10 Suggestions For Developing Skills as A Geographer
Thinking through maps and in, about, and withspace are all productive habits of mind for AP Human Geography students.
Here are 10 suggestions to help students develop as geographers and spatial thinkers.
They are organized under the three contexts for spatial thinking.
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Developing Geographic Skills
Learning to think geographically is learning to think spatially – to consider objects in terms of their location in space, to question why objects are located where they are, and to visualize relationships between and among these objects.
One of the key differences between expert and novice geographers is the ability to think spatially.
The Geograp.
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How do I prepare for AP Human Geography?
Read the maps in your AP Human Geography textbook carefully.
Get as much information as possible from them.
Examine them critically.
Use sketch maps and diagrams to illustrate practice free-response questions.
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How do you ask a geography question?
Asking geographic questions requires both an understanding of the key perspectives of geography and the knowledge and skills related to spatial thinking.
It takes time, guidance, and practice to develop the ability to ask questions related to the “where” and the “how and why there” of a problem.
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Increased Interest in Maps
Over time, maps have become an important part of society at large.
To paraphrase a common expression, maps are not just for geography anymore.
Maps are more widely available than ever before.
The new technology of geographic information systems (GIS) has expanded the ease and ability by which maps are produced.
We find maps in newspapers, televisio.
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Three Contexts For Spatial Thinking
Spatial thinking occurs in different contexts.
On a daily basis we think spatially when we navigate between home and school or when we arrange papers and books in a backpack.
We might think of this as thinking in physical space.
Studying human geography provides examples of a second type of spatial thinking.
Learning about the shapes and structures.
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What is AP ® Human Geography?
An important part of the AP ® Human Geography course involves using maps to learn significant content, to “think through maps,” as Liben explains it. (Liben 2001, 76).
However, human geography students must be critical consumers of maps and other spatial representations.
