AP HG unit 1 test

Latitude

The numbering system used to indicate the location of parallels drawn on a globe and measuring distance north and south of the equator

Cultural Ecology

Geographic approach that emphasizes human-environment relationships

Longitude

The numbering system used to indicate the location of meridians drawn on a globe and measuring distance east and west of the prime meridian (0°).

GPS

A system that determines the precise position of something on Earth through a series of satellites, tracking stations, and recievers.

GIS

A computer system that stores, organizes, analyzes, and displays geographic data.

Base Line

An east-west line designated in the Land Ordinance of 1785

Geography

The study of the earth's surface, climate, continents, countries, peoples, industries, and products.

Cartography

The science of mapmaking

Culture

The body of customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits that together constitute a group of people's distinct tradition

Cultural Landscape

Fashioning of a natural landscape by a cultural group

Hearth

The region from which innovative ideas originate

Meridian

An arc drawn on a map between the North and South poles

Map

A two-dimensional, or flat, representation of Earth's surface or a portion of it

Parallel

A circle drawn around the globe parallel to the equator and at the right angles to the meridians

Place

A specific point on Earth distinguished by a particular location

Projection

The system used to transfer locations from Earth's surface to a flat map

Region

An area distinguished by a unique combination of trends or features

Scale

Generally, the relationship between the portion of Earth being studied and Earth as a whole, specifically the relationship between the size of an object on a map and the size of the actual feature on Earth's surface.

Space

The physical gap or interval between two objects

Space-Time Compression

The reduction in the time it takes to diffuse something to a distant place, as a result of improved communications and transportation systems

Toponym

The name given to a portion of Earth's surface

Township

A square normally 6 miles on a side. The Land Ordinance of 1785 divided much of the US into a series of townships

Resource

A substance in the environment that is useful to people, is economically and technologically feasible to access, and is socially acceptable to use

5 Themes of Geography

Location, Movement, Place, Human Interaction, Region

Spatial Association

The distribution of one phenomenon is spatially related to the distribution of another

Globalization

Actions or processes that involve the entire world and result in making something worldwide in scope

Infrastructure

The stock of basic facilities and capital equipment needed for the functioning of a country or area

Transition Zones

Area where the characteristics of one region gradually change into those of another

Spatial Perspective

An intellectual framework that looks at the particular locations of specific phenomena, how and why that phenomena is where it is, and how it is spatially related to phenomena in other places

Census Bureau

The bureau of the Commerce Department responsible for taking the census

Regionalization

The organization of earth's surface into distinct areas that are viewed as different from other areas

Spatial Organization

The location of places, people, and events, and the connections among places and landscapes (defines human life on earth, with all its similarities and differences)

Landscapes

The overall appearance of an area that is shaped by both human and natural influences

"Why of Where"

Explanations for why a spatial pattern occurs

Spatial Perspective

Patterns of both natural and human environments, distributions of people, and locations of all kinds of objects

Eratosthenes

Greek scholar in 3rd century BC who accurately calculated the circumference of the earth by measuring the sun's angles at the summer solstice at 2 points along the Nile River

Ptolemy

Greek scholar who lived 500 years before Eratosthenes recalculated the earth's circumference inaccurately by 9,000 miles, but his mistake was taken as truth for hundreds of years. He wrote Guide to Geography that included rough maps of landmasses, and developed a global grid system which was a forerunner to our modern system of latitude and longitude.

Idrisi

An 11th century Arab geographer that worked for the king of Sicily to collect geographical information into a remarkably accurate representation of the world. Under his direction, an academy of geographers gathered maps and went out on their own scientific expeditions.

George Perkins Marsh

A 19th century American geographer best known for his classic work, Man and Nature. He focused on the impact of human actions on the natural environment, so his thinking is basic to the field of human geography. He emphasized human destruction of the environment.

Carl Sauer

An early 20th century geographer from California that shaped the field of human geography by arguing that cultural landscapes should be the main focus of geographic study. His study is basic to environmental geography, and his methods of landscape analysis provided a lens for interpreting cultural landscapes as directly and indirectly altered over time as a result of human activity.

Environmental Geography

A field that centers on the interaction of human and physical geography

Types of Distortion

The shapes of areas; the distances between places; the relative size of different areas; the direction from one place to another

Mercator Projection

Invented by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator for ships navigating across the Atlantic Ocean in 1569. The map is meant for direction. However, the projection distorts sizes of areas, particularly as you get closer to the North and South poles

Robinson Projection

A map that curves inward to fix the distortion of the Mercator, but makes the landmasses look smaller than they really are. It is an attempt to balance all distortions by making errors in all 4 ways. As a result, it is a good projection for general use

Peters Projection

Introduced in 1974 by Arno Peters, and focuses on keeping landmasses equal in area. As a result, the shapes are distorted, and the map looks unfamiliar to viewers

Scale

Size of the unit studied (local, regional, or global scale); Map scale (mathematical relationship between the size of an area on a map and its actual size on earth)

Solar Time

A method used before the adoption of time zones based on the position of the sun in the sky as the day progressed

Ways to Identify Place

Place name, site, situation, and absolute location

Site

The physical character of a place

Situation

The location of a place relative to other places

Grid/Rectilinear Pattern

Reflects a rectangular system of land survey from the LO of 1785- many streets form grids

Region

Spatial regularities exist within an area

Periphery

The region's margins

Multi-national Corporations

Companies that have centers of operation in many parts of the globe

Physical Site Characteristics

Climate, topography, soil, water sources, vegetation, and elevation