AP Human Geography Unit 5: Agricultural Origins and Rural Landscapes

Agriculture

The deliberate modification of Earth’s surface through the cultivation of plants and rearing of animals for sustenance or economic gain.

Hunting and Gathering

A lifestyle relying on collecting wild plants and hunting animals, practiced before the invention of agriculture.

First Agricultural Revolution

Marked the transition from hunting and gathering to settled farming, occurring about 10,000 to 12,000 years ago.

Sedentary living

A lifestyle where humans began to stay in one place due to the practice of agriculture.

Social stratification

The differentiation of society into groups based on wealth and specialized tasks due to surplus food.

Clustered Settlements

A rural settlement pattern where houses and farm buildings are grouped closely together around a central feature.

Dispersed Settlements

A rural settlement pattern where farms are isolated and spread far apart from each other.

Linear Settlements

A rural settlement pattern where buildings follow a line, typically along a road, river, or coastline.

Metes and Bounds

A land survey method from Great Britain using natural geography to define irregular boundaries.

Township and Range

A land survey method from the U.S. creating a geometric grid system for dividing land.

Long Lot System

A land survey method with narrow lots perpendicular to a river or road, ensuring access to water.

Agricultural Hearths

Regions where agriculture originated, identified by geographer Carl Sauer.

Vegetative Planting

The agricultural practice of cloning plants by cutting roots or stems.

Seed Agriculture

The agricultural method of planting seeds, which developed after vegetative planting.

Fertile Crescent

A key agricultural hearth in Southwest Asia known for crops like wheat and barley.

Columbian Exchange

The transfer of plants, animals, and diseases between the New World and the Old World beginning in the late 15th century.

Second Agricultural Revolution

The period of agricultural industrialization between 1700 and 1900 coinciding with the Industrial Revolution.

The British Enclosure Acts

Legislation that consolidated small farms into large, fenced-in fields owned by wealthy individuals.

Jethro Tull’s Seed Drill

An invention that allowed farmers to plant seeds in rows and at specific depths, increasing germination rates.

Steel Plow

An agricultural tool that facilitated the cultivation of tougher soils.

Crop Rotation

The systematic rotation of crops to maintain soil fertility, eliminating the need for fallow fields.

Demographic Transition Model

A model describing population changes as countries develop and industrialize, including the J-Curve.

Green Revolution

The modern agricultural revolution starting in the 1960s, characterized by GMOs and chemical fertilizers.

Mistakes in Agricultural History

Common misconceptions such as confusing the timelines and origins of different agricultural revolutions.

Mesoamerica

An agricultural hearth known for crops like maize (corn), beans, and squash.

Sub-Saharan Africa

An agricultural hearth known for yams, sorghum, and coffee.

Andean Region

An agricultural hearth known primarily for potatoes.