Unit 1: Thinking Geographically Flashcards
The study of the earth’s surface, climate, continents, countries, peoples, industries, and products.
Geography
The numbering system used to indicate the location of parallels drawn on a globe and measuring distance north and south of the equator.
Latitude
The numbering system used to indicate the location of meridians drawn on a globe and measuring distance east and west of the prime meridian (0°).
Longitude
A system that determines the precise position of something on Earth through a series of satellites, tracking stations, and recievers.
GPS (Global Positioning System)
A computer system that stores, organizes, analyzes, and displays geographic data.
GIS (Geographic Information Systems)
The physical and human aspects of a location.
Place
The system used to transfer locations from Earth’s surface to a flat map
Map Projection
An area distinguished by a unique combination of trends or features
Region
Generally, the relationship between the portion of Earth being studied and Earth as a whole, specifically the relationship between the size of an object on a map and the size of the actual feature on Earth’s surface.
Scale
Generally, the relationship between the portion of Earth being studied and Earth as a whole, specifically the relationship between the size of an object on a map and the size of the actual feature on Earth’s surface.
Scale
The physical gap between two objects
Space
The rapid innovation of communication and transportation technologies associated with globalization that transforms the way people think about space and time
Time-Space Compression
The name given to a portion of Earth’s surface
Toponym
A substance in the environment that is useful to people, is economically and technologically feasible to access, and is socially acceptable to use
Resource
Location, Movement, Place, Human Interaction, Region
5 Themes of Geography
A two-dimensional, or flat, representation of Earth’s surface or a portion of it
Map
The distribution of one phenomenon is spatially related to the distribution of another
Spatial Association
Actions or processes that involve the entire world and result in making something worldwide in scope
Globalization
A way of looking at the human and physical patterns on Earth and their relationships to one another in a given area
Spatial Perspective
The organization of earth’s surface into distinct areas that are viewed as different from other areas
Regionalization
Explanations for why a spatial pattern occurs
“Why of Where”
A region with a node or center hub, surrounded by interconnecting linkages. Usually connections related to trade, communications, transportation, etc.
Functional Region
A region defined by feelings and prejudices that may or may not be true.
Perceptual/Vernacular Region
use lines of equal value to represent data like elevation, barometric pressure or temperature
Isoline Maps
a thematic map in which a variable is depicted with shading patterns or colors.
Choropleth Maps
a thematic map in which the size of the symbol varies in proportion to the intensity of the mapped variable
Proportional Symbol Map
a thematic map using relative size of political units to convey a value.
Dot Map
A doctrine that claims that cultural traits are formed and controlled by environmental conditions.
Environmental Determinism
The physical environment may limit some human actions, but people have the ability to adjust to their environment.
Environmental Possiblism
Information describing color, odor, shape, or some other physical characteristic
Qualitative Data
Numerical Data
Quantitative Data
The arrangement of something across Earth’s surface.
Distribution
The diminishing in importance and eventual disappearance of a phenomenon with increasing distance from its origin.
Distance Decay
Interactions occurring at the scale of the world, in a global setting.
Global Scale
Interactions occurring in a community
Local Scale
Interactions occurring within a region, in a country setting
National Scale
The acquisition of data about Earth’s surface from a satellite orbiting the planet or other long-distance methods.
Remote Sensing
A map type that shows reference information for a particular place, making it useful for finding landmarks and for navigation.
Reference Map
a map that shows a particular theme, or topic
Thematic Map
meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs
Sustainability
The scale at which the map, chart, or data is differentiating the data being communicated.
Scale of Analysis
The physical characteristics of a place
Site
The location of a place relative to other places
Situation
A region with a high level of consistency in a certain cultural or physical attribute
Formal Region
