Unit 1

Question 1

distance decay

Answer 1

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

Question 2

environmental determinism

Answer 2

theory that argues human behavior is largely controlled by the physical environment

Question 3

possibilism

Answer 3

theory that humans have more agency, or ability to produce a result, than environmental determinism suggests

Question 4

Waldo Tobler’s first law of geography

Answer 4

while all things on Earth are related to all other things, the closer things are to one another, the more they are related

Question 5

friction of distance

Answer 5

concept that states distance requires time, effort, and cost to overcome

Question 6

time-space compression

Answer 6

geographic concept that describes the processes causing the relative distance between places to shrink (ex. modern transportation, internet, etc.)

Question 7

sustainability

Answer 7

use of earth’s natural resources in ways that ensure they will continue to be available in the future

Question 8

site

Answer 8

the physical characteristics of a place; what is found at the location and why it is significant

Question 9

situation

Answer 9

the location of a place relative to its surrounding and other places

Question 10

scale

Answer 10

the relationship between the portion of the Earth being studied and the Earth as a whole

Question 11

region

Answer 11

an area of Earth’s surface with characteristics that make it distinct from other areas (human-constructed)

Question 12

formal/ uniform region

Answer 12

an area that has one or more shared traits - traits could be physical, cultural, or defined by data

Question 13

functional/ nodal region

Answer 13

an area organized by its function around a focal point, or the center of an interest or activity

Question 14

perceptual/ vernacular region

Answer 14

a region that reflect people’s feelings and attitudes about a place

Question 15

globalization

Answer 15

the expansion of economic, cultural, and political processes on a worldwide scale

Question 16

world system theory

Answer 16

(Immanuel Wallerstein) theory describes the spatial and functional relationships between countries in the world economy - helps explain uneven economic development among countries

Question 17

industrialization

Answer 17

the development of industries for the machine production of goods

Question 18

quantitative data

Answer 18

information measured by numbers

Question 19

qualitative data

Answer 19

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

Question 20

census data

Answer 20

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

Question 21

geographic information system (GIS)

Answer 21

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

Question 22

topography

Answer 22

the shape and features of land surfaces

Question 23

remote sensing

Answer 23

a method of collecting data relying on satellites or aircraft-based sensors

Question 24

global positioning system (GPS)

Answer 24

a navigation system that uses remote sensing to provide exact locations and the distance between two points to be used for navigation

Question 25

cartographer

Answer 25

a person who draws or produces maps

Question 26

absolute distance

Answer 26

distance that can be measured using a standard unit of length

Question 27

relative distance

Answer 27

measured in terms of other criteria such as time or money

Question 28

absolute direction

Answer 28

the cardinal directions north, south, east, and west

Question 29

relative direction

Answer 29

direction based on a person’s perception, such as left, right, up, or down

Question 30

map scale

Answer 30

the relationship of the size of the map to the size of the area it represents on Earth’s surface

Question 31

large map scale

Answer 31

zooms in, small area like a city shown

Question 32

small map scale

Answer 32

zooms out, covers a large area like a country

Question 33

reference map

Answer 33

a map that focuses on the location of places

Question 34

thematic map

Answer 34

any map that focuses on one or more variables to show a relationship between geographic data

Question 35

clustered concentration

Answer 35

when objects in an area are close together

Question 36

dispersal

Answer 36

The spacing of people within geographic population boundaries

Question 37

elevation

Answer 37

distance above sea level

Question 38

space

Answer 38

refers to the physical gap or interval between two objects

Question 39

place

Answer 39

A specific point on earth with human and physical characteristics that distinguish it from other places

Question 40

flows

Answer 40

the quantity of movements past a point during a time period movements

Question 41

movement

Answer 41

the flow of people, goods, money, ideas or materials between locations near or far

Question 42

pattern

Answer 42

the arrangement of objects on earth’s surface in relationship to one another