Geography Flashcards
The study of the surface of the Earth, including aspects like climate, topography, vegetation & population
Geography
What are the 3 questions geography seeks to answer?
Where? Why there? What are the consequences of it being there?
Identifying, explaining, and predicting the human and physical patterns in space and the interconnections of various spaces
Spatial Perspective
What are the four branches of geography?
Human Geography, Physical Geography, Regional Geography & Topical/Systemic Geography
The study of humans and the cultures they create relative to their space.
Human Geography
This study of geography looks at how people’s activity relates to the environment politically, culturally, historically, and socially.
Human Geography
The study of the physical environment of the Earth including water, animals, air and land
Physical Geography
This study of geography divides the world into different realms
Regional Geography
The systematic studies of climate, landforms, economics, and culture
Topical/Systemic Geography
Deals with the relationship between population patterns and geography
Population Geography
Studies the effect of geography on politics such as national boundaries and state relationship
Political Geography
Studies the interaction between the Earth’s landscape and the economic activity of the human population
Economic Geography
What are the five themes of Geography?
Location, Places, Human-Environment Interaction, Movement, Regions
The exact whereabouts of a person, place or thing
Absolute Location
Measured in meridians east and west of the Prime Meridian
Longitude
Measured in parallels north and south of the Equator
Latitude
Description of a relationship of a place between or among other places
Relative Location
A unique combination of physical & cultural attributes that give each location on Earth its individual “stamp”
Place
The natural environment of a place and comes from geological, hydrological, atmospheric and biological processes in the area.
Physical Characteristics
Changes made to the environment as a result of human ideals and actions
Human Characteristics
This theme of geography looks at the positive and negative effects that result from human interaction with the environment
Human-Environment Interaction
What is the biggest issue with Human-Environment Interaction?
Interactions between human & environment can change quickly and may only be temporary.
How and why people, places, and things are connected to and dependent upon one another.
Movement
How ideas, innovation and ideology spread from one area to another
Cultural Diffusion
How places interact through movement, the extent of this depends on distance.
Spatial interaction
The degree to which distance interferes with some interactions.
Friction of Distance
The increasing sense of accessibility and connectivity that seems to bring humans in distant places together, but it only reduces perceived distance
Space-Time Compression
When interaction between two places declines as distance between them increases
Distance Decay
What are the three basic types of regions?
Formal Regions, Functional Regions, Vernacular Regions
Areas that have common cultural or physical features and are often defined by government or administrative boundaries
Formal Regions
Another term for Formal Regions
Uniform Regions
Regions that are linked by some function’s influence on them, but if the function ceases to exist so does the region.
Functional Regions
Another term for Functional Regions
Nodal Regions
Loosely defined regions based on people’s perceptions
Vernacular Regions
Natural processes that shape the Earth’s physical systems and features are…
Air, Land, Water, Animals
What are the seven main natural processes that have shaped Earth’s landforms, physical features, and systems?
Plate Tectonics, Weathering, Transportation, Erosion, Freezing & Thawing, Gravity, Deposition
What are many landforms the byproducts of?
Interactions between natural processes that produced sediments which were then deposited (dunes, deltas, glacial moraines)
The physical and chemical breakdown of rocks at or near the Earth’s surface
Weathering
When soil and rock debris is loosened and carried away
Erosion
What are agents of erosion?
Streams, Glaciers, Wave Action, Wind, Mass Movement
What is the most potent erosive force on Earth and why?
Wave Action, because it is controlled by gravity.
Theory that the Earth’s lithosphere is broken down into a dozen plates that float and cause landforms as they separate, collide, and slide past each other.
Plate Tectonics
The way of life that characterizes a certain region
Culture
The interaction with the Earth as caused by people’s culture
Cultural Ecologu
The view that the environment can overpower people, determine their culture, and the direction/extent of their developent
Environmental Determinism
The view that culture overpowers and shapes the environment
Human-Cultural Determinism
What are the three lenses that human-cultural determinism can be seen through?
Impact of Culture on Interaction, Impact of Vegetation, Impact of Landforms
The study of how social and environmental change occurs in the context of power relations, social structures, economic issues & human-environment interactions.
Political Ecology
A two dimensional model of Earth or a portion of its surface
Map
The process of map making
Cartography
This map shows political boundaries (states, cities, capitols, countries)
Political Map
This map shows landforms and bodies of water in an area
Physical Map
This map shows climate, vegetation, population density, or historical trends (among other options)
Thematic Map
What are the four main map properties?
Shape, Size, Distance and Direction
The geometric properties of the objects on the map are its
shapes
The relative amount of space taken up by landforms or other objects on the map
Size (Area)
The represented space between objects on the map
Distance
The degree of accuracy representing the cardinal directions and their intermediate directions
Direction
What are the six parts of a map?
Title, Compass, Scale, Labels, Key and Contour
This reveals the subject of the map and gives an idea of the information displayed on the map
Title
This orients a map
Compass (Compass Rose)
This tells how much smaller the distance on the map is to the actual distance.
Scale
These are words or phrases that explain features on a map
Labels
This explains or shows what symbols or colors on a map mean
Key (Legend)
This style of map depicts elevation
Contour Map
The closer together these are on a contour map, the steeper the elevation
Contour Lines
These are graphical representations of numerical data and detail relationships between parts of data.
Graphs & Charts
The horizontal border on a graph or chart
X Axis
The vertical border on a graph or chart
Y Axis
What are the seven main features of a graph or chart?
Title, Diagram, Dimensions, Scale, Labels, Data, Legend
This is located above the main graphic and describes information contained within the graph or chart.
Title
This represents visualizations of the underlying data in a graph or chart.
Diagram
This is expressed along the axes of a chart
Dimensions
The only type of chart without axes is a
Pie Chart
This is marked by periodic graduations and accompanied by numerical or categorical indications
Scale
This is located on each axis and describes what sort of dimensions it represents
Labels
This is what is represented by the graph or chart
Data
This lists the variables used on a graph or chart and gives an example of their appearance
Legend
This type of graph or chart shows how something changes with respect to time.
Area Chart
An area chart shows what?
Contribution over time of each type of data in a series to form a whole picture.
Horizontal and vertical blocks or bars are used in this type of graph or chart to compare amounts or frequency of distinct times or shows single items at distinct intervals
Bar Chart
This chart or graph compares items at distinct intervals and is arranged in categories along the horizontal axis with values along the vertical
Column Chart
This type of graph or chart allows one to look at two pieces of information that are both similar and dissimilar. It plots the value of the data as a “point” and “connects the dots” to illustrate the relationship of consecutive points.
Line Chart
This type of graph or chart represents a part to whole relationship between data groups.
Pie Chart
The pieces of a pie chart are called its
Sectors
Data in this chart or graph is displayed as a collection of points, but makes no connections, columns, lines, or bars.
Scatter Plot
