Unit 1 Flashcards
Why is Kenya’s most productive farmland devoted to tea and coffee rather than useful food products?
Because the most productive farmland is owned by foreign corporations. By exporting and producing tea over coffee, kenya would profit from foreign income (coffee and tea is their main opportunity for foreign income)
Why is Kenya’s export revenue from coffee and tea important to the government?
Because they need that money to pay off the loans that they owe to global financial and developmental institutions
Why is fieldwork important to geographers?
It can provide insight into global issues by observing characteristics of places and connections between people. these observations allow geographers analyze global processes.
Define globalization
The processes that increase relationships, interactions, and independence across national borders. It is an interconnectedness between the world through economics, cultural and political change.
Define scale
The relationships at different levels of the world that is used to understand, individual, local, regional, national, and global interrelationships.
What are the problems inherent with reducing the world to “local” and “global”
There is a risk of losing the complexity that modern life has. Processes at other scales mat affect another scale that may not solely be a “local” or a “global” scale
What are some of the different levels of scale
Individual, local, regional, national
Define pandemic and explain the typical conditions where cholera thrives
A pandemic is a worldwide outbreak of a disease
Cholera thrives in places that lack sanitary sewer systems
What is the difference between a pandemic and an epidemic?
A pandemic is a worldwide outbreak of a disease, an epidemic is a regional outbreak of a disease
Large scale map vs small scale map
Large scale map is smaller and shows more detail
How did Dr. Snow figure out the cause of Cholera?
By mapping the soho district and marked that a large number of deaths were clustered near a certain water pump, so that was the cause
How can geographers use location theory to determine where it is best to build a particular store?
By using spacial perspective and assessing how humans interact with their environment and considering things like how will people get there
Spacial perspective
How or why physical features are positioned in geographic space
Define sense of place
When a person associates a place with a certain meaning, emotion, or character. It is a personal feeling
Why would students from PA be more willing to live in CA than students from CA?
because PA students developed a good perception of CA
Explain the connection between spatial interaction and distance
Spatial interaction between places depends on the distances between them
Define cultural landscape
The effect of human activity on a landscape
Explain the difference between thematic maps and reference maps
Reference maps show absolute location and geographic features
Thematic maps show and tell stories or information about a movement of a geographic phenomenon
How do global positioning systems work?
Work by allowing us to locate features on earth accurately by navigating us to places and considering all conditions while doing so
Explain how Fredericksburg, Virginia has changed its relative location
The place around Virginia changed due to war and other conditions
How are mental maps formed
Through our studies and information we take in
Which of our mental maps are most accurate
Mental maps within our activity spaces (places that we travel daily to)
Define terra-incognita
Unknown lands that are off limits
What are toponyms
Place names
Define remote sensing
Collected by satellites and aircraft. That monitor earth’s surface from a distance and collects information and observations about it
Define geographic information systems (GIS)
Compare spacial data by creating digital images of the environment to create maps with patterns and processes
How can GIS lead to lucrative jobs
Training in GIS technology branches over a wide variety of fields
How can GIS aid in the fight against disease
Can map out the probability of spread in order to make predictions on where it will spread
globalization definition
set of processes that are increasing interactions, deepening relationships, and accelerating independence across national borders.
SPACIAL DISTRIBUTION
the arrangement at how something is Distributed across space (how it’s laid out, organized, What patterns or relationships exist).
MEDICAL GEOGRAPHY
the distribution of a disease (to find its cause)
PANDEMIC
worldwide outbreaks of disease.
EPIDEMIC
regional outbreaks of disease
FIVE THEMES OF GEOGRAPHY
location, human - environment interactions, region, place,
Movement
LOCATION THEORY
element that seeks to answer questions like “Why are villages, towns, and cites spaced the way they are?” “should a super target be built downtown given the median income of people at the locations of other shopping areas?”
SPATIAL PERSPECTIVE
invites consideration of the relationship among phenomena in individual places - including the relationship between humans and the physical world
HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTIONS
” Why did the Army Corps of Engineers alter Florida’s physical environment so drastically?” Asking locational questions often means looking at the reciprocal relationship between humans and environments
REGION
Features tend to be concentrated in regions
PLACE
all places on earth have unique human and physical characteristics.
SENSE OF PLACE
a development people have by infusing a place wim meaning and emotion or by labeling a place with a certain character
PERCEPTION OF PLACE
perceptions of places we have never been - developed through books, movies, stories, and pictures
LANDSCAPE
refers to the material character of a place, the complex of natural features, human structures, and other tangible objects, that give a place a particular
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE
The visible imprint of human activity on the landscape
SEQUENT OCCUPANCE
imprints made by a sequence of occupants, whose impacts are layered one on top of another
CARTOGRAPHY
the art and science of making maps
REFERENCE MAPS
show absolute locations of places and geographic features
THEMATIC MAPS
tell stories & typically show the degree of some altitude or the movement of a geographic phenomenon.
GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM (GPS)
allows us to locale Features on earth,
with extreme accuracy
GEOCATCHING
popular hobby based on GPS where people play treasure hunt from all over the world by pasting clues on the internet
RELATIVE LOCATION
describes the location of a place in relation to other human and physical features
MENTAL MAPS
maps in our minds of places we have been and places we have merely heard of
ACTIVITY SPACES
the places we travel to routinely in our routes of daily activity (more accurate and detailed than mental maps of places we have never been)
TERRA INCOGNITA
unknown lands that are off limits (included in mental maps) (If your path to the movie theater includes driving past a school that you do not attend, your map on paper may label the school, but no details will be shown regarding the place)
GENERALIZED MAPS
helps us see general trends, but we cannot see all cases of a given phenomenon (world precipitation map)
REMOTE SENSING TECHNOLOGY
data collected by satellites and aircraft (that allow geographers to monitor earth from a distance)
GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS (GIS)
used to compare a variety of spatial data by creating digitized representation of the environment. GIS also used to analyze data, which can give insight about geographic patterns and relationships
FORMAL REGION
has a shared trait, either physical or cultural (when the scale of analysis shifts, the formal region changes) (ex. The region of europe where french is spoken by a majority of the people can be thought of as a french-speaking region)
FUNCTIONAL REGION
defined by a particular set of activities or interactions that occur within it
NODAL REGION
defined by a particular set of activities or interactions that occur within it
Another word for a functional region
nodal region
PERCEPTUAL REGION
carried in people’s mind based on accumulated knowledge of regions and cultures
VERNACULAR REGION
carried in people’s mind based on accumulated knowledge of regions and cultures
Another word for a perceptual region
vernacular region
CULTURAL TRAIT
a single attribute of a culture
CULTURE COMPLEX
a district combination of cultural traits (more than one culture may exhibit a particular culture trait)
CULTURAL HEARTH
area where cultural traits develop and from which cultural traits diffuse
INDEPENDENT INVENTION
cultural traits that develop in more than one hearth without being influenced by its development elsewhere (ex. agriculture)
TIME-DISTANCE DECAY
the further a place is from a hearth, the less likely an innovation will be adopted. The acceptance of an innovation becomes less likely the longer it takes to reach its potential adopters
CULTURAL BARRIERS
obstacles to the spread of ideas or innovations due to cultural prescriptions (prohibiting consumption of alcoholic beverages or meats)
EXPANSION DIFFUSION
an innovation or idea develops in a hearth and remains strong there while also spreading outward
HIERARCHICAL DIFFUSION
a pattern in which the main channel of diffusion is some segment of those who are susceptible to (or are already adapting) what is being diffused.
» ex. Under Armor diffused from college and professional football players to lacrosse players and other athletes who were friends of the football players, and eventually it became a trend
CONTAGIOUS DIFFUSION
distance-controlled spreading of an idea through a local population by contact from person to person
STIMULUS DIFFUSION
when an idea diffuses from its cultural hearth, but the original idea is changed by the new adapters.
RELOCATION DIFFUSION
involves the actual movement of individuals who have already adopted the idea or innovation, and who carry it to a new, perhaps distant, locale, where they proceed to disseminate it (immigration)
ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINISM
human behavior, individually and collectively, is strongly affected by, even controlled or determined by, the physical environment
POSSIBILISM
The choices that a society makes depends on what its members need and on what technology is available
CULTURAL ECOLOGY
an area of inquiry concerned with culture as a system of adaptation to and alteration of environment
POLITICAL ECOLOGY
an area of inquiry fundamentally concerned with the environmental consequences of dominant political - economic arrangements and understandings.
TOPONYM
the name of a place
SITE
the specific physical characteristics of a location (terrain, climate, soil quality, vegetation)
SITUATION
the location or position of place of geographical feature in relation to its surroundings, neighboring areas, and other significant geographic or human features
ARITHMETIC DENSITY
(population density) measure that quantifies the concentration of people with a specific geographic area
TOBLER’S FIRST LAW OF GEOGRAPHY
all things are related. However, all things being equal, those things are closest together are more related
PHYSIOLOGICAL DENSITY
measure that calculates the population pressure on arable land within a specific area. Unlike arithmetic density, which measures the total population per unit of land area, psychological density focuses on the population relative to the amount of agriculturally productive land available for production
SPACE-TIME COMPRESSION
the world is becoming “smaller” and more interconnected as a result of technological advancements, making it easier for people, goods, and info to travel across greater distance, quickly.
