AP HUG Unit 5 Chapter 11 & 12 Vocabulary

Agriculture

The practice of altering the landscape to cultivate crops and livestock.

Climate

The prevailing atmospheric and weather conditions of an area over extended periods.

Capital

The money invested in land, equipment, and machines.

Subsistence Agriculture

Farming focused primarily on producing food for the farmer's immediate household.

Commercial Agriculture

Farming oriented toward generating crops and livestock for market sale and profit.

Intensive Agriculture

Practices using large amounts of inputs like labor or fertilizers to maximize yields relative to space.

Extensive Agriculture

Practices that use fewer inputs of capital and paid labor relative to the amount of space being used.

Intensive Commercial Agriculture

Heavy investments in labor and capital on small plots of land yielding high profits.

Intensive Subsistence Agriculture

High effort and inputs on small plots to produce maximum yields for family survival.

Extensive Commercial Agriculture

Large-scale commercial farming over wide areas with minimal per-acre inputs.

Extensive Subsistence Agriculture

Low labor inputs per unit of area supporting small populations over large land tracts.

Pastoral Nomadism

Moving with herds of domesticated animals for survival in arid environments.

Shifting Cultivation

Rotating crop plots and clearing new land periodically to allow soil recovery.

Plantation Agriculture

Large-scale tropical or subtropical farms specializing in cash crops, historically using forced or low-paid labor.

Mixed Crop and Livestock Farming

Growing crops and raising animals on the same land.

Grain Farming

Commercial production of grain crops on large, machinery-reliant tracts.

Commercial Gardening

The production of fruits, vegetables, and other horticultural crops for sale in markets, often using intensive farming methods and located near major markets.

Market Gardening

The commercial production of fruits, vegetables, and other crops that are sold directly to consumers or local markets, usually on relatively small farms located near urban areas.

Dairy Farming

Commercial raising of animals for milk and dairy products.

Milk Shed

The geographic area surrounding a city from which milk is supplied without spoiling.

Mediterranean Agriculture

Specialized commercial farming in dry-summer climates featuring olives, grapes, and figs.

Transhumance

Seasonal movement of pastoralists and livestock between high and low elevations.

Livestock Ranching

Grazing livestock over extensive land areas.

Clustered (Nucleated) Settlement

Buildings grouped closely together surrounded by fields.

Dispersed Settlement

Isolated farmhouses lying far apart.

Linear Settlement

Buildings clustered in a straight line along a road or river.

Metes and Bounds

Surveying using physical features and distance measurements.

French Long-Lot System

Dividing land into narrow parcels stretching from a waterway.

Public Land Survey (Township and Range) System

Rectangular U.S. grid system dividing land into square townships.

First (Neolithic) Agricultural Revolution

Transition from hunting and gathering to plant and animal domestication.

Domestication

Altering wild species over generations to serve human needs.

Independent Innovation

Same agricultural tool or concept invented in multiple culture hearths independently.

Columbian Exchange

Transfer of plants, animals, and cultures between the Americas and the rest of the world after 1492.

Second Agricultural Revolution

A period of agricultural innovation beginning in the 1700s that increased food production through improved farming methods, machinery, and transportation.

Enclosure Acts

Laws in Britain that consolidated small, scattered strips of farmland into larger, privately owned fields, allowing more efficient agricultural production.

Mechanized Agricultural Technology

The use of machines, such as tractors and harvesters, to perform agricultural tasks that were traditionally done by human or animal labor.

Crop Rotation

The practice of growing different crops in the same field during different seasons or years to maintain soil fertility and reduce pests and disease.

Irrigation

The artificial application of water to farmland to support crop growth, especially in areas with insufficient or unreliable rainfall.

Third Agricultural Revolution

A period of major agricultural change beginning in the mid-20th century that increased food production through technologies such as improved seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, irrigation, and mechanization.

Green Revolution

The rapid increase in agricultural production during the mid-20th century resulting from high-yield seed varieties, fertilizers, pesticides, irrigation, and improved farming techniques.

Hybridization

The process of crossing different varieties or strains of plants or animals to produce offspring with desirable traits.

GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms)

Organisms whose genetic material has been deliberately altered using biotechnology to produce desired characteristics, such as pest resistance or improved crop yields.