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.
Key Geographic Skills: How to use and think about
maps and spatial data sets
Maps are geographers' most important tools. In fact it is said that
if something canít 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 earthís 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 3D 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. First is determining which projection they will use, and is the scale or level generalization. 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 as to which type of map is most appropriate 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, 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 Geographic Information System is a high performance computer and software package that processes geographic data and prints it out in cartographic form. The key thing about a geographic information system 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 GPS or Global Positioning Systems. 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 systems, and elaborate maps can be made.
