AAC World Geography PAK 1: Location, Physical Characteristics and Regions

Natural border

a geographic feature like a river, mountain range, or desert that separates two countries or regions.

Man-made border

Artificial borders are political lines drawn by outside powers that ignore the cultural, ethnic, and tribal groups living in an area.

City

a permanent, densely populated human settlement with administratively defined boundaries where people work mainly on non-agricultural tasks.

State

a political entity that regulates society and the population within a defined territory

Country

is a distinct area of land with defined borders that has its own government and functions as a sovereign state or political entity.

Absolute Location

is the exact position of a point on the Earth's surface, defined by specific coordinates such as latitude and longitude.

Relative Location

describes where something is in relation to other landmarks or features

Physical processes

the natural processes that shape the Earth's landscapes, including erosion, transportation, and deposition.

Weather

the state of the atmosphere at a particular time, including temperature, precipitation, wind, humidity, and atmospheric pressure.

Climate

is the average course of weather conditions in a place over a long period of time, like temperature and precipitation.

Earth’s axis tilt

refers to the angle between Earth's rotational axis and its orbital plane around the Sun

Weathering

is the breakdown of rocks and minerals at or near the Earth's surface due to chemical and physical interactions with air, water, and living organisms.

Plate Tectonics

that explains how large sections of Earth's outer layer, called tectonic plates, move and interact with one another, leading to the formation of mountains, earthquakes, and volcanoes.

Convergent Boundaries

is an area on Earth where two or more tectonic plates collide, leading to one plate sliding beneath the other in a process called subduction.

Divergent boundaries

where two tectonic plates move away from each other, creating new crust as magma rises and solidifies.

Transform boundaries

where two tectonic plates slide past each other horizontally, neither creating nor destroying crust.

Erosion

the action or process of eroding

Elevation

means the height to which something is raised, or the height above sea level (also called altitude)

Latitude

is the position north or south of the equator, measured in degrees from 0° to 90°.

Longitude

is the east–west angular distance of a point on Earth measured in degrees from the prime meridian at Greenwich, England. It is expressed as degrees east or west up to 180°

Hydrosphere

is the total amount of water on Earth, including liquid and frozen surface waters, groundwater, and atmospheric water vapor.

Lithosphere

is the rigid, outer rocky shell of Earth, made up of the crust and the solid outermost layer of the upper mantle, and it extends to a depth of about 60 miles

Atmosphere

means the gaseous envelope surrounding a celestial body (like a planet), or the whole mass of air surrounding Earth.

Biosphere

the global ecological zone where all life on Earth exists, integrating various ecosystems and biotic communities.

Water Cycle

the continuous movement of water on, above, and below the surface of the Earth

Ecosystem

community of living organisms interacting with each other and their physical environment, functioning as a connected system

Temperature

the measure of hotness or coldness expressed in terms of various scales, such as Celsius and Fahrenheit.

Precipitation

the process of water forming in the atmosphere and falling to Earth as rain, snow, sleet, or hail.

Biomes

a regional ecosystem with distinctive plant and animal groups

Mountain Barrier

is a natural formation, specifically a mountain range, that obstructs movement or travel between different regions.

Rain Shadow

is an area with significantly reduced rainfall behind a mountainous region on the leeward side

Tectonic forces

stresses generated by the movement of Earth's lithospheric plates, which can cause earthquakes, volcanic activity, and mountain building at plate boundaries.

Ocean Currents

a continuous, directed movement of seawater generated by various forces such as wind, temperature, salinity differences, and the Coriolis effect.

Orographic effect

the process where air masses are forced to rise over mountains, cooling as they ascend and causing water vapor to condense into clouds and precipitation on the windward side, often creating a rain shadow with less rain on the leeward side

Air Masses

large volume of air that has uniform temperature and humidity characteristics, extending hundreds or thousands of kilometers horizontally and sometimes reaching high altitudes.

Aquifer

water-bearing layer of permeable rock, sand, or gravel that can store and supply groundwater

Region

area or division of land that has common defining features, and it’s often set apart from nearby areas by those criteria.

Formal Region

an area defined by one or more shared, measurable characteristics, such as a common language, climate, or political boundary

Functional region

a geographical area organized around a central point, known as a node, with surrounding areas linked through various economic, social, or transportation connections.

Perceptual region

are areas defined by people's feelings and attitudes rather than objective geographic characteristic.

Physical factors

refers to any natural or environmental element that can influence living organisms, processes, or conditions.

Human factors

refer to environmental, organizational, and job factors, along with individual characteristics, that influence behavior at work and can affect health and safety

Political unit

A unit with political responsibilities

River System

a network of a main river and all its tributaries that drain into a single watershed

Globes

spherical representations of the Earth or other celestial bodies, typically showing geographical features, political boundaries, and other relevant information

Maps

a drawing or representation of an area, showing features such as countries, roads, rivers, and other landmarks to help people navigate and understand the geography of that region.

GIS

a computer system that analyzes and displays data attached to a location

GPS

navigational system using satellite signals to fix the location of a radio receiver on or above the earth's surface; also : the radio receiver so used

Satellite

An object launched to orbit Earth or another celestial body, as a device for reflecting or relaying radio signals or for capturing images

Physical Map

Shows naturally occurring features on the Earth

Thematic Map

Show one specific piece of information

How do you write a coordinate?

Latitude always comes first and then longitude (EX: N or S , W or E)

Political

Shows basic features on the Earth

Tundra

Scattered low growing plants that are adapted to dry winds and extreme cold

Desert

Few plants scattered in this hot and dense ecosystem

Tropical Rain Forest

Very dense forests with a solid, year- round canopy; little light reaches the forest floor

Taiga

The world’s largest biome, Dominated by cone bearing trees with needle shaped leaves, Much of Canada and Russia is Taiga

Savanna/Grasslands

Grassland area dominated with grass and sometimes scattered with shrubs and isolated trees (savanna)