Reference Map
A map type that shows reference information for a particular place, making it useful for finding landmarks and for navigating.
Thematic Map
A type of map that displays one or more variables-such as population, or income level-within a specific area.
Absolute Distance
The distance that can be measured with a standard unit length, such as a mile or kilometer.
Absolute Direction
Based on the cardinal points of north, south, east, and west
Relative Distance
Distance measured in terms such as cost or time which are more meaningful for the space relationship in question
Relative Direction
Directions such as left, right, forward, backward, up, and down based on people's perception of places
Clustering
When objects in an area are close together.
Dispersal
When objects in an area are relatively far apart.
Elevation
The height of land above sea level.
Map Projection
the scientific method of transferring locations on Earth's surface to a flat map.
Absolute Location
The exact position of an object or place, measured within the spatial coordinates of a grid system.
Relative Location
The position of a place in relation to another place.
Geographic Information System (GIS)
A collection of computer hardware and software that permits spatial data to be collected, recorded, stored, retrieved, manipulated, analyzed, and displayed to the user.
Satellite Navigation System
a device used to plot the user's position on a map, using GPS technology to obtain the location.
Remote Sensing
The acquisition of data about Earth's surface from a satellite orbiting the planet or other long-distance methods.
Field Observations
A method of studying what people are doing and observing how their actions and reactions vary.
Media Reports
Articles published by newspapers and magazines and television news programs.
Travel Narratives
records of the places, people, and occurrences of a particular region that a traveler visits.
Landscape Analysis
Using field observation, spatial data, and aerial photography to gather data to define and describe landscapes.
Photographic Interpretation
The identification, description and measurement of objects in images, especially in aerial photographs, for geologic, cartographic or military purposes.
Census Data
Systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population.
Satellite Imagery
Images of the earth taken from orbiting satellites. Images can be taken in a variety of forms so as to detect specific information about the earth, vegetation and other types of land cover.
Space
The physical gap or interval between two objects
Place
A specific point on Earth distinguished by a particular character.
Flows
the movement of objects, people and ideas between places.
Distance Decay
The diminishing in importance and eventual disappearance of a phenomenon with increasing distance from its origin.
Time-space compression/convergence
The increasing sense of connectedness between a space due to technology
Pattern
the geometric arrangement of objects in space
Human Environment Interaction
The geographic theme that explores how people use, adapt to, and modify the environment
Sustainability
meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs
Natural Resources
Materials or substances such as minerals, forests, water, and fertile land that occur in nature and can be used for economic gain.
Land Use
Various ways humans use the land such as agricultural, industrial, residential, or recreational
Environmental Determinism
the view that the natural environment has a controlling influence over various aspects of human life including cultural development
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.
Scales of Analysis
the study of a phenomena globally, regionally, or locally
Global Scale
the level of geography that encompasses the entire world as a single unified area
Regional Scale
Interactions occurring within a region, in a regional setting.
National Scale
Interactions occurring within a country.
Local Scale
the level of geography that describes the space where an individual lives or works; a city, town, or rural area
Regional Analysis
The study of the cultural, economic, political, physical, or other factors that contribute to the distinctiveness of geographical areas.
Formal Region
An area within which everyone shares in common one or more distinctive characteristics.
Functional (Nodal) Region
An area organized around a node or focal point
Perceptual (Vernacular) Region
A region that only exists as a conceptualization or an idea and not as a physically demarcated entity.
Geographic Data
information that identifies the geographic location of features and boundaries on earth (natural and constructed).
Mercator Projection
a projection of a map of the world onto a cylinder in such a way that all the parallels of latitude have the same length as the equator, used especially for marine charts and certain climatological maps.
Robinson Projection
A projection that maintains overall shapes and relative positions without extreme distortion. Most classrooms use this projection.
Isoline Map
Map displaying lines that connect points of equal value; for example, a map showing elevation levels
Dot Map
Maps where one dot represents a certain number of a phenomenon, such as a population.
Cartogram Map
A map in which the shape or size is distorted in order to demonstrate a variable such as travel, population, or economic production.
Travel Documents
All the necessary documents you would need to take with you on a trip i.e passport or ID card, visa, etc.
policy documents
Documents created by the government or other organizations
personal interview
A face-to-face conversation in which a researcher surveys an individual to obtain research data
Climate
The average weather conditions in an area over a long period of time
Landforms
the natural features of the land's surface
Water Bodies
inland areas of water (rivers, lakes, reservoirs etc)
Distribution
The arrangement of something across Earth's surface.
