Thinking Geographically Terms

Geography

A science that relies on maps as a primary tool for thinking spatially about the distribution of features across Earth.

Maps

Tools that serve as a reference for finding locations and as a communication tool for depicting the distribution of human activities and physical features.

Regions

Areas with one or more distinctive characteristics.

Formal region

An area where everyone shares a common, distinctive characteristic, such as a language, economic activity, or climate.

Functional region

An area organized around a central point or 'node', where the influence of the central point diminishes as one moves outward.

Vernacular region

An area that people believe exists as part of their cultural identity.

Distribution

The arrangement of a feature in a space.

Density

The frequency with which a feature occurs in space.

Concentration

The extent of a feature's spread over space.

Pattern

The geometric arrangement of objects in a space.

Sustainability

The ability to maintain ecological balance by managing resources responsibly.

Resource

Something in the environment that is useful to people and can be accessed and used.

Renewable resources

Resources that are produced faster than they are consumed by humans.

Nonrenewable resources

Resources that are produced more slowly than they are consumed.

Brundtland Report

A United Nations report that identifies three pillars of sustainability: environment, society, and economy.

Three pillars of sustainability

The interconnected elements of environment, society, and economy that must be balanced to achieve sustainability.

Netherlands case study

An example of a sustainable ecosystem due to its long history of land reclamation and current environmental efforts.

California case study

An example of an unsustainable ecosystem due to an extended drought and rapid depletion of groundwater for agricultural use.

Map

A flat-scale model of Earth's surface used as a reference tool and a communications tool.

Cartography

The science of mapmaking.

Earliest known map

A map from approximately 6200 B.C. depicting the town of Çatalhöyük in Turkey.

Thales of Miletus

A historical geographer who applied geometry to measuring land area.

Pythagoras

Potentially the first to propose a spherical world.

Eratosthenes

Invented the word 'geography,' calculated Earth's circumference with high accuracy, and created one of the first geography books.

Ptolemy

Wrote an eight-volume work called 'Guide to Geography' and prepared maps that were not surpassed for over 1,000 years.

Muhammad al-Idrisi

Prepared a world map and geography text in 1154, building on Ptolemy's work.

Pei Xiu

Considered the 'father of Chinese cartography' for his elaborate map of China from A.D. 267.

region

A unique area defined by a combination of cultural (e.g., language, religion), economic (e.g., agriculture, industry), and physical features (e.g., climate, vegetation).

Example of Formal Region

The state of Montana, where everyone is subject to the same laws.

Example of Density

The Netherlands has a much higher population density than China despite having a smaller total population.

Example of Concentration

The distribution of Major League Baseball teams in the U.S.

Environment Pillar

The sustainable use and management of natural resources (also known as conservation).

Society Pillar

The choices society makes about resource use and embracing sustainability as a value.

Economy Pillar

The monetary value of natural resources based on supply and demand, which sometimes does not reflect the environmental cost of a good.

The Netherlands

An example of a sustainable ecosystem; the Dutch have a history of land reclamation through the use of dikes and polders.

California

Presented as an example of an unsustainable ecosystem due to an ongoing drought.

California Water Sources

During normal times, California gets 70% of its water from surface sources and 30% from groundwater.

California Groundwater Usage

Due to low precipitation, groundwater now supplies over 60% of the state's water demand and is being depleted faster than it can be replenished.

California Water Consumption

The largest consumer of water (80%) is agriculture, which often relies on irrigation.