Geography Glossary Definitions Flashcards
Biodiversity
The variety of living organisms and the ecosystems they form. Biodiversity has direct value as consumable or useful commodities, indirect value through the provision of ecosystem services, and intrinsic value independent of its utility to humans.
Biomes
A major terrestrial vegetation community; for example, a tropical forest, a temperate grassland or a desert. Similar biomes, but with different species of plants and animals, are found around the world in similar climatic zones.
Change
The concept of change involves both time and space. Geographical phenomena are constantly changing, and can often be best understood by investigating how they have developed over time periods ranging from a few years to thousands of years. This is important in helping students to understand what is happening around them and to see their world as dynamic. In History, change refers to aspects of life or of a society that have changed or developed over time. The causes of change, or the resistance to change, can be investigated, along with the nature and pace of change and the impact of change.
Characteristics of places
The geographical characteristics of places include people, climate, production, landforms, built elements of the environment, soils, vegetation, communities, water resources, cultures, mineral resources and landscape. Some characteristics are tangible, for example, rivers and buildings. Others are intangible, for example, scenic quality and socioeconomic status.
Climate
The average types of weather, including seasonal variations, experienced by a place over a long period of time. For example, some climates are hot and wet all year (Singapore), some have hot, wet summers and warm, dry winters (Darwin), and some have warm, dry summers and cool, wet winters (Adelaide and Perth). Climates can be classified into distinctive types, such as equatorial, tropical, temperate, Mediterranean, semi-arid and arid. These types are found in similar locations around the world.
Climatic Zones
Refers to areas of the Earth that have similar temperatures. The major zones are hot, temperate and polar and are roughly demarcated by lines of latitude. Within each zone there are different climates, because of the effects of the distribution of continents and oceans and the circulation patterns of the atmosphere and oceans. For example, Adelaide and Sydney are on almost the same line of latitude but, while Adelaide has a Mediterranean climate with very dry summers and moderately wet winters, Sydney has a temperate climate with wet summers and drier, but not dry, winters.
connection/s
It is about the ways that people and places and other people and places are connected to each other through many different ways such as environmental processes, the movement of people, flows of trade and investment, the purchase of goods and services, cultural influences, the exchange of ideas and information, political power and international agreements. These connections can be complex, reciprocal or interdependent, and have a strong influence on our perceptions and sense of connection to other people and places.
culture
The customs, habits, beliefs, social organisation and ways of life that characterise different groups and communities.
environments
means the living and non-living elements of the Earth’s surface and atmosphere (i.e. the natural environment). It also includes human changes to the Earth’s surface, for example, croplands, planted forests, buildings and roads (i.e. the built environment).
environmental quality
The characteristics of the local environment that affect human physical and mental health and quality of life, for example, the extent of air and water pollution, noise, access to open space, traffic volumes, and the visual effects of buildings and roads.
environmental resources
Environmental resources can be classified as renewable, non-renewable and continuous.
* Renewable environmental resources are those which are, or can be, renewed within a relatively short time, for example, water through the water cycle; and plants, animals and marine life through reproduction. However, overuse of a renewable resource can lead to its disappearance, as with the overexploitation of a fishery or the over-extraction of groundwater.
* Non-renewable environmental resources are those that cannot be renewed, for example, minerals. Soils that have been degraded can only be renewed over long timescales.
* Continuous environmental resources are those, such as solar or wind energy, whose availability is unaffected by their use by humans.
features
The visible elements of a place or landscape, classified as natural (e.g. rivers, hills), managed (e.g. parks and farms) and constructed (e.g. roads and buildings). This term is used in early primary, but is later replaced by the term ‘characteristics’, which includes both the physical and human elements of a place.
geographical processes
The physical and human forces that work in combination to form and transform the world, for example, erosion, the water cycle, migration or urbanisation. Geographical processes can operate within and between places.
interconnection
The concept of interconnection emphasises that no object of geographical study can be viewed in isolation. It is about the ways that geographical phenomena are connected to each other through environmental processes; the movement of people; flows of trade and investment; the purchase of goods and services; cultural influences; the exchange of ideas and information; political power and international agreements. Interconnections can be complex, reciprocal or interdependent, and have a strong influence on the characteristics of places. An understanding of the significance of interconnection leads to holistic thinking and helps students to see the various aspects of geography as connected rather than separate bodies of knowledge.
land and water degradation
Degradation of the health of land and water resources through human actions in ways that threaten their ability to maintain their environmental functions. Degradation includes salinity, accelerated soil erosion, soil fertility decline, soil acidification, the spread of weeds, loss of biodiversity and habitats, and water pollution.
