Unit 1 Flashcards
Ecosystem
A group of living organisms and the abiotic spheres with which they interact
Vernacular region
An area that people believe exists as a part of their cultural identity
Ecology
The scientific study of ecosystems
Distance decay
The diminishing in importance and eventual disappearance of a phenomenon with increasing distance from its origin
Cultural landscape
The fashioning of a natural landscape by a cultural group
Concentration
Spread of something over a given area
Culture
The body of customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits that together constitute a groups distinct tradition.
Environmental determinism
A nineteenth and early twentieth century approach to the study of geography which argued that the general laws sought by human geographers could be found in the physical sciences. Geography has therefore the study of how the physical environment caused by human activities
Diffusion
The process of spread of a feature or trend from one place to another
Connection
Relationships among people and objects across the barrier of space
Cartography
The science of making maps
Atmosphere
The layer of gases surrounding earth
Abiotic
Composed of non living on inorganic matter
Contagious diffusion
The rapid widespread diffusion of a feature or trend throughout a population
Biosphere
All living organisms on earth, including plants and animals, as well as microorganisms.
Biotic
Composed of living organisms
Climate
Long term average weather condition at a particular location
Conservation
The sustainable management of a natural resource.
Density
The frequency with which something exists within a given unit of area
Distribution
The arrangement of something across earth’s surface
Cultural ecology
A geographic approach that emphasizes human environment relationships
Hydrosphere
All of the water on and near earth’s surface
Globalization
Actions or processes that involve the entire world and result in making something worldwide in scope.
Expansion diffusion
Spread of a feature or trend among people from one area to another in an additive process
GPS
A system that determines the precise position of something on Earth through a series of satellites, tracking systems, and receivers.
GIS
A computer system that stores, organizes, analyzes, and displays geographic data
Functional region
An area organized around a node or focal point
Formal region
An area in which everyone shares in common one or more district ice characteristics
GIScience
The development and analysis of data about earth acquired through satellite and other electronic info technologies
GMT
The time in the zone encompassing the prime meridian, 0 degrees longitude
Hierarchical diffusion
The spread of a feature or trend from one key person or node of authority or power to other persons places.
Parallel
A circle drawn around the globe parallel to the equator and create right angles to the meridians
International Date Line
180 degrees longitude. Divides land areas. When you pass the line going east, the clock will go back 24 hours. When you go west then you go a day ahead.
Latitude
Numbering system used to indicate the location of parallels drawn on a globe and measuring distance north and south of the equator
Lithosphere
Earth’s crust and a portion of upper mantle directly below the crust
Longitude
Numbering system used to indicate the location of the meridians drawn on a globe and measuring distance east and west of the prime meridian
Location
The position of anything on earth’s surface
Uneven development
The increasing gap in economic conditions between core and peripheral regions as a result of globalization
Translational corporation
A company that conducts research, operates factories, and sells products in many countries
Toponym
The name given to a portion of the earth’s sufrace
Sustainability
The use of earth’s renewable and non renewable natural resources in ways that do not constrain resource use in the future
Stimulus diffusion
The spread of an underlying principle even though a specific characteristic is rejected.
Projection
A system used to transform locations from earths surface to a flat map
Region
An area distinguished by a unique combination of trends or features
Possibilism
The theory that the physical environment may set limits on human actions, but people have the ability to adjust to the physical environment and choose a course of action from many alternatives.
Regional studies
An approach to geography that emphasizes the relationships among social and physical phenomena in a particular study area
Prime meridian
The meridian designated as 0 degrees longitude, that passes through the rural observatory at Greenwich, England
Resource
A substance in the environment that is useful to people, is economically and technologically feasible to access and is socially acceptable to use
Renewable resource
Something produced in nature more rapidly than it is consumed by humans
Relocation diffusion
The spread of a feature or trend through bodily movement of people from one place to another
Polder
Land created by Dutch by draining water from an area
Space time compression
The reduction in the time it takes to diffuse something to a distant place as a result of improved communications and transportation systems
Space
The physical gap or interval between two objects
Situation
The location of a place relative to another place
Site
The physical character of a place
Scale
Generally, the relationship between the portion of earth being studied and earth as a whole
Remote sensing
The acquisition of data about earths surface from a satellite orbiting the planet or from other long distance methods
Non renewable resource
Something produced in nature more slowly than it is consumed by humans
Meridian
An arc drawn on a Map between the north and South Pole
Mental map
A representation of earths surface of a portion of earths surface based on what an individual knows
Map scale
The relationship between the size of an object on a map and the size of the actual feature on a map
Map
A 2D, or flat, representation of earths surface or portion of it
Housing bubble
A rapid increase in the value of houses followed by a sharp decline in their value
Hearth
The region from which innovative ideas originate
Place
A specific point on earth distinguished by a particular characteristic
Preservation
A maintenance of resources in their present condition, with as little human impact as possible
