Competency 22: Geography & Culture Flashcards
Geography
The study of the Earth & its people
Location
The place on Earth where a place can be found.
Relative Location
The location of a place, compared to other places on Earth.
Place
the features that make up a location.
Physical Characteristics
climate, land-forms, soils, hydrology, vegetation & animal life.
Human Characteristics
Language, religion, political systems, economic systems, population distribution, and quality of life.
Physical Features
Features formed by nature (landforms, bodies of water, plant life, etc)
Human Features
Features created by people (buildings, roads, and the people themselves)
Natural (Formal) Regions
Places with similar natural features, such as: climate regions (humid sub-tropical region) landform regions (big bed)
Functional Regions
A group of places linked by the flow of something else and organized around a node or focal point, such as:
The Amazon Basin (linked by flow of water)
The Dallas transit system (linked by flow of commuters)
Shopping malls
Bank branches
Political Regions
A region that shares a government and has the same leaders, such as: countries provinces states counties cities
Population Region
A region is defined by the people that live in it.
Economic Region
A region defined by the type of work, standard of living, and the economy of the people that live in it.
Grid Systems
Allows the location of a point on a map to be described and universally understood. Drawn over the representation of a place, and XY coordinates are used to assist in locating places on the grid.
Resources
Physicial material from the earth which people need and value, including:
basic resources-air, land, water.
Renewable resources- plants, animals
non-renewable resources- fossil fuels, sunlight, water
Aquifer
Layers of rock that contain water
Basin
bowl-shaped land area, surrounded by higher land
Bay
Inlet of the sea, smaller than a gulf
Cape
Point of land that extends into the water
Cataract
Large waterfall
Channel
The deepest part of a body of water.
Coastal Plan
Flat land along a sea or ocean
Delta
triangle shaped area of land at mouth of a river.
Escarpment
long, steep rock wall
Fall Line
area where rivers form waterfalls and rapids as they drop to lower land.
Floodplain
Flat land near edges of river; formed by floods depositing river soil onto the land.
Inlet
Area of water from a larger body of water that extends into the land.
Island
Land with water on all sides.
Isthmus
Narrow strip of land that connects two larger land areas.
Mesa
Steep, flat-topped mountain
Peninsula
Land that is almost completely surrounded by water.
Plain
flat or gently rolling low land
Strait
Narrow channel of water connecting two larger bodies of water.
Tributary
Stream or river that feeds into a larger stream of water.
Landform Regions of US
West
Middle West
South
Northeast
Landform Regions of Texas
Mountains & Basins
High Plains
Central Plains
Coastal Plains
Mountains & Basins
Landform region of Tx. West Tx. Includes Chisos. Davis, & Guadalupe Mountains.
High Plains
Landform region of Tx. Begins at Caprock Escarpment. Part of US Central Plains. Includes Panhandle. Northernmost part of Texas.
Central Plains
Landform region of Tx. begins above Balcones Escarpment. Also known as Hill Country. Part of US central plains. ends at Caprock Escarpment. Central Texas.
Coastal Plains
Landform region of Tx. Follows the Gulf Coast. Starts @ sea level and gradually rises until it reaches Balcones Escarpment. Includes East & south TX.
Physical Processes Occur in four areas:
1) Atmosphere
2) Lithosphere
3) Hydrospehere
4) Biosphere
Atmosphere
The gases that surround the earth. Climate and meteorology
Lithosphere
Land. Plate tectonics, erosion, and soil formation.
Hydrosphere
Water. The circulation of oceans and the hydrologic cycle.
Biosphere
Living things on earth. Plant & animal communities and ecosystems.
