AP Human Geography - Core Concepts & Models

Front

What does the Demographic Transition Model (DTM) illustrate?

Back

It describes the transition from high birth and death rates to low birth and death rates as a country develops from a pre-industrial to an industrialized economic system, consisting of five stages (1-5).

Front

Distinguish between Ravenstein's Laws of Migration regarding 'push' and 'pull' factors.

Back

Push factors drive people to leave their origin (e.g., war, famine), while pull factors attract migrants to a destination (e.g., economic opportunity, political stability). Most migration occurs over short distances.

Front

Define 'Distance Decay' in the context of cultural diffusion.

Back

The concept that the interaction between two places declines as the distance between them increases. It explains why cultural traits often weaken or become altered the further they travel from their hearth.

Front

Compare 'contagious diffusion' and 'relocation diffusion'.

Back

Contagious diffusion is the widespread, rapid transmission of a characteristic throughout a population (e.g., viral TikTok trends). Relocation diffusion involves the physical movement of people spreading a cultural trait (e.g., ethnic restaurants in new neighborhoods).

Front

Explain the significance of 'Scale of Analysis' in Human Geography.

Back

Scale refers to the level at which data is aggregated. Global patterns may mask local variations. For example, analyzing data at the national scale might ignore regional poverty pockets visible only at the local scale.