How to understand and interpret the implications of associations
among phenomenon in places
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.
How to recognize and interpret different scales
and relationships on patterns and processes
In essence this is restatement of how to analyze and understand patterns
within places. It is also important for geographers to understand major
processes and how they affect global conditions and individual places.
In this case we think about the globe as the place. The movement of energy
from the tropics to the polar regions, the movement of moisture from the
oceans to the continental landmasses, movement of people, and the spread
of ideas, are all processes produce patterns. Patterns of vegetation, fauna,
precipitation, house types, or agricultural activities are all the result
of various processes. Geographers wishing to understand the character of
places that range in scale from the globe to the smallest farm must be
sure to understand the processes that produce the patterns and how patterns
set up interactions among places.
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 criterion used to define a region are such
that another person using the same criterion can come up with the same
set of regions. Regions should be replicable.
How to characterize and analyze changing interconnections
among places
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.
Sources of Geographical Ideas and Data
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 was the primary process for 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 U.S. 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 oneís 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 gathering 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 and the second is the accuracy of the data that is a reflection of peopleís willingness to cooperate and provide information, and the need to protect peopleís privacy.
