Geography cheat sheet
Geography · Keep the key ideas within reach.
Physical geography: processes, budgets and risk
Frame answers as process chains with controlling variables, not lists of landforms.
North German Plain: young glacial relief; moraine, Sander, Urstromtal, Geschiebemergel; determines both drainage and soil type.
Use P = ET + R + ΔS; distinguish potential from actual evapotranspiration.
Soil patterns reflect climate, organisms, relief, parent material, time and human influence; substrate alone does not uniquely determine a soil class.
Risk depends on hazard, exposure and vulnerability; adaptation options require site-specific evaluation.
Never mix timescales: glacial sculpture versus storm-surge frequency are separate arguments.
Human geography: population, cities, economic location and development
Distinguish natural population change from net migration in every analysis.
The demographic transition model is descriptive; adapt for stalled fertility and migration-driven growth.
Dependency ratios indicate structure, not actual labour participation.
Migration models identify selectivity and intervening obstacles; their historical patterns are not universal laws.
Von Thünen: land rent and intensity vary with distance, given uniform plain, one market, transport costs proportional to distance and weight.
Weber's least-cost triangle: transport, labour and agglomeration orientation.
Value-chain fragmentation, logistics hubs and knowledge spillovers explain modern industrial location better than classic cost models alone.
Some services require proximity; thresholds, ranges and digital delivery help explain different spatial patterns.
European city structure is historically layered; apply Burgess/Hoyt/Harris-Ullman critically.
Land rent and accessibility shape land-use intensity; sub-centres modify distance decay.
The urbanisation–suburbanisation–counterurbanisation–reurbanisation sequence overlaps in reality.
Distinguish planning aims, instruments and legal effects; current binding powers require jurisdiction-specific evidence.
Globalisation rests on trade liberalisation, FDI, containerisation, ICT and global value chains.
The smile curve is a model of unequal value capture; its fit and upgrading possibilities require industry-specific evidence.
Compare GDP per capita, HDI, MPI and Gini; each has blind spots, and PPP adjustment matters.
Modernisation and dependency/world-systems theory are competing perspectives, not settled facts.
Maps, spatial data and fieldwork
Scale arithmetic: 1:25,000 → 1 cm = 250 m; slope % = vertical/horizontal difference × 100.
Closer contours generally indicate steeper slopes at a common interval; a cross-section follows its specified transect.
Choropleth maps are unit-dependent and invite the ecological fallacy; class breaks alter patterns.
Use relative rates and standardisation when units differ in size.
Remote sensing: state band combination, spatial/temporal resolution and date; use image differencing for change.
Fieldwork requires sampling strategy, controls, error analysis and reproducible documentation.
Sustainability, resources and environmental evaluation
Know Brundtland, the three-pillar model, and the strong-versus-weak sustainability distinction; reference SDGs.
Renewable harvest needs regeneration and ecosystem conditions; nonrenewable substitution strategies require explicit model assumptions.
IPAT structures impact drivers: population, affluence, technology.
German energy transition hinges on grid expansion, storage, sector coupling and north–south transmission.
Assess nutrient sources, transport and ecological effects with local evidence; current policy rules require authoritative jurisdiction-specific sources.
Classify policy instruments and evaluate on effectiveness, efficiency, equity and feasibility.
Climate systems, diagrams and regional water stress
Separate weather events from climate statistics over a defined period.
Latitude, elevation, circulation, sea influence and relief help explain climate patterns.
Annual rainfall totals can hide strong seasonality.
An aridity index is not a complete catchment water budget.
Adaptation and mitigation address different parts of climate risk.
Rivers, coasts and catchment water accounting
Define catchment boundaries and the time interval before balancing flows.
One millimeter over one square kilometer equals one thousand cubic meters.
Storage change and groundwater exchange cannot be omitted without assumptions.
River and coastal responses depend on sediment budgets and boundary conditions.
Nonconsumptive water use can still alter timing and ecosystems.
Regional comparisons and territorial scales
Administrative, formal and functional regions use different boundary concepts.
Use the same dates, definitions and units when comparing indicators.
National averages can conceal large within-region differences.
A physical map cannot establish current administrative powers or political membership.
Regional conclusions need locational evidence and explicit scale.