Arithmetic Density
The total number of people divided by the total land area.
Physiological Density
The number of people per unit of arable land
Agricultural Density
The ratio of the number of farmers to the amount of arable land
Carrying Capacity
the largest population that an environment can support at any given time
Population Pyramid
A bar graph that represents the distribution of population by age and sex
Demographic
relating to the structure of populations
Fertility
the incidence of childbearing in a country's population
Mortality
death
Crude Birth Rate (CBR)
The total number of live births in a year for every 1000 people alive in the society.
Crude Death Rate (CDR)
the number of deaths per 1,000 individuals per year
Dependency Ratio
The number of people under age 15 and over age 64 compared to the number of people active in the labor force
Rate of Natural Increase (RNI)
the difference between number of births and deaths
Population Doubling Time
The number of years it takes a population to double; calculated by dividing the number 72 by the rate of natural increase
Demographic Transition Model
a model of how the size of a population changes as a country develops its economy
DTM Stage One
hunting and gathering society, in which a society has a low total population with fluctuations in both the birth and death rates. When the birth rates are high the death rates are low & vice versa. Example: No countries in this stage.
DTM Stage Two
agricultural society, birth rates remain high but death rates decline because of more stable food sources and the diffusion of modern medicine (birth rates & death rates remain higher than the world average) & technology.
DTM Stage Three
industrial society, birth rates start to decline while death rates continue to decline, factories and economies become important (birth/death rates are around the world averages)
DTM Stage Four
tertiary (service-based) societies, birth rates and death rates are almost equal, no longer an industrial society, rather it has shifted towards post-industrial.
DTM Stage Five
low death rates, very low birth rates, decrease in natural increase rate.
Epidemiological Transition Model
The theory that says that there is a distinct cause of death in each stage of the demographic transition model. It can help explain how a country's population changes so dramatically.
ETM Stage 1
Pestilence, famine, and human conflict cause high CDR.
ETM Stage 2
Receding pandemics with improved sanitation and nutrition, rapidly declining CDR
ETM Stage 3
Degenerative and human created diseases. Decrease in human deaths from infectious diseases and an increase in chronic disorders.
ETM Stage 4
medicine delays degenerative diseases; life expectancy reaches a peak
ETM Stage 5
a proposed stage of reemergence of infectious and parasitic diseases and some become resistant to antibiotics; CDR increases
Malthusian Theory
The theory that population grows faster than food supply
Esther Boserup
Geographer who believed that our farming technology will always improve in order to be able to feed the growing population of the planet.
Neomalthusians
a belief that the world is characterized by scarcity and competition in which too many people fight for few resources. Pessimists who warn of the global ecopolitical dangers of uncontrolled population growth.
Pronatalist
Policies that encourage people to have children.
Antinatalist
Policies that discourage people from having children.
Culture
the enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next
architecture
the art or practice of designing and constructing buildings; building design and materials will vary based upon culture and location.
culture trait
A single element of normal practice in a culture.
cultural relativism
the practice of judging a society by its own standards.
Ethnocentrism
evaluation of other cultures according to preconceptions originating in the standards and customs of one's own culture.
cultural landscape
the visible imprint of human activity and culture on the landscape
linguistic
relating to language
sequent occupance
the notion that successive societies leave their cultural imprints on a place, each contributing to the cumulative cultural landscape
traditional architecture
buildings use building materials available and reflect social/environmental customs of the people EX) log cabins
Postmodern Architecture
A reaction in architectural design to the feeling of sterile alienation that many people get from modern architecture. Postmodernism uses older, historical styles and a sense of lightheartedness and eclecticism. Buildings combine pleasant-looking forms and playful colors to convey new ideas and to create spaces that are more people-friendly than their modernist predecessors.
Ethnicity
Identity with a group of people that share distinct physical and mental traits as a product of common heredity and cultural traditions.
gender
the socially constructed roles and characteristics by which a culture defines male and female
Ethnic Enclave/Neighborhood
a voluntary community where people of like origin reside by choice
indigenous community
is the community of indigenous people living together working to keep their culture alive