Chapter 1: Basic Concepts (Part 2) Flashcards
Map
A two-dimensional, or flat, representation of Earth’s surface or a portion of it.
Mental map
An internal representation of a portion of Earth’s surface based on what an individual knows about a place, containing personal impressions of what is in a place and where places are located.
Meridian
An arc drawn on a map between the North and South poles.
Parallel
A circle drawn around the globe parallel to the equator and at right angles to the meridians.
Pattern
The geometric or regular arrangement of something in a study area.
Physiological density
The number of people per unit of area of arable land, which is land suitable for agriculture.
Place
A specific point on Earth distinguished by a particular character.
Polder
Land created by the Dutch 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
Principal meridian
A north-south line designated in the Land Ordinance of 1785 to facilitate the surveying and numbering of townships in the United States.
Projection
The system used to transfer locations from Earth’s surface to a flat map.
Region
An area distinguished by a unique combination of trends or features.
Regional studies
An approach to geography that emphasizes the relationships among social and physical phenomena in a particular study area.
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 Earth’s surface from a satellite orbiting the planet or other long-distance methods.
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, specifically the relationship between the size of an object on a map and the size of the actual feature on Earth’s surface.
Section
A square normally 1 mile on a side. The Land Ordinance of 1785 divided townships in the United States into 36 sections.
Site
The physical character of a place
Situation
The location of a place relative to other places. Situation factors Location factors related to the transportation of materials into and from a factory.
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.
Stimulus diffusion
The spread of an underlying principle, even though a specific characteristic is rejected.
Toponym
The name given to a portion of Earth’s’ surface.
