SoSci Section I: What is Human Geography?/Maps

What is human geography?

The study of how human activities vary across different locations

What is the common denominator in human geography?

The use of a spatial perspective

What does using a spatial perspective involve?

Considering the reasons why phenomena happen in certain places and the relationships between nearby places

What else do human geographers pay attention to?

How phenomena in certain places change over time

What do maps display?

Spatial information

How do maps vary?

By level of detail and amount of area they depict

What is cartography?

The discipline of creating visual representations of the Earth's surface through maps

What other factors impact the study of human geography?

Geographic data, concepts of place, and different scales of analysis

What do human geographers determine?

What is happening in a place, why and how it is happening, and how it influences the places around it

What does geographical thinking require?

Understanding complex processes at different geographical scales

What kinds of processes to geographers study?

Environmental, cultural, and population patterns

What is absolute location?

The precise position of an object or place

What forms a coordinate system?

Latitude and longitude lines

What are latitude lines?

Parallel lines that demonstrate relative distance north and south of the equator

What are longitude lines?

Lines that measure relative distance east and west of the prime meridian

What is another name for longitude lines?

Meridians

What is the prime meridian?

An imaginary line that represents the 0° longitude mark

What location does the prime meridian run through?

The Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England

Where do the meridians meet?

At the north and south poles

What are reference maps?

Maps that provide details about locations that help users identify landmarks and navigate effectively

What are some examples of reference maps?

Political maps, physical maps, and road maps

What do political maps depict?

Boundaries, capital cities, and important urban areas

What do physical maps depict?

Landforms like mountains, rivers, and deserts

What do road maps depict?

Land transportation routes like streets and highways

What are topographic maps?

Reference maps that use isolines to assist navigation

What do isolines connect?

Areas that have the same elevation

What do topographic maps assist with?

Land engineering and recreational activities

What do thematic maps show?

Variables across a defined region

What do choropleth maps depict?

How data varies across locations

How do dot distribution maps demonstrate frequency?

Dot density and locations

What do isoline maps do?

Connect points of equal value to show relationships and characteristics across locations

How do graduated symbol maps compare data?

Contrasting symbols of varied sizes

How do flowline maps depict data?

Arrows of different sizes show movement, direction, and intensity

How do cartogram maps show relative variables?

Visual distortions are imposed on the landscape

What is a mental map?

An individual's subjective perception of their surroundings that they use to navigate without a physical reference

What is absolute distance?

A measurable span using standardized units of length

What is accessibility?

How easily one location can be reached from and/or influenced by another

What is the impact of absolute distance and accessibility?

The less absolute distance there is and the more accessible two places are to each other, the more they will exchange effects

What is the distance decay effect?

The reduction in interaction between two places as spatial separation grows

What is time-space compression?

The phenomenon where technological advances have diminished disparities in relationship intensity across geographic regions

What is globalization characterized by?

Increasing connections among individuals, ideas, and economies

What innovations have made the world more interconnected?

Carriages, steam engines, jumbo jets, and the internet

What is relative location?

The description of a place's location based on what is nearby

What is clustering?

The close grouping of factors within a location

What is dispersal?

The even or random distribution of data across a location

What is elevation?

How high areas are above sea level

What does a map's scale determine?

The level of detail it displays and the relationship between distances

How do ratio scales work?

The relationship between distance on a map and actual distance is shown in terms of a ratio

How do written scales work?

The difference between real and portrayed distance units is written out

How do graphical scales work?

Distances are shown as a bar divided into segments, each of which corresponds to a specific distance

What form does the Earth have and why?

A geoid form due to irregularity and slight flattening at the poles

What is projection?

The process of transferring geographical locations onto a flat map

What do maps distort?

Shape, size, distance, and direction

What is the north on maps based on?

The geographic North Pole

How are compasses oriented?

Toward the North Magnetic Pole

What are the characteristics of Mercator projections?

They preserve shape and direction but distort size near the poles

What are the characteristics of the Peters projection?

It shows relative sizes correctly but alters shape

What other projection preserves size but not shape?

Equal-area projection

What is the goal of the Robinson projection?

Having a balanced compromise among distortions in order to make visually appealing world maps

What do cartographers choose when making maps?

Which information to prioritize, simplify, or exclude