hgap unit 1

Cartography

The science of making maps

Cultural ecology

A geographic approach that emphasizes human-environment relationships

Cultural landscape

Anything built/altered by humans (synonomous with 'built environment')

Density

The number of something within a given unit of area

Distribution

The arrangement of something across Earth's surface

Environmental determinism

A 19th & 20th century approach to the study of geography that argued that the geography is the study of how the physical environment causes human activities

Formal region

Uniform/homogenous region; an area in which everyone shares in common one or more distinctive characteristic

Functional region

Nodal region; an area organized around a node or focal point

GIS

Geographic information system; a computer system that stores, organizes, analyzes, and displays geographic data

GPS

Global positioning system; a system that determines the precise position of something on Earth through a series of satellites, tracking stations, and receivers

Latitude/Parallels

The numbering system used to indicate the location of parallels drawn on a globe and measuring distance north and south of the Equator (0 degrees)

Longitude/Meridians

The numbering system used to indicate the location of meridians drawn on a globe and measuring distance east and west of the prime meridian (0 degrees)

Map

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

Map/Geographic Scale

The relationship between the size of an object on a map and the size of the actual feature on Earth's surface; global, regional, national, local

Place

A specific point on Earth distinguished by particular human and physical characteristics

Possibilism

Theory that the physical environment may set limits on human actions, but people have the ability to adjust to the physical environment and choose an alternative course of action

Projection

A system used to transfer locations from Earth's surface to a flat map; from a 3D globe to a 2D map

Region

An area distinguished by a unique combination of trends or features

Remote sensing

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

Site

The physical or human character of place

Situation

The location of a place relative to another place

Sustainability

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

Toponym

The names of places

Vernacular region

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

Reference Map

A map that works well for locating and navigating between places

Thematic Map

A map that shows data

Absolute location

Exact location of a place on the earth described by global coordinates (latitude, longitude)

Relative location

The position of a place in relation to another place

Clustered

Concentration pattern where things are close together

Dispersed

Concentration pattern where things are far apart

High Density

Lots of something in a defined area

Low Density

Less of something in a defined area

Elevation

height above sea level

Distortion

A change in the shape, size, or position of a place when it is shown on a map

Census data

Geospatial data collected through the counting the population; occurs every 10 years in the US

Mercator Projection

a projection of a map used especially for navigation; distorts size as you move towards the poles

Robinson Projection

Projection that attempts to balance several possible projection errors. It does not maintain completely accurate area, shape, distance, or direction, but it minimizes errors in each.

Choropleth thematic map

uses color to show data

Dot Distribution Map

A map where dots are used to demonstrate the frequency or intensity of a particular phenomena

Graduated symbol map

A map with symbols that change in size according to the value of the attribute they represent.

Cartogram

A special kind of map that distorts the shapes and sizes of countries or other political regions to present data for comparison