Ap Human Geography Unit 1 Flashcards
Abiotic
Composed of non living or inorganic matter
Acculturation
The process by which a groups cultural features are altered to resemble those of another more dominant group
Atmosphere
The thin layer of gases surrounding earth
Behavioral geography
The study of the physiological basis for individual human actions in space
Biosphere
All living organisms on earth, including plants and animals, as well as microorganisms
Biotic
Composed of living organisms
Cartography
The science of making maps
Citizen science
Scientific research by amateur scientists
Climate
The long-term average weather conditions at a particular location
Concentration
The spread of something over a given area
Connection
The relationships among people and objects across the barrier of space
Conservation
The sustainable management of a natural resource
Contagious diffusion
The rapid, widespread diffusion of a feature or trend throughout a population
Cultural ecology
A geographic approach that emphasizes human-environment- relationships
Cultural landscape
And approach to geography that emphasizes the relationships among social and physical phenomena in a particular study area
Culture
The body of customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits that together constitute a group’s distinct tradition
Density
The frequency with With something exists within a given unit of area
Diffusion
The process of spread of a feature or trend from one place to another over time
Distance decay
The diminished importance and eventual disappearance of a phenomenon with increasing distance from its origin
Distribution
The arrangement of something across earths surface
Ecology
The scientific study of ecosystems
Ecosystem
A group of living organisms and their abiotic spheres with which they interact
Environmental determinism
A belief that the physical environment causes social development
Expansion diffusion
The spread of a feature or trend among people from one area to another in an additive process
Formal region or uniform region
An area in which everyone shares in common one or more distinctive characteristics
Functional region or nodal region
An area organized around a node or focal point
Geographic information science (GIScience)
The development and analysis of data about earth acquired through satellite and other electronic information technologies
Geographic Information System (GIS)
A computer system that stores, organizes, analyzes, and displays geographic data
Geotagging
Identification and storage of a piece of information by its precise latitude and longitude coordinates
Global Positioning System (GPS)
A system that determines the precise position of something on Earth through a series of satellites, tracking stations, and receivers
Globalization
Actions or processes that involve the entire world and result in making something worldwide in scope
Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)
The time in the zone encompassing the primary in, or 0° longitude
Hearth
The region from which innovative ideas originate
Hierarchical diffusion
The spread of a feature or trend from one key person or node of authority or power to other persons or places
Humanistic geography
The study of different ways that individuals form ideas about place and gives those places symbolic meanings
Hydrosphere
All of the water on and near Earth’s surface
International date line
An arc that for the most part follows 180° longitude, although it deviates in several places to avoid dividing land areas. When the international date line is crossed heading east (toward America), the clock moves back 24 hours, or one entire day. When it is crossed heading west (toward Asia), the calendar moves ahead one day
Latitude
The numbering system used to indicate the location of parallels drawn on a globe and measuring distance north and south of the equator (0°)
Lithosphere
Earth’s crust and a portion of the upper mantle directly below the crust
Location
The position of anything on earth’s surface
Longitude
The numbering system used to indicate the location of meridians drawn on a globe and measuring distance east and west of the prime meridian (0°)
Map
A two-dimensional, or flat, representation of Earth’s surface or a portion of it
Map scale
The relationship between the size of an object on a map and the size of the actual feature on Earth’s surface
Mashup
A map that overlays data from one source on top of a map provided by a mapping service
Mental map
A representation of a portion of earths surface based on what an individual knows about a place that contains personal impressions of what is in the place and where the place is located
Meridian
And arc drawn on a map between the north and south poles
Network
A chain of communication that connects places
Nonrenewable resource
Something produced in nature more slowly than it is consumed by humans
Parallel
A circle drawn around the globe parallel to the equator and at right angles to the meridians
Participatory GIS (PGIS)
Community-based mapping, representing local knowledge and information
Pattern
The Geometric or regular arrangement of something in a particular area
Place
A specific point on earth, distinguished by a particular characteristic
Polder
Land that the dutch have created by draining water from an area
Possibilism
The theory that the physical environment may set limits on human actions, but people have the ability to adjust to the physical environment and choose a course of action from many alternatives
Poststructuralist geography
The study of space as the product of ideologies or value systems of ruling elites
Preservation
The maintenance of resources in their present condition, with as little human impact as possible
Prime meridian
The Meridian, designated as 0° longitude, that passes through the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, England
Projection
A system used to transfer locations from earths surface to a flat map
Region
And area distinguished by a unique combination of trends or features
Relocation diffusion
The spread of a feature or trend through bodily movement of people from one place to another
Remote sensing
The acquisition of data about earths surface from a satellite orbiting the planet or from other long-distance methods
Renewable resource
Something produced in nature more rapidly than it is consumed by humans
Resource
A substance in the environment that is useful to people, is economically and technologically feasible to access, and is socially acceptable to use
Scale
Generally, the relationship between the portion of earth being studied and earth as a whole
Site
The physical character of a place
Situation
The location of a place relative to another place
Space
The physical gap or interval between two objects
Space-time compression
The reduction in the time it takes to diffuse something to a distant place as a result of improved communications and transportation systems
Spatial association
The relationship between the distribution of one feature and the distribution of another feature
Stimulus diffusion
The spread of an underlying principle even though a specific characteristic is rejected
Sustainability
The use of earths renewable and nonrenewable natural resources in ways that do not constrain resource use in the future
Syncretism
The combining of elements of two groups into and new cultural feature
Toponym
The name given to a portion of Earth’s surface
Transnational corporation
A company that Conducts research, operates factories, and sells products in many countries, not just where it’s headquarters or shareholders are located
Uneven development
The increasing gap in economic conditions between core and peripheral regions is a result of the globalization of the economy
Vernacular region (or perceptual region)
An area that people believe exists as part of their cultural identity
Volunteered geographic information (VGI)
Creation and dissemination of geographic data contributed voluntarily and for free by individuals
