Unit 1 Thinking Geographically: Vocabulary Review

A vocabulary focus covering branches of geography, spatial analysis frameworks, map types, geospatial technologies, and regional classification.

Physical geography

The study of the spatial characteristics of various elements of the physical environment, such as landforms, climate, and ecosystems.

Human geography

The study of the spatial characteristics of humans and human activities, including population, culture, economics, and urban areas.

Spatial approach

A perspective that considers the arrangement of the phenomena being studied across the surface of the earth, often focusing on the "why of where."

Theory

A 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.

Models

Representations of reality or theories about reality that help geographers see general spatial patterns and understand variations from place to place.

Spatial models

Stylized representations that look like maps and illustrate theories about spatial distributions, such as land use or factory location.

Nonspatial models

Representations that use words, graphs, or tables to illustrate theories and concepts, often depicting changes over time with high accuracy.

Time-distance decay

The geographic idea that things, such as cities, near each other are more closely connected or related than things that are far apart.

Quantitative data

Any information that can be measured and recorded using numbers, such as birth rates or total immigrants to a city.

Geospatial data

Quantitative and spatial information that includes a geographic location component, such as an address, zip code, or latitude and longitude.

Qualitative sources

Information typically not represented by numbers, collected through interviews, photographs, remote satellite images, or descriptions.

Reference maps

Maps designed for people to refer to for general information about places, including political, physical, road, and plat maps.

Thematic maps

Maps that show spatial aspects of information or specific phenomena, such as choropleth or dot distribution maps.

Choropleth maps

Thematic maps that use various colors, shades of one color, or patterns to show the location and distribution of spatial data.

Isoline maps

Also called isometric maps, these use lines connecting points of equal value to depict variations in data, such as elevation or barometric pressure.

Cartogram

A map in which the sizes of countries or other areal units are shown according to a specific statistic, such as population, rather than land area.

Cartographic scale

The way a map communicates the ratio of its size to the size of what it represents, often shown through words, ratios, or linear scales.

Absolute location

The precise spot where something is according to a system, most commonly the global grid of latitude and longitude.

Relative location

A description of where something is in relation to other things, often described in terms of connectivity and accessibility.

Landscape analysis

The task of defining and describing landscapes through careful observation and interpretation.

Field observation

The act of physically visiting a location, place, or region and recording firsthand information, such as notes, photos, or interviews.

Remote sensing

The gathering of information from satellites orbiting the earth or other craft above the atmosphere to collect digital images or video.

Global Positioning System (GPS)

A technology that uses receivers on the earth's surface and multiple satellites to determine and record a receiver's exact location.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

A computer system that can store, analyze, and display information from multiple digital maps or geospatial data sets.

Time-space compression

The shrinking relative distance between locations because of improved methods of transportation and communication.

Spatial interaction

The contact, movement, and flow of things, such as ideas, people, or products, between locations.

Distance decay

The concept describing the inverse relationship between distance and connection, where the influence of a phenomenon weakens as distance increases.

Spatial association

A concept indicating that two or more phenomena may be related or associated because their distribution patterns match.

Sustainability

The practice of using resources now in ways that allow their use in the future while minimizing negative impacts on the environment.

Built environment

The physical artifacts that humans have created, such as buildings, roads, and fences, which form part of the landscape.

Cultural ecology

The study of how humans adapt to the physical environment.

Environmental determinism

The theory that landforms and climate are the most powerful forces shaping human behavior and societal development.

Possibilism

A view acknowledging limits on the effects of the natural environment and focusing on the role human culture plays in responding to and overcoming those limits.

Formal region

An area united by one or more traits, such as political, physical, or cultural characteristics; also called uniform or homogeneous regions.

Functional region

An area organized around a focal point and defined by an activity that occurs across the region; also called nodal regions.

Perceptual region

An area defined by the informal sense of place that people ascribe to it, such as "The American South"; also known as vernacular regions.