GT. The Geographer's Toolkit

Question 1

Physical Geography

Answer 1

study of Earth’s living and nonliving physical systems and how they change naturally through space and time or are changed by human activity.

Question 2

System

Answer 2

a set of interacting parts or processes that function as a unit.

Question 3

Geography

Answer 3

study of the spatial relationships amoung Earth’s physical and cultural features and how they develop and change through time.

Question 4

Anthropogenic

Answer 4

created or influenced by people.

Question 5

Spatial Scale

Answer 5

physical size, length, distance, or area of an object or the physical space occupied by a process.

Question 6

Temporal Scale

Answer 6

the window of time used to examine phenomena and processes or the length of time over which they develop or change.

Question 7

Map

Answer 7

A flat two-dimensional representation of Earth’s surface

Question 8

Large Scale

Answer 8

geographic scale that pertains to a geographically restricted area and makes geographical features large to show more detail.

Question 9

Small Scale

Answer 9

geographic scale that makes geographic features small to cover a large area of Earth’s surface.

Question 10

Energy

Answer 10

capacity to do work on or to change the state of matter

Question 11

Matter

Answer 11

any material that occupies space and possesses mass

Question 12

Radiant Energy

Answer 12

energy of electromagnetic waves

Question 13

photosynthesis

Answer 13

process by which plants, algae, and some bacteria convert the radiant energy of sunlight to chemical energy.

Question 14

chemical energy

Answer 14

energy in a substance that can be released through a chemical reaction

Question 15

geothermal energy

Answer 15

heat from Earth’s interior

Question 16

relief

Answer 16

difference in elevation between two or more points on Earth’s surface

Question 17

crust

Answer 17

rigid outermost portion of Earth’s surface

Question 18

atmosphere

Answer 18

layer of gases surrounding Earth

Question 19

biosphere

Answer 19

all life on earth

Question 20

lithosphere

Answer 20

rigid outer layer of Earth, called the crust, and the heated layer beneath it down to about 100km

Question 21

hydrosphere

Answer 21

all of Earth’s water in its three phases

Question 22

water vapour

Answer 22

water in its gaseous state

Question 23

weather

Answer 23

state of the atmosphere at any given moment

Question 24

climate

Answer 24

long-term average of weather and the average frequency of extreme weather events.

Question 25

erosion

Answer 25

process of transporting rock fragments via moving water, ice, or air

Question 26

evaporation

Answer 26

process of changing liquid water to water vapour

Question 27

condensation

Answer 27

process of changing water vapour to liquid

Question 28

precipitation

Answer 28

falling rain, snow, sleet, or hail

Question 29

geographic grid

Answer 29

coordinate system that uses latitude and longitude to identify locations on Earth’s surface

Question 30

latitude

Answer 30

angular distance as measured from Earth’s center to a point north or south of the equator

Question 31

equator

Answer 31

line of latitude that divides Earth into two equal halves. The equator is exactly perpendicular to Earth’s axis of rotation

Question 32

parallel

Answer 32

line that forms a circle on the globe by connecting points of the same latitude

Question 33

tropics

Answer 33

geographic region located between 23.5 degrees north and south latitude

Question 34

longitude

Answer 34

angular distance as measured from Earth’s center to a point east or west of the prime meridian

Question 35

prime meridian

Answer 35

zero degrees longitude; the line of longitude that passes through Greenwhich, England, and serves as the starting point from which all other lines of longitude are determined

Question 36

meridian

Answer 36

line on the globe that runs from the North Pole to the South Pole and connects points of the same longitude

Question 37

cartography

Answer 37

science and art of map making

Question 38

great circle

Answer 38

continuous line that bisects the globe into two equal halves, such as the equator; it is the shortest distance between two points on earth

Question 39

map scale

Answer 39

means of specifying how much the real world has been reduced on a map

Question 40

topography

Answer 40

shape and physical character of Earth’s surface

Question 41

contour lines

Answer 41

lines of equal elevation in relation to sea level used on a topographic map

Question 42

remote sensing

Answer 42

data collection from a distance

Question 43

doppler radar

Answer 43

an active remote sensing technology that uses microwave energy to measure the velocity and direction of movement of particles of precipitation within a cloud.

Question 44

digital elevation model (DEM)

Answer 44

digital representation of land surface or underwater topography

Question 45

geographic information system (GIS)

Answer 45

system that uses computers to capture, store, analyze, and display spatial data

Question 46

latitude zones

Answer 46

major zones of latitude are the tropics, midlatitudes, and high latitudes

Question 47

maps and map scale

Answer 47

maps portray spatial information efficiently. How much Earth’s surface has been reduced on a map is shown by the map scale.

Question 48

map elements

Answer 48

maps should have a title, scale, legend, north arrow, and the date of publication