Chapter 1 Basic Definitions Flashcards
Locational
Spatial tradition (location)
Earth science
Physical geography
Man-land
Human/enviornmental interaction
Area studies
Regional geography
What are the five themes of geography?
Location Human/environmental interaction Region Place Movement
Location…
Position, situation of people
Human/environmental interaction….
Reciprocal relationship between humans and the environment.
Region…
An area on Earth’s surface marked by a degree of uniformity of some phenomenon.
Place…
Uniqueness of a location or similarities of two or more places (phenomena within the area).
Movement…
Mobility of people, goods, and ideas, (phenomena between area)
Anthropogenic…
Caused or produced by humans.
Absolute location
Position on Earth’s surface using the coordinate system of longitude and latitude
Relative location
Approximate measurements of the physical space between two places.
Site
The physical character of a place, what is found at the location and why is significant.
Situation
The location of a place relative to other places.
Types of regions…
Formal region (uniform, homogenous) Functional region (nodal) Perceptual region (vernacular)
Formal region…
An area were everyone shares one or more distinctive characteristic in common.
Functional region…
An area organized around a node or focal point.
Vernacular region…
A place people believe exists as part of their cultural identity.
Mental map…
The internal representation of a portion of earths surface.
Environmental perception…
A person’s idea or image of a place….often incorrect.
Cultural trait…
A single element of a normal practice in a culture.
Culture complex…
A combination of related cultural traits.
Culture hearth…
The region from which innovative ideas originate. Relates to diffusion.
Ancient culture hearth…
The place origin of things that are ancient.
Anshen cultural hearth…
The place origin of things that occurred or was created recently.
Cultural landscape…
Adapting of a natural landscape by a cultural group. (This is how humans interact with nature.)
Sequent occupance…
The notion that success societies use their cultural imprints on a place, each contributing to the cultural landscape.
Types of diffusion…
Cultural diffusion Relocation diffusion Migrant diffusion Expansion diffusion Hierarchal diffusion Contagious diffusion Stimulus diffusion
Cultural diffusion…
The process of a spread of a feature or trend from one place to another place overtime.
Relocation diffusion…
The spread of an idea through physical movement of people from one place to another.
Migrant diffusion…
The spread of an idea of their people, in which the phenomena weekends or dies out at its previous source… Moves like a “Slinky”
Expansion diffusion…
The spread of a feature from one place to another in a snowballing process.
Hierarchal confusion…
The spread of an idea from persons or nodes of authority or power to other persons or places (people may not have an option…resistance may be illegal)
Contagious diffusion…
The rapid, widespread diffusion of a characteristic throughout the population (doesn’t have to be a disease)
Stimulus diffusion…
The spread of an underlying principle even though a characteristic itself apparently fails to defuse. (Example: apples first computer did not catch on but it’s underlying principles were used to make great computers that caught on)
Acculturation…
Process of adopting only certain customs that will be to their advantage.
Transculturation …
A near equal exchange of culture traits or customs.
Assimilation…
Process of adopting certain customs that will be to their advantage.
Environmental determinism…
A 19th century to early 20th century approach to the study of geography that argued that the general laws sought by human geographers could be found in the physical sciences. Geography was therefore the study of how the physical environment caused him activities.
Possiblism…
The physical environment may limit some human action, but people have the ability to adjust their environment.
Cultural ecology…
The geographic study of multiple interactions of human environmental relationships.
Holocene epoch…
The current interglaciation period. (Sustained warming phase between glaciations during the ice age) some scientists believe we have recently entered the Anthropocene epoch because of humans new influence on earth.
First agricultural revolution…
Beginning around 12,000 years ago, plant and animal domestication, which means human influence on that thing to make it more suitable for human control, began permanent settlements along fertile river valley is which moved humans from the egalitarian societies (equal), to more stratified societies, (unequal).
What does G I S stand for?
Geographic information systems.
GIS or geographic information system…
Collection of computer hardware and software permitting spatial data to be collected, recorded, stored, used, and displayed.
What does GPS stand for?
Global positioning system
Global positioning system or GPS…
Satellite-based system for determining the absolute location of places.
Remote-sensing…
Method of collecting data or information through the use of instruments (satellites) that are physically distant from the area or object of study.
Qualitative data…
Described in terms of its quality (that is, informal or relative characters such as culture, language, religion,…)
Quantitative data…
Precisely describes data using numbers and measures (population, political, economic,…)
Map projection…
Any three dimensional object (earth) will project some distortion onto any two dimensional object (map.)
What are the kinds of map projections?
Azimuthal Mercator Peters Robinson Fuller
Azimuthal map projection…
Directions from a central point are preserved usually these projections also have radial symmetry.
Mercator map projection…
Straight meridians and parallels that intersect at right angles, used for marine navigation.
Peters map projection…
Equal area cylindrical, areas of equal size on the globe are also equally sized on the map.
Robinson map projection…
Distorts shape, area, scale, and distance in attempt to balance errors of projection properties
Fuller map projection…
Using the surface of a polyhedron it is unfolded to a net in many different ways and flattened to form a two dimensional map which retains most of the globes proportional integrity
What are the different types of maps?
Dot Stomatic Cloropleth Reference Proportional symbol Preference Cartogram
Dot map…
One dot represents a certain number of phenomena (ex. One dot per 1000 people) represents things like population in an area ect.
Thematic map…
Made to reflect a particular theme about a geographic area. (Ex. Geographic, topographic, political map,…)
Choropleth map…
A thematic map in which areas are shaded or patterned in proportion to the measurement of the statistical variable being displayed (ex, population density)
Reference map…
Generalized map type designed to show general spatial properties of features. (Ex. World’s maps, roadmaps, Atlas Maps)
Proportional symbol…
Type of thematic map in which the area of symbols are varied in proportion to the value of an attribute (ex. City population)
Preference map…
Map demonstrating progressively more desirable options.
Cartogram map…
Map in which some thematic mapping variable is substituted for land area.
