Top 5 Most Difficult APHG Concepts
5. Types of Map Projections:
Throughout most of history, many geographers created many different versions of the map of earth. This is due to the way Earth is circular, making it impossible to make a perfect representation of the Earth on a flat map, without distorting it in some way. There are many different map projections and they all distort different things, making it hard to remember which is which. Remembering all of the map projections and all of the distortions was not that bad, but was still difficult.
4. Types of Gerrymandering:
Every ten years, each state is reappointed with new districts due to population change. The person who gets to reappoint the land can make the districts favor one political party over the other, known as gerrymandering. Although the concept of gerrymandering is fairly simple. The different types of gerrymandering can get confusing, since their names are very similar. The three types of Gerrymandering are wasted vote, stacked vote, and excess vote. Although each type is distinct, the names do not help. I needed to restudy this multiple times, just to make sure I was correct.
3. Methods of Measuring Development:
Measuring the development of each country is a standard practice for the UN, using different measurement indexes to measure different things of each country. This may seem simple, but with many different things to measure, it gets complicated fast. From HDI to PPP, there are just a vast amount of indexes, that need to be remembered. It took me a very long time to remember all of them, like PPP being Purchasing Power Parity, or like the GII being Gender Inequality Index. Not to mention that it is also important to have a rough estimate of the index for each area of the world. For example, North America has a low GII, and a high GDP. Having to remember all of this is no easy task, taking me a plentiful amount of hours throughout the year.
2. Agriculture Locations
Every country specializes in their own crops, and has their own way of producing said crops. The problem is, there are over fifteen different climates, and different climates use different methods of producing crops, and produce different crops. This gets confusing VERY fast. Imagine having to study where certain crops are planted, then how are they planted. This was honestly one of the most confusing concept I had come across, and I am happy to say I am done with it. However, this is not the most difficult concept yet.
Urbanization models
Ah urbanization, what my nightmares are about and what I wanted to give up on. This unit has a ton of models to remember, ranging from concentric rings, to the multiple uncle model. What made this so hard was having to remember each individual element of all of the models. For example, the world regional models require you to know the placement of the CBD, factories, squatter settlements, the mall, and more. Not to mention this is different in every part of the world. I had zero motivation after having to remembering this to do anything. This sucked.
Top 5 Most CRUCIAL APHG Theories
5. Heartland/ Rimland Theory
The Heartland and Rimland theory is simple in concept; own this land, and you control the world. This was because of the resources eastern Europe had. This theory got popular, notably by one of the worlds most evil person: Hitler. This theory got to his head, he made plans accordingly. Many leaders did, and this is why this theory was important.
4. World System Theory
The World System Theory explained the behavior between the three types: Core, Semi-Periphery, and Periphery countries. According to Daniel Chirot and Thomas D. Hall in the publication WORLD-SYSTEM THROERY, "World-system theory is a highly political approach to the problem of economic development in the Third World." This shows the world-system theory was used to help explain and fix the economic problems of third world countries, something very important to this day. We were able to learn from this theory and improve, helping a lot people, making this theory very useful.
3. Weber’s Least-Cost Theory
This theory helps businesses TREMENDOUSLY! The theory explains where the factory location should be based on whether the product is bulk-gaining or bulk-reducing. The Least-Cost Theory helped businesses find the sweet spot in order to maximize profit, while minimizing costs. Without this theory, factories may be located in odd places, and companies wouldn't be making such a profit. That's why the Least-Cost Theory is important.
2. Distance Decay Theory
The Distance Decay Theory works hand in hand with the least-cost theory. This theory states that the further a location is (like a store), the less likely people would travel further to get there. This helps markets set up stores where they should. For example, a convince store should be closer to the residents, while an amusement park can be located further. This is very important, otherwise stores would be located in weird locations, meaning many people would struggle to get simple items, and people would have a hard time getting to work.
1. Economic Sectors Theory
The Economic Sectors Theory states that there are five sectors of economic activity: primary, secondary, tertiary, quaternary, and quinary. These sectors help us identify the types of jobs available in each country. We can then use this information to help countries with economic problems. This is extremely useful, not only to help other countries, but to understand how the country operates. An example of this is the USA. According to useconomy.weebly.com, 75% of the USA’s economic sectors are tertiary, meaning that service jobs are important to the economy. Overall, this theory helps the world.