Chapter 1 Definitions Rubenstein Flashcards
A chain of communication that connects places.
Network
A circle drawn around the globe parallel to the equator and at right angles to the meridians.
Parallel
A company that conducts research, operates factories and sells products in many countries, not just where its headquarters or shareholders are located.
Transnational Corporation
A computer system that stores, organizes, analyzes and displays geographic data.
Geographic Information System (GIS)
A geographic approach that emphasizes human-environment relationships.
Cultural ecology
A nineteenth- and early twentieth-century approach to the study of geography which 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 human activities.
Environmental determinism
A rapid increase in the value of houses followed by a sharp decline in their value.
Housing bubble
A representation of a portion of Earth’s surface based on what an individual knows about a place, containing personal impressions of what is in the place and where the place is located
Mental map
A specific point on Earth distinguished by a particular characteristic.
Place
A substance in the environment that is useful to people, is economically and technologically feasible to access and is socially acceptable to use.
Resource
A system that determines the precise position of something on Earth through a series of satellites, tracking stations and receivers.
Global Positioning System (GPS)
A system used to transfer locations from Earth?s surface to a flat map.
Projection
A two-dimensional, or flat, representation Earth?s surface or a portion of it.
Map
Abiotic
Composed of nonliving or inorganic matter.
Actions or process that involved the entire world and result in making something worldwide in scope.
Globalization
All living organisms on Earth, including plants and animals, as well as microorganisms.
Biosphere
All of the water on and near the Earth?s surface.
Hydrosphere
An approach to geography that emphasizes the relationship among social and physical phenomena in a particular study area.
Regional (cultural landscape) studies
An arc drawn on a map between the North and South poles.
Meridian
An arc that for the most part follows the 180 degree longitude, although it deviates in several places to avoid dividing land areas. When you cross the International Date Line heading east (toward the Americas), the clock moves back 24 hours, or one entire day. When you go west, toward Asia, the calendar moves ahead one day.
International Date Line
An area distinguished by a unique combination of trends or features.
Region
An area in which everyone shares in common one or more distinctive characteristics.
Formal (uniform or homogeneous) region
An area organized around a node or focal point. It has a use. e.g. Electricity, Water, Natural Gas
Functional (nodal) region
An area that people believe exists as part of their cultural identity.
Vernacular (perceptual) region
Atmosphere
The thin layer of gases surrounding Earth.
Biosphere
All living organisms on Earth, including plants and animals, as well as microorganisms.
Biotic
Composed of living organisms.
Cartography
The science of making maps.
Climate
The long-term average weather condition at a particular location.
Composed of living organisms.
Biotic
Composed of nonliving or inorganic matter.
Abiotic
Concentration
The spread of something over a given area.
Connection
Relationships among people and objects across the barrier of space.
Conservation
The sustainable management of a natural resource.
Contagious diffusion
The rapid, widespread diffusion of a feature or trend throughout a population.
Cultural ecology
A geographic approach that emphasizes human-environment relationships.
Cultural landscape
The fashioning of a natural landscape by a cultural group.
Culture
The body of customary beliefs, social forms and material traits that together constitute a group?s distinct tradition.
Density
The frequency with which something exists within a given unit of area.
Diffusion
The process of spread of a feature or trend from one place to another.
Distance decay
The diminishing in importance and eventual disappearance of a phenomenon with increasing distance from its origin.
Distribution
The arrangement of something across the Earth?s surface.
Earth’s crust and a portion of upper mantle directly below the crust.
Lithosphere
Ecology
The scientific study of ecosystems.
Ecosystem
The group of living organisms and abiotic spheres with which they interact.
Environmental determinism
A nineteenth- and early twentieth-century approach to the study of geography which 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 human activities.
Expansion diffusion
The spread of a feature or trend among people from one area to another in an additive process.
Formal (uniform or homogeneous) region
An area in which everyone shares in common one or more distinctive characteristics.
Functional (nodal) region
An area organized around a node or focal point. It has a use. e.g. Electricity, Water, Natural Gas
Generally, the relationship between the portion of Earth being studied and Earth as a whole.
Scale
Geographic Information Science (GIScience)
The development and analysis of data about Earth acquired through satellite and other electronic information technologies.
Geographic Information System (GIS)
A computer system that stores, organizes, analyzes and displays geographic data.
Global Positioning System (GPS)
A system that determines the precise position of something on Earth through a series of satellites, tracking stations and receivers.
Globalization
Actions or process that involved the entire world and result in making something worldwide in scope.
Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)
The time in the zone encompassing the prime meridian, or 0 degrees longitude.
Hearth
The region from which innovative ideas originate.
Hierarchical diffusion
The spread of a feature or trend from one key person or node of authority or power to other persons or places.
Housing bubble
A rapid increase in the value of houses followed by a sharp decline in their value.
Hydrosphere
All of the water on and near the Earth?s surface.
