Unit 1 Vocabulary

Absolute Direction

the exact direction a person is heading

Absolute Distance

the exact distance between 2 places or objects

Absolute Location

the exact location of an object, usually expressed in coordinates of longitude and latitude

Azimuthal Projection

Can see polar areas with less projection

Advantage: true distance        

Disadvantage: only see part of Earth at 1 time

Cartogram

Show relative size of an area based on a particular attribute

Census

and official count of the number of people in a defined area, such as a state

Choropleth Map

Uses colors or shading to represent categories of data

Clustered

close together

Dispersed

spread out

Distance Decay

the farther away one thing is from another, the less interaction the two things will have

Dot Map

dots are used to show location of specific observations or events.

Environmental Determinism

Human behavior is largely controlled by the physical environment.

COMPLETELY determines your culture

Flows

a movement of people, goods, or information that has economic, social political, or cultural effects on societies

Formal (Uniform) Region

defined boundaries and NOT up for debate

• countries boarders

• states/provinces

• culture/languages

Functional (Node) Region

An area organized by its function around a focal point (node)

pizza delivery area, water tower, cell phone coverage

Perceptual (Vernacular) Region

type of region that reflects people's feelings about a place, up for debate

Geographic Information System (GIS)

a computer system that can collect, analyze, and display geographic data

Global Positioning System (GPS)

a network of satellites that are used to determine the location of something on the Earth’s surface

Goode-Homolosine Projection

Avoids shape distortion and the restrictions of a rectangular map

Creates “interruptions”

Advantages: shape & size

Disadvantages: distance

Graduated Symbol Map

Differently sized symbols are used to represent quantitative data

Grid Pattern

intersecting lines of latitude and longitude, typically used to describe road layout

Human Geography

the study of the processes that have shaped how humans understand, use, and alter Earth

Isoline Map

Lines connect data points of the same value. Isoline maps are used to show particular characteristics of an area.

Linear Pattern

homes are clustered in a line, typically along a road or a river

Mercator Projection

Advantage: Direction

Disadvantage: land size (especially near the poles)

Purpose: for navigation across the ocean

*Massive Greenland, Massive Antarctica

Peters Projection

Advantage: relative size/area

Disadvantage: shape (stretched and squished)

Wanted to correct Mercator’s mistakes

Place

a location on Earth that is distinguished by its physical and human characteristics; a unique location

Possibilism

The environment places some limitations on human activity, but societies have a range of options on how to live in said environment.

SOMEWHAT determines your culture

Qualitative Data

information that is often in word form, and is up for interpretation, debate, and discussion

Quantitative Data

information that is in number form, and is objective and not up for debate

Reference Map

an informational map that shows boundaries, names of places, and geographic features of an area

Region

an area of Earth's surface with certain characteristics that make it cohesive yet distinct from other areas

Relative Direction

the direction given in relation to another object’s current location

Pier 39 is located to the left of Chinatown

Relative Distance

the approximate measurement between 2 places

ex: The distance from Miami to Orlando is around 200 miles

Relative Location

a description of where a place is in relation to other places or features

ex: 50 miles west of Miami, Florida

Remote Sensing

a process of collecting information about the Earth’s surface from satellites orbiting the earth

Robinson Projection

Advantage: since all distortions are present, none of them are too bad

Disadvantage: all 4 distortions are present, so nothing is correct

Used in schools, because it is easiest on the eyes 

Scale of Analysis

observation of data at the global, regional, national, or local

Site

its physical characteristics, such as landforms, climate, and resources

Situation

location of a place in relation to other places or its surrounding features

Spatial Analysis

the process of analyzing patterns and relationships within an area or geographic data

Thematic Map

a map that displays spatial patterns of places and uses quantitative data to display specific topics

Time-Space Compression

the reduction of time it takes for something or someone to get from one place to another

Large Scale Map

 LARGE amount of DETAIL

ex: maps of your school, local town/city, a county

Small Scale Map

 SMALL amount of DETAIL

ex: maps of the world, continents, large states