EXAM 1 Flashcards
What is the word geography based off of?
“Earth” and “to write”
Geographers explain…
Where and why
Who invented the word geography?
Eratosthenes
What are geographer’s tools for thinking spatially about the distribution of Earth’s features?
A map
What is a geographers most important tool?
A map
What is a place?
A specific point on Earth distinguished by a particular characteristic
Every ___ occupies a unique location, or position, on Earth’s surface
Place
What is a region?
An area of Earth defined by one or more distinctive characteristics
Geographers are increasingly concerned with the…
Global scale
What is space?
The physical gap or interval between two objects
Geographers observe that many objects are distributed across…
Space in a regular manner for discernible reasons
Who calculated the circumference of the Earth around 200 B.C.?
Eratosthenes
Who described the known world of A.D. 1 in a 17-volume work?
Strabo
Whose maps of the known world were used for 1,000 years?
Ptolemy
Who created the first modern Atlas?
Abraham Ortelius
Who divided the Earth into 5 climatic regions?
Eratosthenes
Who mapped the Roman Empire around A.D. 150?
Ptolemy
What is a “sense of place”?
A feeling for a particular spot on Earth – perhaps a hometown, vacation destination, or college
What is a toponym?
The name given to a place on Earth
How does site identify a place?
Physical characteristics
How does situation identify a place?
The location relative to other places
What is a formal region?
An area within which most people share 1 or more distinctive characteristics
Examples of a formal region
Montana and North American wheat belt
What is a functional region?
A region is an area organized around a node or focal point
What is a main use for functional regions?
To display information about economic areas
What is a vernacular region?
An area that people believe exists as part of their cultural identity
What is a perceptual region based on a person’s mental map?
Vernacular
4 examples of a functional region
The circulation of a newspaper, the area of dominance of a television station, the market area of a grocery store, and the area dominated by a particular crop
Why is the State of Texas best considered a formal region?
The same State laws apply everywhere in the region
What is globalization?
It refers to actions or processes that involve the entire world and result in making something worldwide in scope
What is a hearth?
An innovation originating at a node
What is diffusion?
The process of spreading an innovation, feature, or trend from one place to another over time
What is relocation diffusion?
When people move they take their culture with them, including language, religion, & ethnicity
The diffusion process associated with the physical movement of people
Relocation
What is hierarchical diffusion?
The spread of an idea from persons or nodes of authority or power to other persons or places
Which diffusion may result from the spread of ideas from political leaders, socially elite people, or other important persons to others in the community?
Hierarchical diffusion
What is contagious diffusion?
The rapid, widespread diffusion of a characteristic throughout the population
What is a form of expansion diffusion?
Hierarchical, contagious, and stimulus diffusion
To geographers, the spread of McDonald’s around the world represents
Globalization
What exemplifies the globalization of culture?
Wearing jeans & Nike shoes
What is a resource?
A substance in the environment that is useful to people, economically & technologically feasible to access, & socially acceptable to use
What is sustainability?
The use of Earth’s resources in ways that ensure their availability in the future
What is cultural ecology?
The geographic study of human-environment relationships
According to environmental determinism…
The physical environment caused social development
What is possibilism?
The concept that the physical environment may limit some human actions but that people have the ability to adjust to their environment
How does possibilism work?
People can choose a course of action from many alternatives in the physical environment
How have the Dutch modified their environment?
Constructing dikes & polders
Why do you think the government & people of the Netherlands are concerned about climate change?
A rise in sea level could threaten their dike systems & could cause a significant loss of land & developed infrastructure
What river is an important source of water for California?
Colorado river
