Human Geography Introduction and Five Themes Flashcards

Flashcards testing concepts of physical and human geography, map types, projections, region types, cultural processes, human-environment interaction, and types of diffusion.

What is physical geography?

The study of Earth's natural features, processes, and patterns, including landforms, climate, and ecosystems.

What is human geography?

The study of how human activity, cultures, and societies interact with and shape the Earth's surface.

How do the notes define globalization?

The process of increasing interactions, interdependence, and relationships across borders (such as companies).

What is local diversity?

The desire to express and keep cultural, political, and economic attributes that make us unique.

What is the difference between relative location and absolute location?

Relative location is where a place is found in relation to another (near, by), while absolute location is the exact place on Earth where a geographic feature is found (coordinates or exact address).

What is a toponym?

The specific name given to a geographic location or place.

How is cartography defined?

The art and science of mapmaking.

How do reference maps differ from thematic maps?

Reference maps show locations of places and geographic features, whereas thematic maps tell a story and require reading to infer or interpret specific information.

What type of thematic map is depicted here?

An isoline map, which uses lines to express movement or gradients, such as migration, wind, or water currents.

What type of thematic map is shown in this image?

A cartogram, which distorts the size of political units based on the value or intensity of a mapped variable.

What type of thematic map is displayed in this image?

A choropleth map, in which a variable is depicted with shading, patterns, or colors in proportion to the intensity of the variable.

What type of thematic map is shown in this diagram?

A proportional symbol map, in which the size of the symbol varies according to population or the intensity of the mapped variable.

What type of thematic map is illustrated in this image?

A dot map, where each dot represents a specific frequency of the mapped variable and the dot does not change size.

What are map projections and why do they vary?

Projections (such as Mercator, Robinson, Azimuthal, and Peters) are methods used to represent the 3D Earth on a 2D map, and they have varying degrees of distortion.

What was the US Land Ordinance of 1785 (Township and Range Act)?

A system for surveying and dividing land in the western US, resulting in a grid pattern.

What is the difference between a small scale map and a large scale map?

A small scale map shows a large area zoomed out (such as $\frac{1}{1,000,000}$), while a large scale map shows a small area zoomed in (such as $\frac{1}{25,000}$ or $\frac{1}{1,000}$).

What is the difference between sense of place and perception of place?

Sense of place is infusing a place with meaning and emotion (e.g., monuments), while perception of place is a belief or understanding of what a place is like, often based on books, movies, stories, or pictures.

What are the 5 major cultural hearths listed in the notes?

1) Mesoamerica (Mexico & Guatemala), 2) Nile River Valley (Egypt), 3) Mesopotamia (Iraq & Syria), 4) Indus River Valley (Pakistan), and 5) Huang He River Valley (China).

How do assimilation and acculturation differ?

Assimilation is described as "melting" into one culture, whereas acculturation is like a "mixed salad" where cultural ingredients stay separate.

What is the distinction between cultural convergence and syncretism?

Cultural convergence is when cultures become more alike due to globalization (sometimes losing local flavor), whereas syncretism is mixing different cultures to create something totally new.

What are the three main types of regions described in the lecture?

Formal regions (uniform area sharing a common attribute or recognized political boundaries), Functional/nodal regions (organized around a particular service/node), and Perceptual/vernacular regions (based on how people perceive an area with fuzzy boundaries).

How do environmental determinism and possibilism differ?

Environmental determinism states that human behavior is strongly shaped/controlled by the environment (specifically climate), whereas possibilism states that humans actively alter their environment to make it more habitable.

What is sequent occupance?

Signs of accumulating layers of cultural landscape left by numerous cultures that have supported and modified a place over time.

What is the key difference between relocation diffusion and expansion diffusion?

Relocation diffusion happens when people move and bring their culture to a new place; expansion diffusion occurs when an idea or innovation spreads to new places while staying strong in its original location.

What type of diffusion is depicted in this diagram, and what concept is attached to it?

Contagious diffusion (rapid, uniform spread through direct contact), which is attached to the vocabulary concept of Distance Decay.

What type of diffusion is shown here, and what attached vocabulary concept does it demonstrate?

Hierarchical diffusion (trickling down from higher levels to lower levels), which is attached to the vocabulary concept of Time-Space Compression.

What is stimulus diffusion, and what examples are provided in the text?

Stimulus diffusion occurs when an innovation is adopted and changed to fit a new location. Examples include McDonald's adaptions, Bollywood, and Chinese Google.