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