Ap HuG Unit 1 Vocab

Physical geography

Physical geography: study of spatial characteristics of various elements of the physical environment (landforms, climate, bodies of water, ecosystems, and erosion)

Human geography

study of spatial characteristics of humans and human activities (population, culture, politics, urban areas, economics)

Four-level analysis:

the four most common types of scales of analysis in human geography: comprehension, identification, explanation, and prediction

Analyze

to break down into parts and study each part carefully

Theory

system of ideas and concepts that attempt to explain and prove why or how interactions have occurred in the past or will occur in the future

Concepts

key vocabulary, ideas, and building blocks that geographers use to describe our world

Processes

a series of steps or actions that explain why or how geographic patterns occur

Models

representations of reality or theories about reality, to help geographers see general spatial patterns, focus on the influence of specific factors, and understand variations from place to place.

Spatial models

show where things are, where they should be, and how they move through physical space (look like stylized maps)

Non-Spatial models

show a pattern and illustrate theories and concepts using words, graphs, or tables (not on a map)

Spatial Patterns

patterns represented on a map: absolute and relative distance and direction, clustering, dispersal, and elevation

Networks

a set of interconnected nodes (entities, places, cities)

Quantitative data

information that can be measured and recorded, numerical data

Geospatial data

information that describes objects, events or other features with a location on or near the surface of the earth.

Qualitative data

information that is descriptive rather than numerical or statistical in nature; information describing color, odor, shape, or some other physical characteristic

Scales of analysis

patterns and processes at different scales reveal variations in, and different interpretations of, data. ; the amount of territory that a map represents. Scale includes local, regional, country, or global.

Reference maps

maps designed for people to refer to for general information about places

Political maps

a map that shows man-made features such as boundaries, countries, and cities

Physical maps

a map that shows natural features such as mountains, rivers and deserts

Plat maps

a diagram or map that is used to show how property is divided within a county, city, or neighborhood

Thematic maps

a map that shows a particular theme, or topic ex: choropleth, dot distribution, graduated symbol, isoline

Choropleth maps

uses various colors, shades of one color, or patterns to show the location and distribution of data

Dot distribution maps

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

Graduated symbol maps

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

Isoline maps

a thematic map with lines that connect points of equal value.

Topographic maps

maps that use isolines to represent constant elevations

Cartogram

the sizes of countries are shown to some specific statistic

Geographic scale (relative scale)

the ratio between the size of things in the real world and the size of those same things on a map

Small-scale maps

shows fewer details, and focuses on a larger area (region, world)

Large-scale maps

maps that cover smaller areas with greater detail

Absolute location

the precise point where a place is located on earth (ex: GPS coordinates)

Relative location

where a place is located in relation to another place (ex: the McDonalds is in the same shopping center as Safeway)

Density

the number of things—which could be people, animals, plants, or objects—in a certain area.

Concentration

the spread of something over a given area.

Dispersed concentration

when the objects in an area are relatively far apart

Clustered concentration

if the objects in an area are close together

Accessibility

the degree of ease with which it is possible to reach certain location from other locations

Absolute direction

based on the cardinal points of north, south, east, and west. These appear uniformly and independently in all cultures, derived from obvious givens of nature

Patterns

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

Absolute distance

exact measurement of the physical space between two places.

Relative distance

approximate measurement of the physical space between two places.

Distribution

the arrangement of something across earth's surface

Map projection

a way of representing the spherical earth on a flat surface

Field observations

the act of physically visiting a location, place, or region and recording, firsthand, information there

Spatial analysis

the analysis of geographic data about a certain place.

Spatial data

all of the information that can be tied to a specific locations

Remote sensing

process of gathering data about earth from instruments far above the planet's surface

Aerial photography

taking of photographs of the ground from an elevated position off earth's surface.

Global positioning systems (GPS)

a system that determines accurately the precise position of something on earth through satellites, tracking stations, and receivers

Geographic information system (GIS)

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

Space

refers to the physical gap or interval between two objects.

Location

the position of something on the earth's surface

Place

specific human and physical characteristics of a location

Region

54. Region: a group of places on earth with similar human and/or physical features

Site

the exact location of a city

Situation

the location of a place relative to surrounding areas

Sense of place

state of mind derived through the infusion of a place with meaning and emotion by remembering important events that occurred in that place or by labeling a place with a certain character

Toponyms

place name

Time-space compression

the shrinking of time distance between locations because of improved methods of transportation and communication

Spatial interaction

movement of peoples, ideas, and commodities (goods bought and sold) within and between areas

Flow

movements of people, resources, and culture

Friction of distance

when things are farther apart, they tend to be less well connected

Distance decay

decline of activity or function with increasing distance from its point of origin

Human-environmental interaction

connection and exchange between humans and the natural world

Renewable natural resources

resources are produced in nature more rapidly than they are consumed by humans (ex: wind energy)

Non-renewable natural resources

resources are produced in nature more slowly than they are consumed by humans (ex: coal)

Sustainability

the use of earth's resources in ways that ensure their availability in the future

Land use

the way in which land is used within a given area (ex. Agricultural, residential, industrial)

Built environment

the man-made surroundings that provide the setting for human activity, ranging in scale from personal shelter to neighborhoods to the large-scale civic surroundings.

Cultural landscape

modifications to the environment by humans, including the built environment and agricultural systems, that reflect aspects of their culture

Cultural ecology

the relationship between culture and the environment, dealing with human adaptations to various environments

Environmental determinism

the idea that human behavior and development is controlled by the physical environment

Possibilism

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.

Aggregation

a large group or collection of people, animals or things

Formal regions (uniform regions or homogeneous regions):

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

Functional regions (nodal regions)

an area organized around a node or focal point and are defined by an activity that occurs across the region. Ex: pizza delivery areas - the pizza shop is the node

Perceptual regions (vernacular regions)

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

Subregions

a smaller division of a geographic region