Chapter 1 Flashcards
Define map
A two-dimensional flat representation of the Earth’s surface
What is the science of mapmaking called?
Cartography
What are the -two- purposes that maps serve?
- As a reference tool
2. As a communication tool
Who first used the term “geography”?
The ancient Greeks (invented by Greek scholar Erathsthenes)
Ex. of Chinese development in geography
Settled on the the Yellow river for natural resources- fertile soil. Water=transportation surrounded by mountains, makes it hard to settle
Ex. of Muslim development in geography
Created algebra and Arabic numerals. Al-Mugdishi was the first geographer to produce accurate maps of the Earth in color.
Geography/settlement= Gods sign
Ex. of Age of Discovery (16th Century) development in geography
Escaped to New World=religious persecution
Invention of the printing press in the mid-1400s, helped to print maps and made maps more accurate
Define scale
The relationship between the portion of the earth being studied and earth as a whole
What is the advantage of a map which shows only a small portion of the earths surface-LARGE scale map (like a map that shows a neighborhood)?
It usually is showed in great detail and you can easily see closer locations
Geographers convert the round Earth to a flat map, what do they use?
Projection
List the -four- things that typically become distorted in various projections and explain the distortion
- The shape of an area
- The distance between two points
- The relative size of different areas
- The direction from one place to another
Advantages/Disadvantages of a Mercator map
Ad: Direction+shape are accurate
Di: Size is distorted increasingly of the North or South of the equator
Advantages/Disadvantages of a Robinson map
Ad: Preserves the shapes of small objects, useful for showing info. across the oceans
Di: Distortion of large objects around the North and South poles
What place is designated as 0 degrees -longitude-?
Greenwich
What is the name for the line drawn at 0 degrees longitude?
The Prime Meridian
What is the name for the line drawn at 0 degrees -latitude-
The Equator
How is a degree for the longitude or latitude further subdivided? Ex.
Degrees of longitude or latitude can be further subdivided into minutes and seconds
Ex> 67 degrees 25 minutes 41 seconds
How many degrees of longitude do you need to travel across to pass through one “hour” of time (1 time zone)
15 degrees
How many time zones are there?
24 in the world. 4 in the U.S.
What is the longitude of the International Date Line?
180 degrees
Know location of Prime Meridian and International Date Line
YAY FOOD
Define remote sensing
Locating objects from a far away distance
List several things that geographers can map remotely sensed data
Elevation of mountains, agriculture, depth of an ocean, soil mapping, daily weather forecasts. development for an area. temp.
GPS elements/components
Satellites are placed in orbits. Tracking stations are used to watch satellites and control. Ground antennas also help to track the accuracy of data that is transmitted from satellites
GPS uses/implementation
Used for navigation. can survey a vehicle’s current position, can find exact location of a vehicle if you need to contact emergency, tracks important devices like luggage, electronics etc. if traveling
GIS is used to store “layers” of data. give four examples of types of data stored in a single layer.
- Boundaries
- Roads
- Rivers
- Building footprints
Explain a mashup in relation to geography and GIS
A mashup is combining information from multiple sources of data and displaying it on a map, taking spatial data from a non-spatial source and displaying a map
Define toponym
The name given to a place on Earth
Identify -four- ways in which places can receive names
- For a person 2. Religion 3. History 4. Origin of its settlers
Define site
The physical character of a place/location
List some site characteristics
Climate, water bodies, soil, elevation, vegetation, latitude
Human actions can _______ the characteristics of a site
modify
Define situation
The location and surroundings of a place
What role do -familiar places- have in understanding situation of unfamiliar places?
Familiar places can help you find unfamiliar places by using your knowledge of the area you do know that’s around you
Situa-tion-
loca-tion-
A region is an ____ of ____ defined by one or more _________
area, earth, characteristic
What do geographers who believe in the regional studies approach believe in
A region can be defined as any area larger than a point and that’s smaller than the planet
Formal region: Also called ____. Def. Ex.
Also called: Uniform region. Definition: Everyone shares one or more common characteristic. Ex: New Mexico bc it has almost 30% of Spanish speaking people
Functional region: Also called _____. Def. Ex.
Also called: Nodal region. Definition: an area based on a focal point of transportation/ economic funct. Ex: A shop that is really popular and everyone is involved economically in that store
Vernacular region: Also called _____. Def. Ex.
Also called: Perceptual region. Definition: an area that people believe exists as part of their cultural identity. Ex: Cali. bc it seems to have its own identity based on the things that go on there and the people that live there
What two meanings of culture do geographers study?
- What people care about
2. What people take care of
List about culture
people, religion, language, location, accent, food, literature, country, music, flag, traditions, hair/skin color
How does a geographer conclude that two areas are spatially associated. (bear a cause and effect relationship
By trying to find env., cultural, and economic similarities between the two phenomenas
Define globalization
Actions or processes that involve the entire world, which makes something worldwide
How was the recession that began in 2008 an example of globalization?
This recession affected the global economy rather than one country
How is globalization manifested in the landscape? Ex.
Ex: Africans converting to Islam/Christianity A part of a country/region can be a uniform region and affect surrounding locations
Why might some people oppose globalization?
