Chapter 1

Question 1

Abiotic

Answer 1

composed of nonliving or inorganic matter

Question 2

Atmosphere

Answer 2

The thin layer of gases surrounding Earth

Question 3

Biosphere

Answer 3

All living organisms on Earth, including plants and animals as well as microorganisms.

Question 4

Biotic

Answer 4

Composed of living organisms

Question 5

Cartography

Answer 5

The science of making maps

Question 6

Climate

Answer 6

The long term average weather condition at a particular location

Question 7

Concentration

Answer 7

The spread of something over a given area

Question 8

Connection

Answer 8

Relationships among people and objects across the barrier of space

Question 9

Conservation

Answer 9

The sustainable management of a natural resource

Question 10

Contagious diffusion

Answer 10

The rapid, wide spread diffusion of a feature or trend throughout a population

Question 11

Cultural ecology

Answer 11

A geographic approach that emphasizes human-environment relationships

Question 12

Cultural landscape

Answer 12

The fashioning of a natural landscape by a cultural group

Question 13

Culture

Answer 13

The body of customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits that together constitute a group’s distinct tradition

Question 14

Density

Answer 14

The frequency with which something exists within a given area

Question 15

Diffusion

Answer 15

The process of spread of a feature or trend from one place to another over time

Question 16

Distance Decay

Answer 16

The diminishing in importance and eventual disappearance of a phenomenon with increasing distance from its origin

Question 17

Distribution

Answer 17

The arrangement of something across Earth’s surface

Question 18

Ecology

Answer 18

The scientific study of ecosystems

Question 19

Ecosystem

Answer 19

A group of living organisms and the abiotic spheres with which they interact

Question 20

Environmental determinism

Answer 20

A nineteenth- and early twentieth-century approach to the study geography which argued that the general laws sought by human geographers could be found in physical sciences. Geography was therefore the study of how the physical environment caused human activities

Question 21

Formal region Uniform region Homogeneous region

Answer 21

An area in which everyone shares in common one or more distinctive characteristics

Question 22

Functional region

Answer 22

An area organized around a node or focal point

Question 23

Geographic information science (GIScience)

Answer 23

The development and analysis of data about Earth acquire through satellite and other information technologies

Question 24

Global Positioning System

Answer 24

A system that determines the precise position of something on Earth through a series of satellites, tracking stations, and receivers

Question 25

Greenwich Meridian Time (GMT)

Answer 25

The time in the time zone encompassing the prime meridian or 0 degrees longitude

Question 26

Hierarchical Diffusion

Answer 26

The spread of a feature or trend from one key person or node of authority to other persons or places. example hip hop

Question 27

Hydrosphere

Answer 27

all the water on or near Earth’s surface

Question 28

International Date Line

Answer 28

An arc that for the most part follows 180 degree longitude, although it deviates in several places to avoid dividing land areas. When you cross the International Date Line from the east (towards America), the clock moves back 24 hours or an entire day. When you go west (towards Asia), the calendar moves ahead one day.

Question 29

Latitude

Answer 29

The numbering system used to indicate the location of parallels drawn on a globe and measuring distance north and south of the equator

Question 30

Lithosphere

Answer 30

Earth’s crust and a portion of upper mantle directly below the crust

Question 31

Longitude

Answer 31

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 degrees.

Question 32

Meridian

Answer 32

an arc drawn on a map between North and South poles

Question 33

Parallel

Answer 33

A circle drawn around the globe parallel to the equator and at right angles to the meridians.

Question 34

polder

Answer 34

Land created by the Dutch by draining water from an area

Question 35

Possibilism

Answer 35

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