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I. Geography As a Field of Inquiry
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Web Sites
Narration
All the major geography textbooks open with a discussion about 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 nineteenth-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 individual's 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 Human 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 Species had a big impact on geography.
Web Sites
To view the following Web sites, please go to "See also..." below.
The Teachers' Corner contains links to suggested Web sites. The College Board neither endorses, controls the content of, nor reviews the external Web sites included here. Please note that following links to external Web sites will open a new browser window. If you discover a link that does not work, please let us know by sending an e-mail to apctechsupport@collegeboard.org.
Definitions of Geography
Check out this page for a variety of ways to perceive the discipline of geography.
Geography Themes: The Great Five
Explanations of the five themes of geography and class activity ideas.
GeoNet Geography Resources: a topic page
Very nice page to start from for a wide variety of geography topics. This will show a "Best of Net" interactive map for ecosystem topics. Be sure to look in the left frame for several menu links for urbanization and cities.
Geography Topics from BBC Education
This wonderful site has a wide range of geographic topics. It provides excellent information with images and text. Visitors may also take an interactive test (called a bite).
AAG Specialty Groups
The American Association of Geographers has a specialty page with a long, alphabetical list of subgroups. This is a good page to check out as a starting point for information about a specific idea in human geography. Go to the main page for much more information about geography, including career opportunities.
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