Week 1 - What is geography?

Question 1

What is geography?

Answer 1

is the study of the interaction of all physical and human phenomena at individual places and of how interactions among places form patterns and organize larger spaces

Question 2

3 principal analytical methods for geography

Answer 2

area analysis, spatial analysis, physical and human

Question 3

What is Physical geography?

Answer 3

studies the characteristics of the physical environment.

Question 4

What is area analysis?

Answer 4

process of using location data to understand where people come from and how to place locations for maximum benefit

Question 5

What is spatial analysis?

Answer 5

process of studying entities by examining assessing, evaluating, and modeling spatial data features such as locations, attributes, and relationships that reveal the geometric or geographic properties of data.

Question 6

Who invented geography?

Answer 6

Ancient Greeks - Erathosthenes accepted the idea that the Earth is round and he even calculated its circumference with precision. Eratosthenes also drew detailed maps of the world as it was known to him.

Question 7

Which lines are the latitude lines?

Answer 7

Parallel lines

Question 8

Which lines are the longitude lines

Answer 8

Meridians

Question 9

When was the first settlement in Columbia, Mo?

Answer 9

1818-1821

Question 10

Who provided the development of geography as an academic discipline?

Answer 10

Alexander von Humbolt (late 19th century)

Question 11

What is cartography?

Answer 11

how maps are made, the implications, and the division of earth following many imaginary lines

Question 12

What are the implications of making a map?

Answer 12

distortion, necessary selection of information, issue of scale,

Question 13

What are regions?

Answer 13

areas defined by one or more distinctive characteristics for features such as climate, soil type, language, or economic activity.

Question 14

What is distribution?

Answer 14

The position, placement, or arrangement of a phenomenon in space

Question 15

What is density?

Answer 15

The frequency of occurrence of a phenomenon in space, in relation to its geographic area

Question 16

What is distance decay?

Answer 16

The diminution of the presence or impact of any cultural attribute away from its hearth area

Question 17

What is diffusion?

Answer 17

The process of an item or a feature spreading through time

Question 18

What is atmosphere?

Answer 18

A thin layer of gases surrounding Earth

Question 19

What is a lithosphere?

Answer 19

The solid Earth, composed of rocks and sediments overlying them

Question 20

What is a biosphere?

Answer 20

 All living organisms on Earth

Question 21

What is a hydrosphere?

Answer 21

The water realm of Earth’s surface, including the oceans, surface waters on land (lakes, streams, rivers), groundwater in soil and rock, water vapor in the atmosphere, and ice in glaciers

Question 22

what is globalization?

Answer 22

The organization of any activity treating the entire globe as one place

Question 23

What are conformal maps?

Answer 23

 A map that distorts size but preserves shapes

Question 24

What are equal-area maps?

Answer 24

A map projection that preserves size but distorts shape

Question 25

what are scales?

Answer 25

A quantitative statement of the relative sizes of an object on a map and in reality

Question 26

What is the equator?

Answer 26

Earth’s imaginary midline perpendicular to the axis and midway between the poles

Question 27

What are tropics?

Answer 27

regions of the earth surrounding the equator defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer and in the Northern Hemisphere and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere

Question 28

What was the role of human and environmental factors in shaping human settlements (Columbia, Mo)

Answer 28

human factors -population growth, economic development, and urbanization played a significant role in shaping the U of Missouri, the location in the Missouri River Valley made it an attractive place for human settlement.
environmental factors - The Missouri River provided a source of water for early settlers, and the surrounding land was fertile and well-suited for agriculture. The university grew into a main intellectual center.

Question 29

What was the role of human and environmental factors in shaping human settlements (Talamakan desert)

Answer 29

human factors - population growth, economic development, and urbanization have played a role in shaping human settlements
environmental factors - its location along the Silk Road made it an important trade route, and several oases were established along the way to provide water and other resources to travelers. Eventually, these oases grew into towns and cities.