AP human geo unit 1

physical geography

study of natural processes and distribution of features in the enviorment such as landforms, plants, animals and climate

spatial perspective

refers to where something occurs

ecological persepctive

refers to the relationships between living things and their enviroments

location

position that a point or object occupies earth

absoulte location

exact location of an object

relative location

where a place is in relation to other places/ featrures

site

refers to a places absoulte location as well as physical characteristics

situation

places location in relation to other places/ surrounding featrures

place

location on earth that is distinguished by physical and human characteristics

space

area between two or more things on earth surface

distribution

arranged within a given space

density

number of things in a specific area op

pattern

how things are aranged

flow

how things move and change

enviornmental determinism

argues that human behavior is largley controlled by the physical envionemnt

possibilsm

argues that humnas have more agency, or ability to produce a result, then enviornemntal determinism would suggest

distance decay

describes the effect of distance on interactions

time-space compression

key geographic principle that is related to friction or distance

formal region

area that has one or more shared traits. can be physical or cultural or both; defined by data

scale

area of the world being studied

region

area on earth’s surface w/ certain characteristics that make it distinct from other areas

functional region

defined as an area organized by its function around a focal point, or center of interest

node

focus of region such as the downtown of a city

suburbs

residentials areas around a city

perceptual/ vernacular region

type of region that reflects people’s feeling and attuitudes about a place

world system theroy

describes spatial function relationships bertween countires in world economy

core

countires that are highly interconnected, good trnasportation and communication networks. good education, large political allies

periphery

countires that have less wealth, lower education and worse tech

semi periphery

both core and periphery processes. have a bit of both

sustainable development

development that meets the need of present with out compramising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs

quantitative

info measured by numbers

census

offical count of number of people in a difined area

qualititve

data interpreted of data sourecs such as field observations, media reports, travel narratives, policy doc, personal interviews, landscape analysis, and visuals

GIS

sophisticated mapping software. captures stores, organizes, and siplays geographic data that can be used to configure both simple and complex maps

topography

shape and features of land surfaces. (lakes and mountains)

remote sensing

collects data remotly, uses satellites or aircraft-based sensors to collect data

GPS

integrated network of atleast 31 satellites in the U.S. system that orbit Earth and trnasmit location data to handheld recivers

absoulte distance

distance that can be measured using a standerted unit of length

relative distance

measured in terms of other criteria such as time or money

absolute direction

north, south, east, west

relative direction

left, right, up, down

map scale

mathermatical relationship between the size of the map of part of the real world it shows

reference maps

generalized sources of geographic data and focus location

thematic maps

have a theme or specific purpose and focus on the relationship among geographic data

what does GIS stand for

Geographic information system

what does GPS stand for

Global Positioning System

human geography

is the study of events and processes that have shaped how humans understand, use, and alter earth