International Date Line
An arc that for the most part follows the 180 degree longitude, although it deviates in several places to avoid dividing land areas. When you cross the International Date Line heading east (toward the Americas), the clock moves back 24 hours, or one entire day. When you go west, toward Asia, the calendar moves ahead one day.
Land created by the Dutch by draining water from an area.
Polder
Latitude
The numbering system used to indicate the location of parallels drawn on a globe and measuring distance north and south of the equator.
Lithosphere
Earth?s crust and a portion of upper mantle directly below the crust.
Location
The position of anything on Earth?s surface.
Longitude
The numbering system used to indicate the location of meridians drawn on a globe and measuring distance east and west of the prime meridian.
Map
A two-dimensional, or flat, representation Earth?s surface or a portion of it.
Map scale
The relationship between the size of an object on a map and the size of the actual feature on Earth?s surface.
Mental map
A representation of a portion of Earth?s surface based on what an individual knows about a place, containing personal impressions of what is in the place and where the place is located
Meridian
An arc drawn on a map between the North and South poles.
Network
A chain of communication that connects places.
Nonrenewable resource
Something produced in nature more slowly than it is consumed by humans.
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.
Place
A specific point on Earth distinguished by a particular characteristic.
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.
Preservation
The maintenance of resources in their present condition, with as little human impact as possible.
Prime Meridian
The meridian, designated as 0 degrees longitude that passes through the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, England.
Projection
A 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 (cultural landscape) studies
An approach to geography that emphasizes the relationship among social and physical phenomena in a particular study area.
Relationships among people and objects across the barrier of space.
Connection
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 from other long-distance methods.
Renewable resource
Something produced in nature more rapidly than it is consumed by humans.
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.
Site
This physical characteristic of a place.
Situation
The location of a place relative to another place.
Something produced in nature more rapidly than it is consumed by humans.
Renewable resource
Something produced in nature more slowly than it is consumed by humans.
Nonrenewable resource
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.
Sustainability
The use of Earth?s renewable and nonrenewable natural resources in ways that do not constrain resource use in the future.
The acquisition of data about Earth?s surface from a satellite orbiting the planet or from other long-distance methods.
Remote sensing
The arrangement of something across the Earth?s surface.
Distribution
The body of customary beliefs, social forms and material traits that together constitute a group?s distinct tradition.
Culture
The development and analysis of data about Earth acquired through satellite and other electronic information technologies.
Geographic Information Science (GIScience)
The diminishing in importance and eventual disappearance of a phenomenon with increasing distance from its origin.
Distance decay
The fashioning of a natural landscape by a cultural group.
Cultural landscape
The frequency with which something exists within a given unit of area.
Density
The geometric or regular arrangement of something in a study area.
Pattern
The group of living organisms and abiotic spheres with which they interact.
Ecosystem
The increasing gap in economic conditions between core and peripheral regions as a result of globalization of the economy.
Uneven development
The location of a place relative to another place.
Situation
The long-term average weather condition at a particular location.
Climate
The maintenance of resources in their present condition, with as little human impact as possible.
Preservation
The meridian, designated as 0 degrees longitude that passes through the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, England.
Prime Meridian
The name given to a portion of Earth?s surface.
Toponym
The numbering system used to indicate the location of meridians drawn on a globe and measuring distance east and west of the prime meridian.
Longitude
The numbering system used to indicate the location of parallels drawn on a globe and measuring distance north and south of the equator.
Latitude
The physical gap or interval between two objects.
Space
The position of anything on Earth?s surface.
Location
The process of spread of a feature or trend from one place to another.
Diffusion
The rapid, widespread diffusion of a feature or trend throughout a population.
Contagious diffusion
The reduction in the time it takes to diffuse something to a distant place as a result of improved communications and transportation systems.
Space-time compression
The region from which innovative ideas originate.
Hearth
The relationship between the size of an object on a map and the size of the actual feature on Earth?s surface.
Map scale
The science of making maps.
Cartography
The scientific study of ecosystems.
Ecology
The spread of a feature or trend among people from one area to another in an additive process.
Expansion diffusion
The spread of a feature or trend from one key person or node of authority or power to other persons or places.
Hierarchical diffusion
The spread of a feature or trend through bodily movement of people from one place to another.
Relocation diffusion
The spread of an underlying principle even though a specific characteristic is rejected.
Stimulus diffusion
The spread of something over a given area.
Concentration
The sustainable management of a natural resource.
Conservation
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.
Possibilism
The thin layer of gases surrounding Earth.
Atmosphere
The time in the zone encompassing the prime meridian, or 0 degrees longitude.
Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)
The use of Earth?s renewable and nonrenewable natural resources in ways that do not constrain resource use in the future.
Sustainability
This physical characteristic of a place.
Site
Toponym
The name given to a portion of Earth?s surface.
Transnational Corporation
A company that conducts research, operates factories and sells products in many countries, not just where its headquarters or shareholders are located.
Uneven development
The increasing gap in economic conditions between core and peripheral regions as a result of globalization of the economy.
Vernacular (perceptual) region
An area that people believe exists as part of their cultural identity.
