Unit 1 Flashcards
distance decay
geographic principle that describes the effect of distance on interactions - farther away one thing is from another, the less interaction the two things will have
environmental determinism
theory that argues human behavior is largely controlled by the physical environment
possibilism
theory that humans have more agency, or ability to produce a result, than environmental determinism suggests
Waldo Tobler’s first law of geography
while all things on Earth are related to all other things, the closer things are to one another, the more they are related
friction of distance
concept that states distance requires time, effort, and cost to overcome
time-space compression
geographic concept that describes the processes causing the relative distance between places to shrink (ex. modern transportation, internet, etc.)
sustainability
use of earth’s natural resources in ways that ensure they will continue to be available in the future
site
the physical characteristics of a place; what is found at the location and why it is significant
situation
the location of a place relative to its surrounding and other places
scale
the relationship between the portion of the Earth being studied and the Earth as a whole
region
an area of Earth’s surface with characteristics that make it distinct from other areas (human-constructed)
formal/ uniform region
an area that has one or more shared traits - traits could be physical, cultural, or defined by data
functional/ nodal region
an area organized by its function around a focal point, or the center of an interest or activity
perceptual/ vernacular region
a region that reflect people’s feelings and attitudes about a place
globalization
the expansion of economic, cultural, and political processes on a worldwide scale
world system theory
(Immanuel Wallerstein) theory describes the spatial and functional relationships between countries in the world economy - helps explain uneven economic development among countries
industrialization
the development of industries for the machine production of goods
quantitative data
information measured by numbers
qualitative data
interpretations of data sources such as field observations, media reports, travel narratives, policy documents, personal interviews, landscape analysis, and visuals such as art or photography
census data
an official count of the number of people in a defined area (10 years) - other surveys about education, employment, income, language proficiency, migration, and housing
geographic information system (GIS)
sophisticated mapping software - captures, stores, organizes, and displays geographic data that can be used to configure both simple and complex maps - organizes layers of info to form a combined image
topography
the shape and features of land surfaces
remote sensing
a method of collecting data relying on satellites or aircraft-based sensors
global positioning system (GPS)
a navigation system that uses remote sensing to provide exact locations and the distance between two points to be used for navigation
cartographer
a person who draws or produces maps
absolute distance
distance that can be measured using a standard unit of length
relative distance
measured in terms of other criteria such as time or money
absolute direction
the cardinal directions north, south, east, and west
relative direction
direction based on a person’s perception, such as left, right, up, or down
map scale
the relationship of the size of the map to the size of the area it represents on Earth’s surface
large map scale
zooms in, small area like a city shown
small map scale
zooms out, covers a large area like a country
reference map
a map that focuses on the location of places
thematic map
any map that focuses on one or more variables to show a relationship between geographic data
clustered concentration
when objects in an area are close together
dispersal
The spacing of people within geographic population boundaries
elevation
distance above sea level
space
refers to the physical gap or interval between two objects
place
A specific point on earth with human and physical characteristics that distinguish it from other places
flows
the quantity of movements past a point during a time period movements
movement
the flow of people, goods, money, ideas or materials between locations near or far
pattern
the arrangement of objects on earth’s surface in relationship to one another
