Geography Theme and Skills Flashcards
Human-Environment Interaction
The ways in which people and places interact with and influence each other.
Strait of Hormuz
A key physical feature in the Middle East that is a narrow stretch of water between Iran and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)
Movement
How and why people move between areas.
Place
Refers to the physical and human aspects of a specific area.
Andes Mountains
One of two key physical features in South America, it is the longest mountain range in the world and the second highest range in the world.
Mississippi River
A key physical feature of North America that runs from Minnesota into the Gulf of Mexico.
Compass Rose
Symbol on a map that indicates the four cardinal directions: north, south, east and west, to orient the reader
Alps Mountain Range
The key physical feature in Europe, this range runs from Austria to France.
Situation
how a settlement relates to factors such as available building resources, water supply, food supply, roads, and available natural resources for consumption
Region
A collection of different places that have one or more unifying characteristics.
Absolute Location
the location of a given point that does not require another frame of reference. Absolute locations include coordinates or addresses while relative locations describe a point’s location in relation to another point.
Prime Meridian
The center line of longitude that divides the Earth into an eastern and western hemisphere
Himalaya Mountains
One of the key physical features in Asia, they are the tallest mountains in the world a
Relative Location
describes a place’s location relative to another place. Relative locations can be helpful but require knowledge of the base location in order to understand the direction.
Amazon River
One of two key physical features in South America, it is the second longest river in the world,
Ural Mountains
Mountain range that divides continental Europe from Asia.
Gobi Desert
One of the key physical features in Asia, it is the fifth largest desert in the world,
Latitude
The horizontal lines of the grid system that measure distance above and below the Equator
International Date Line
The longitudinal line (180 degrees) that separates two consecutive dates
Sahara Desert
The key physical feature in Africa, that is the largest hot desert in the world and covers most of northern Africa.
Appalachian Mountains
A mountain range running vertically in Eastern North America and that serves as one of the key physical features of NA.
Rocky Mountains
A 3000 mile mountain range stretching from British Columbia in Canada to New Mexico, and are the tallest mountains in North America.
Functional Regions
A region based on a shared service or purpose
Zip Code Regions
Longitude
The vertical lines of the grid system that converge at both poles and measure distance east and west of the Prime Meridian
Transition Zones
areas which exhibit characteristics similar to multiple regions around it
US-Mexico border
Fertile Crescent
A crescent-shaped area from the Mediterranean Sea on the West to the Persian Gulf on the East and that contained extremely fertile soil. Some of the first agricultural communities were settled there and it is sometimes referred to as “The Cradle of Civilization.”
Site
the physical setting of a settlement
on the riverbank
