Thinking Geographically Unit 1

Geospatial

relating to or denoting data that is associated with a particular location.

Geography

the study of the physical features of the Earth and its atmosphere, and of human activity as it affects and is affected by these, including the distribution of populations and resources, land use, and industries.

Absolute location

the exact position of an object or place stated in spatial coordinates or a grid system designed for locational purposes, e.g. latitude or longitude.

Relative location

the position of a place or activity in relation to other places or activities; implies spatial relationships and can suggest relative advantages or disadvantages of a location with respect to all competing locations.

Mercator Projection

Advantages: shape distorted only little, direction constant

Disadvantages: relative size is distorted towards the poles → high-latitude places look larger

Goode Homolosine Projection

Advantages: good shape

Disadvantage: broken ocean + goofy ahh lookin

Gall-Peters Projection

equal area projection that distorts the shape of land masses (looks stretched out)

Robinson Projection

Advantages: good for displaying info across oceans

Disadvantages: by allocating space for the oceans, the land masses appear

azimuthal (polar) projection

a map which shows true compass directions; longitude lines are straight and latitude lines are circles; distorts shape and size more toward the outer edges.

Cartogram (thematic)

the sizes of countries are shown to some specific statistic

Dot Map

Maps where one dot represents a certain number of a phenomenon, such as a population.

Proportional Symbol map

a thematic map in which the size of a symbol varies in proportion to the frequency or intensity of the mapped variable.

Choropleth Map

a map that uses differences in shading, coloring, or the placing of symbols within predefined areas to indicate the average values of a property or quantity in those areas.

Isoline Map

Map displaying lines that connect points of equal value; for example, a map showing elevation levels

Abiotic

Composed of nonliving or inorganic matter

atmosphere

A thin layer of gases surrounding Earth

Biotic

composed of living organisms

cartography

The science of making maps

climate

The long-term average weather condition at a particular location

concentration

the spread of something over a given area

connection

relationships among people and objects across the barrier of space

conservation

The sustainable management of a natural resource

Contagious Diffusion

The rapid, widespread diffusion of a feature or trend throughout a population.

Cultral ecology

Geographic approach that emphasizes human-environment relationships.

cultural landscape

Fashioning of a natural landscape by a cultural group.

Culture

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

Density

The frequency with which something exists within a given unit of area

Diffusion

The process of spread of a feature or trend from one place to another over time

Distance Decay

The diminishing in importance and eventual disappearance of a phenomenon with increasing distance from its origin.

Distribution

The arrangement of something across Earth's surface.

Ecology

The scientific study of ecosystems

ecosystem

A group of living organisms and the abiotic spheres with which they interact

Enviornmental Determinism

A nineteenth- and early twentieth-century approach to the study of geography which argued that the general laws sought by human geographers could be found in the physical sciences. Geography was therefore the study of how the physical environment caused human activities.

Expansion Diffusion

the spread of a feature or trend among people from one area to another in an additive process

Formal Region (Uniform/ homogeneous Region)

An area in which everyone shares in one or more distinctive characteristics

Geographic Information Science (GIScience)

The development and analysis of data about Earth acquired through satellite and other electronic information technologies

Geographic Information System (GIS)

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

Global Positioning System (GPS)

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

Globalization

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

Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)

the time in the zone encompassing the prime meridian, or 0 degrees longitude

Hearth

The region from which innovative ideas originate

hierachical diffusion

the spread of a feature or trend from one key person or node of authority or power to other persons or places

Housing Bubble

a rapid increase in the value of houses followed by a sharp decline in their value

Hydrosphere

All of the water on and near Earth's surface

International Date Line

An arc that for the most part follows 180° longitude, although it deviates in several places to avoid dividing land areas. When you cross the International Date Line heading east (toward America), the clock moves back 24 hours, or one entire day. When you go west (toward Asia), the calendar moves ahead one day.

Latitude

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

Lithosphere

Earth's crust and a portion of upper mantle directly below the crust

location

The position of anything on Earth's surface.

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

map

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

map scale

The relationship between the size of an object on a map and the size of the actual feature on Earth's surface.

mental map

A representation of a portion of Earth's surface based on what an individual knows about a place, containing personal impressions of what is in a place and where places are located.

meridian

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

network

A chain of communication that connects places

nonrenewable resource

Something produced in nature more slowly than it is consumed by humans

parallel

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

pattern

The geometric or regular arrangement of something in a study area.

place

A specific point on Earth distinguished by a particular character.

polder

Land created by the Dutch by draining water from an area.

possiblism

The theory that the physical environment may set limits on human actions, but people have the ability to adjust to the physical environment and choose a course of action from many alternatives.

preservation

The maintenance of resources in their present condition, with as little human impact as possible

Prime Meridian

The meridian, designated at 0° longitude, which passes through the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, England.

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.

Regional (or cultural landscape) studies

An approach to geography that emphasizes the relationships among social and physical phenomena in a particular study area.

relocation diffusion

The spread of a feature or trend through bodily movement of people from one place to another.

remote sensing

The acquisition of data about Earth's surface from a satellite orbiting the planet or other long-distance methods.

renewable resource

Something produced in nature more rapidly than it is consumed by humans

resource

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

scale

Generally, the relationship between the portion of Earth being studied and Earth as a whole.

site

The physical character of a place

situation

the location of a place relative to another place

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

stimulus diffusion

The spread of an underlying principle, even though a specific characteristic is rejected.

sustainability

The use of Earth's renewable and nonrenewable natural resources in ways that do not constrain resource use in the future.

Toponym

The name given to a portion of Earth's surface.

Transportational Corporation

A company that conducts research, operates factories, and sells products in many countries, not just where its headquarters or shareholders are located.

uneven development

The increasing gap in economic conditions between core and peripheral regions as a result of the globalization of the economy.

Vernacular region (or perceptual region)

an area that people believe exists as part of their cultural identity