Globalization can modernize/change the original culture that was there
Space is the ________ or interval __________ two objects
physical gap, between
The __________ of a feature in ________ is known as its distribution
arrangement, space
Define density
The frequency with which something occurs in space. *concentration and density are 2 different things
The way in which a feature is spread over space is know as?
concentration
What are the opposite ends of the spectrum of concentration?
Clustered—dispersed- know these two words
List the 2 different types of pattern given in the text
- Geometric pattern
2. Grid pattern
How does ethnicity play a role in geo.
Usually based on the location of a neighborhood is not much diversity, mostly all white/black
How does gender play a role in geo.
People move to neighborhoods on how close it is to good schools or work. Men=might move closer to work. Women=closer to good schools for kids
How does sexual orientation play a role in geo.
People who are gay/lesbo/trans-gender will try to move to a country that allows for them to have freedom w/o discrimination
Define diffusion
the process by which a characteristic spreads across space
Define hearth. Ex.
a place or idea where innovative ideas originate Ex. IPhone originated in the U.S.
Define relocation diffusion. ex.
The spread of an idea through physical movement of people from one place to another. Ex. large mass of Spanish speakers in the U.S. bc of immigrants
Define hierarchical diffusion. ex.
The spread of an idea from persons of groups of authority or power to other persons or places. Ex: Presidential campaigns
Define contagious diffusion
The rapid widespread diffusion of a characteristic throughout the population Ex: The rapid spread of AIDS in Africa
Define expansion diffusion
The spread of a feature from one place to another in an additive process
Define stimulus diffusion
a spread of an underlying principle evem though a characteristic itself apparently fails to diffuse. Ex: feature of the iPhone have been used in different phone companies Ex: Samsung
In the past most interaction between places required what?
Physical movement
Define distance decay
The farther the two or more people are from each other the less likely they are to interact with each other
Define space-time compression
The reduction in time it takes for something to reach another place
How has interaction between two places changed?
Instead of having to physical move to interact with people, we have technology to reach others
Ex. of retard interaction among groups
- Physical boundaries such as oceans, mountains, and deserts, some people might not have technology in poorer countries
Global culture and economy are increasingly centered in the 3 core hearts. List them
- North America 2. Europe 3. Japan
What are the three major reasons for these three areas being hearths?
- Wealth to purchase goods and services
- Has worlds advanced technology
- Capital to incest in new activities
Why is there an increasing economic gap between regions in the world-uneven development?
The level of wealth vary in different countries and regions. Some countries might still value farming and agriculture more than techno.+globalization
Difference between renewable resources and nonrenewable resources.
Renewable: Something produced in nature more rapidly than it is consume by humans. Nonrenewable: Something produced in nature that cannot be produced as quickly as humans consume it.
What are the two major misuses of resources geographers observe?
- Humans deplete nonrenewable resources
2. Humans destroy renewable resources (water, air, soil)
Define sustainability
The use of Earth’s renewable and nonrenewable natural resources in ways that do not constrain resources in the future
1st pillar of sustainability: Environment
conservation-the sustainable use and movement of Earth’s natural resource to meet human needs
preservation- the maintenance of resources in their present condition as little human impact as possible
2nd pillar of sustainability: Economy
natural resources have a monetary value in a market economy, the price of a resource depends on a society’s technological ability to obtain it and adapt it
3rd pillar of sustainability: Society
Based on the human needs to survive, we make resources to meet those needs (clothing, houses, food), based on what consumers wants people can help support sustainability- harvesting, grains, fruit, veggies
Explain two major criticisms about sustainability
- The world surpassed it’s sustainable level in the 1980’s and we have no more to grow back resources 2. Humans have not exceeded Earth’s capacity, resource availability has no limit.
What are the types of climates geographers identify?
A: Tropical Climates C: Warm Mid-latitude climates
B: Dry Climates D: Cold Mid-latitude climates
E: Polar
In what major way does climate influence human activities? Ex.
If you live in a climate that is dry and cold you wouldn’t be able to grow and harvest crops as easy as if you lived in a tropical climate which would influence your choices
Why are human geographers interested in ecosystems involving interaction of humans with the biosphere and abiotic spheres? Ex.
Living things cannot exist except through interaction with the surrounding physical env. Ex. Humans need air to breathe
Soil: What are the two major problems with which geographers are concerned as far as soil is concerned?
Erosion- Soil washes away in the rain or blows away in the wind. Depletion of nutrients-plants withdraw certain nutrients from the soils and restores others
Define cultural ecology
The geographic study human-env. relationships
Define env. determinism
A 19th and 20th century approach to geography that geography was the study of how the physical env. caused human activities
Define possibilism
The physical env. may set limits to human actions but people have the ability to adjust to the physical env.
Why does The Netherlands have a sustainable ecosystem?
Even though they built dikes and deltas to stop flooding, they tried to give back to the env. by purposely flooding fields to return hectares to wet-lands or forests. They also have been acting to reduce industrial pollution and increase solar/wind power use.
Why does southern Florida have an unsustainable ecosystem?
In the everglades fish, plants, and animals used to thrive there until the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built multiple levees, dikes etc. for flood control and ended up with polluted water, and due to polluted water fish began to die bc of high levels of mercury, phosphorus
