Unit 1: Thinking Geographically

Absolute Distance

Usually measured in terms of feet, miles, meters or kilometers

Relative Distance

Indicates the degree of nearness based on time or money and is often dependent on the mode of travel

Elevation

The distance of features above sea level, usually measured in feet or meters

Distribution

The way a phenomenon is spread out over an area

Physical geography

The study of the spatial characteristics of various elements of the physical environment. Physical geographers study topics such as landforms, bodies of water, climate, ecosystems, and erosion

Human Geography

The study of the spatial characteristics of humans and human activities. Human geographers study topics such as population, culture, politics, urban areas, and economies.

Four level analysis

Guide your thinking, provide an approach to spatial thinking, and help you think like a geographer

Time distance decay

The idea of things such as cities near each other are more closely connected or related than things that are far apart

Spatial patterns

The general arrangement of things being studied and the repeated sequences of events that creat them

Quantitative data

Any information that can be measured and recorded using numbers such as total number of immigrants to a city

Qualitative sources

Not usually represented by numbers, this data is collected as interviews, photographs, remote satellites images, descriptions or cartoons

Scales of analysis

Looking at topics at the local, regional, country, or global scale

Reference maps

Are aptly named because they are designed for people to refer to for general information about places

Political maps

Show and label human created boundaries and designations such as countries, states, cities, and capitals

Physical maps

Show and label natural features, such as mountains, rivers, and deserts

Plat maps

Show and label property lines and details of land ownership

Thematic maps

Show spatial aspects of information or of a phenomenon

Choropleth maps

Use various colors or patterns to show the location and distribution of spatial data

Dot distribution maps

Used to show the specific location and distribution of something across a map

Graduated symbol maps

Use symbols of different sizes to indicate different amounts of something, larger sizes indicate more of something, smaller sizes indicate less

Isoline maps

Use lines that connect points of equal value to depict variations in the data across space. Close lines show rapid change, far lines relatively the same

Cartogram

The sizes of countries are shown according to some specific statistic

Scale

The ratio between the size of things in the real world and the size of those same things on the map

Cartographic scale

Refers to the way the map communicates the ratio of its size to the size of what it represents

Small scale maps

Show a larger amount of area with less detail global scale

Large scale maps

Show a similar amount of area with a greater amount of detail

Absolute location

The precise spot where something is according to a system

Latitude

The distance north or south of the equator

Equator

An imaginary line that circles the globe exactly halfway between the north and south poles

Longitude

The distance east or west of the prime meridian

Prime meridian

An imaginary line that runs from pole to pole through Greenwich, England

International Date Line

Follows prime meridian line but makes deviations to accommodate international boundaries

Relative location

A description of where something is in relation to other things

Connectivity

How well two locations are tied together by roads or other links

Accessibility

How quickly and easily people in one location can interact with people in another location

Patterns

The general arrangement of things

Clustered distribution

Phenomena are arranged in a group or concentrated area such as restaurants in a food court at a mall

Linear distribution

Phenomena are arranged in a straight line

Dispersed distribution

Phenomena are spread out over a large area

Circular distribution

Phenomena are equally spread from a central point forming a circle

Geometric distribution

Phenomena are in a regular arrangement, such as the squares or blocks formed by the roads in the Midwest

Random distribution

Phenomena appear to have no order to their position

Landscape analysis

The task of defining and describing landscapes

Field observations

The act of physically visiting a location, place, or region and recording, firsthand, information there

Spatial data

All of the information that can be tied to specific locations

Remote sensing

Gathers information from satellites that orbit the earth or other craft above the atmosphere

Global Positioning System

GPS receivers on the earths surface use the locations dog multiple to determine and record a receivers exact location

Remote sensing

The use of cameras or other sensors mounted on aircraft or satellites to collect digital images or video or the earths surface

Geographic Information System

Computer system that can store, analyze, and display information from multiple digital maps or geospatial data sets

Space

The area between two or more phenomena or things

Location

Identifies where specific phenomena are located either on a grid system or relative to another location

Place

Refers to the specific human and physical characteristics of a location

Region

A group of places in the same area that share a characteristic

Site

The characteristics at the immediate location

Situation

The location of a place relative to its surroundings and its connectivity to other places

Sense of place

Related to the concept of place

Time space compression

The shrinking time distance or relative distance between locations because of improved methods of transportation and communication

Spatial interaction

The contact, movement, and flow of things between locations

Friction of distance

Indicates that when things are farther apart, they tend to be less connected

Patterns

Refer to the general arrangement of things being studied

Distribution

The way a phenomenon is spread out or arranged over an area to describe patterns

Human environmental interaction

The connection and exchange between humans and the natural world

Natural resources

Includes items that occur in the natural world environment that people can use

Renewable natural resources

Unlimited natural resources and will not be depleted based on use by people

Non-renewable natural resources

Are limited and can be exhausted by human uses

Sustainability

An overarching theme of human geography and related to trying to use resources now in ways that allow their use in the future while minimizing negative impacts on the environment

Built environment

The physical artifacts that human have created and that form part of the landscape, in their understanding of land use

Cultural landscape

Anything built by humans is part of the cultural landscape and is in the realm of land use

Cultural ecology

The study of how humans adapt to the environment

Environmental determinism

The belief that landforms and climate are the most powerful forces shaping human behavior and societal development while ignoring the influence of culture

Possibilsm

A view that acknowledges limits on the effects of the natural environment and focuses more on the role that human culture plays

Geographic scale

Refers to the area of the world being studied

global scale

The area of the entire world being studied

World regional scale

Multiple countries of the world being studied

National scale

One country being studied

National regional scale

A portion of a country or a region within a country being studied

Local scale

A province, state, city, county, or neighborhood being studied

Regions

Regions have boundaries, unifying characteristics, cover space, and are created by people

Formal regions

Sometimes called uniform or homogeneous regions, and are unified by one or more traits, political, physical, cultural, and economic

Functional regions

These regions are organized around a focal point and are defined by an activity, usually political, social, or economic, that occurs across the region

Perceptual regions

Perceptual regions differ from formal and functional regions in that they are defined by the informal sense of place that people ascribe to them

Subregions

A subregion shares some characteristics with the rest of the larger region but is distinctive in some ways