4 ways to identify locations
names, site, situation, mathematical location
why might some places change their name?
political upheaval/to honor someone important
what does site include
climate, topography, water sources, soil vegetation, latitude, elevation
site affects how people ____
build
SITUATION
a places location in relation to other places
when were standard time zones adapted in the U.S. and based off what?
in 1883 based on the creation of longitude in the 1700s
what is mathematical location
absolute location
how does latitude affect place
determines how much sunlight we have
how does longitude affect place
determines when we are (time)
what two factors lead to distinct landscapes of regions
human characteristics
environmental characteristics
cultural ecology
the study of human environmental relationships
5 major types of climates
tropical, dry, warm mid-latitude, cold mid-latitude, polar (mid-latitude means temperate)
4 major planet biomes
forest, savanna, grassland, desert
what are two issues we face with soil
- erosion
- depletion of nutrients
reference maps
show locations of places and geographic features
CHOROPLETH MAP
a map that uses differences in shading, coloring, or the placing of symbols within predefined areas to indicate the average values of a property or quantity in those areas
how does scale affect observation
scale affects observation by determining how much detail can be seen or observed. At different scales, we can also see different patterns that mean different things depending on how you look at it
how is the local map that shows the median family income in Washington D.C. more accurate than the map that shows the median family income by state & province
the median income by state is representative of the whole state and does not include particular small details such as neighborhoods. Specific neighborhoods may be way below or way above the median, so looking at the scale of the state as a whole is not very representative, and therefore, more inaccurate
how have some Americans altered their definition of the perceptual region “The Middle East” since the terrorist attacks of 9/11
Before 9/11, Americans thought that the middle east region included Iraq and Iran, but didn’t go more east than that. However after 9/11 occurred, the perception of the Middle East changed to include Afghanistan & Pakistan
what methods did Wilbur Zelinsky use when constructing his map of the 12 major perceptual regions in the U.S.
analyzed telephone directories of areas in the U.S. & Canada. noting the frequency with which businesses used regional or locational terms in their listings.
how is culture a system of meaning?
its characteristics are maintained through communication and learning.
how can two regions act as a cultural hearth for the same idea or invention?
they can act as independent inventors where a cultural trait develops in more than one place independently
how can cultural taboos inhibit the spread of an idea?
they can pose as cultural barriers, preventing the spread of ideas (prohibiting alcohol, certain meats)
why do geographers reject environmental determinism in favor of possibiIism?
the environment does not limit the range of choices available to a culture, so possibilism is more in favor since it states how the choices society makes depends on what we need and what technology is available to us (rather than how the environment limits us, since humans are too powerful to be limited by the environment)
what are the limitations with possibilism?
possibilism encourages a lone of inquiry that starts with the physical environment and asks what it allows. Humans, however, often push the boundaries of what is “environmentally possible”
how many time zones are there on earth and how are they divided?
24 times zones. Divided by 15 degree segments of longitude
How does Tobler’s first law of geography relate to distance decay?
Tobler’s first law states that all things are related and things that are closer together are more related. Distance decay states that the connection between two places decreases as distance increases, so things that are closer together are more related to each other.
How has modern technology played a role in globalization?
technology led to an improvement in communication, information flow transportation, cultural exchange, healthcare, etc.
where is the prime meridian? Where does It start?
starts at Greenwich, England & goes down through the very left edge of Africa
what is the place from which time is measured?
Greenwich, England
why is time measured from Greenwich, England?
because the prime meridian passes through to
what is the purpose of the international date line
to define the change in calendar date
what is the longitude of the international date line
180 degrees
where is the International date line
to the right of Australia & Asia, splits Alaska & Russia
Acculturation
Cultural modification of an individual, group, or people by adapting to or borrowing traits from another culture
Polder
A tract of low land reclaimed from a body of water (as the sea)
First person to coin the term geography & what did he do
Eratosthenes
Calculated the circumference of the earth, created an early world map, separated the earth into 5 climate zones
2 Early map makers;
The babylonians,
Miletus,Turkey
First to demonstrate that the earth was sphered
Aristotle
Pei Xiu
Created a map of China in 267 C.E.
Al-Idris
Prepared a world map and geography text in 1154
Ibn Bottutah
Traveled the world more than Marco Polo and wrote about it in the 1300s
Geographers such as ____ and _____ took info from columbus to make new, more accurate maps
Mercator ,
Ortelius
Land ordinance of 1785
The US gov divided the US into systems of townships and ranges
Townships 6miles^2 on each sude
Each township divided into 36 1mile^2 sections. Each mile^2 has 640 acres
Each mile^2 has _____ acres
640
Cultural landscape theory
Culture imprints on land
Who proposed the cultural landscape theory
Carl Saur
What form of cultural diffusion is not expansion diffusion?
Relocation diffusion
