Midterm Flashcards
Themes of Geography are:
- Region
- Diffusion
- Cultural Ecology
- Cultural Landscape
The ways in which cultures interact with their environment reveals much about their:
- Cultural Values
- Economic Needs
- Political Circumstances
- Technological Abilities
- Environmental Perception
The three types of the Region theme of geography are:
Thematic, functional, and perceptual.
“Thematic” means:
Areas similar in one characteristic. Boundaries are defined. Easily mapped.
“Functional” means:
Interactions and connections around a central node. Boundaries can change. Most often (not always) involving economic activities.
“Region” means:
Areas defined by unifying characteristics.
“Perceptual” means:
Reflects feelings and images rather than objective data. Boundaries are not defined.
“Diffusion” means:
Movement of ideas & cultures from one place to another.
Diffusion is not a straight-line process due to what?
Time-distance decay.
“Cultural Ecology” means:
Human-environment interaction.
Cultures typically perceive their environment in two different ways. What are they?
A. Organic view
B. Western, “mechanistic” view
“Cultural landscape” means:
Man-made landscape; visual expressions of culture. Contributes to “sense of place.”
“Culture” refers to what?
A society’s beliefs, behaviours, values, artifacts, and social systems. ie, a group of people’s learned way of life
Cultures are passed down through generations by:
- Imitation
2. Instruction
Hunter/gatherer societies were what?
Mobile/nomadic.
The biggest change in all societies came with what?
The domestication of plants and animals (20k years ago).
Name the six uses for plants:
- Food
- Brewing
- Mood altering
- Poisons
- Religious/spiritual purposes
- Medicinals
What were some of the roles of women in the development of culture hearths?
Primary food gatherers, innovators of technology, medicinals.
What four factors make up a culture hearth?
- Centers of plant and animal domestication
- Centers of technology
- Centers of innovation and invention
- Source areas from which ideas radiate outward
Why are certain culture hearths where they are?
- Good source of fresh, year-round water
- Flat to semi-flat terrain/landscape
- Fertile soil
- Warm, frost-free climates
The common locations of culture hearths are called what?
River deltas.
Seven specific culture hearths were discussed. Which were they?
- Mesopotamia (present day Iraq, Syria, Coastal Turkey = the Fertile Crescent)
- Nile River Delta (present day Egypt)
- Indus River Delta (Pakistan, India)
- Southeast Asia
- Maya (present day swampy lowlands of Yucatan Peninsula)
- Aztec (present day Mexico City)
- Inca
What were some of Mesopotamia’s contributions to society?
The wheel; a writing system; code of laws; monthly calendar; the archway for support; glass, iron, & bronze.
What did the Nile River Delta culture hearth contribute to society?
Paper; writing system; cloth/textiles; pyramids for entombment.
What did the Indus River Delta invent?
Brick
What came from Southeast Asia?
Rice.
What agriculture was grown in Maya?
Maize, beans, squash, chiles, cacao
What was grown in Aztec culture hearths?
Maize, beans, chiles, tobacco, sweet potatoes, cacao.
The Incans were responsible for inventing what?
Bridge engineering & roads.
The fundamental inspiration for geographical thought probably originated with the recognition of:
Areal differentiation (which means: one place is different from another)
Early “geographical” work was motivated by practical problems in:
Astronomy; land surveying & agriculture; trade; military activity.
What are the three scholarly traditions that characterise geographical thought?
- Literary tradition
- Cartographic tradition
- Mathematical tradition
Geography has led to the development of what separate disciplines?
Anthropology, demography, geology, ecology, & economics.
Lines of latitude (horizontal) are called:
Parallels
Lines of longitude (vertical) are called:
Meridians
Which of the two, parallels or meridians, express locations east or west?
Meridians
What latitude is the North Pole? South Pole?
90•N, 90•S
Why is the earth considered a water planet?
It is 71% water, & only 29% land.
