Unit I: Geo: Its Nature and Perspective: Vocabulary

Question 1

Cartogram

Answer 1

a map that is a diagram used to present statistical information

Question 2

Chloropleth maps

Answer 2

a map which shows differences using colors

Question 3

Cultural ecology

Answer 3

the study of the processes by which a society adapts to its environment

Question 4

Cultural landscape

Answer 4

visible imprint of human activity on the landscape

Question 5

Expansion diffusion

Answer 5

the spread of an idea through a population so that the number influenced grows continuously larger

Question 6

Absolute direction

Answer 6

a compass direction such as north and south

Question 7

Relative direction

Answer 7

directions such as left, right, up, down, etc. based on people’s perception of places

Question 8

Absolute distance

Answer 8

the distance that can be measured with a standard unit of length such as a mile or kilometer

Question 9

Relative distance

Answer 9

a measure of distance that often describes the amount of social, cultural, or economic connectivity between two places.

Question 10

Distance decay

Answer 10

the diminishing importance of an idea with increasing distance from its origin

Question 11

Distribution

Answer 11

arrangement of features in space, including density, concentration, and pattern

Question 12

Formal/uniform regions

Answer 12

a region marked by a degree of uniformity or hemogeneity

Question 13

Friction of distance

Answer 13

a measure of the retarding or restricting effect of distance on spatial interaction (The greater the distance, the greater the friction, and the less exchange that takes place)

Question 14

Functional regions

Answer 14

a region defined by the activities or interactions that occur within it

Question 15

Geospatial data (census, satellite)

Answer 15

Information about a physical object that can be recorded by numerical values in a geographic coordinate system
Census: an official count or survey of a population
Satellite: something that is separated from or on the periphery of something but is nevertheless controlled by it

Question 16

Geographic Information System

Answer 16

computer hardware or software that permits spatial data to be collected, recorded, stored, retrieved, manipulated, analyzed, and displayed

Question 17

Global Positioning System

Answer 17

satellite-based system for determining absolute location of places and geographic features

Question 18

Globalization

Answer 18

expansion of economic, political, and cultural processes until they reach a global scale and impact. These processes transcend state boundaries. Their outcomes vary from place to place.

Question 19

Hearth independent invention

Answer 19

a trait with many hearths that developed independent of each other

Question 20

Absolute location

Answer 20

specific place as expressed in degrees, minutes, and seconds of latitude

Question 21

Relative location

Answer 21

regional position of a place relative to the position of other places (affected by distance, accessibility, and connectivity

Question 22

Perceptual/vernacular regions

Answer 22

a region that only exists as a conceptualization of an idea (e.g. “the South”)

Question 23

Physical maps

Answer 23

maps that indicate the locations of landforms such as deserts, mountains, and plains

Question 24

Political ecology

Answer 24

society relations concerned with the ways in which environmental issues reflect and are the result of the political and socioeconomic contexts in which they are situated

Question 25

Political maps

Answer 25

maps that show governmental boundaries of countries, states, and counties

Question 26

Reference maps

Answer 26

maps that show locations of places and geographic features, including unique identifiers for regions

Question 27

Remote sensing

Answer 27

collection of data through the use of instruments that are physically distant from the object of study

Question 28

Scale

Answer 28

representation of a real-world phenomenon at a certain level of reduction or generalization; the ratio of map distance to ground distance

Question 29

Sequent occupance

Answer 29

idea that successive societies leave their impacts on a place and contribute to the cumulative cultural landscape

Question 30

Spatial

Answer 30

pertaining to space on Earth’s surface (synonym: geography)

Question 31

Thematic maps

Answer 31

maps that tell stories, especially the degree of an attribute or movement of a geographic phenomena

Question 32

Time-space convergence

Answer 32

(Donald Janelle) the accelerated movement of goods, information, and ideas during the twentieth century made possible by technological innovations in transportation and communications

Question 33

Site

Answer 33

the internal physical attributes of a place (including its absolute location, spatial character, and physical setting)

Question 34

Situation

Answer 34

the external physical attributes of a place; its relative position with references to other nonlocal places