HGAP Unit 1 Vocab

GIS (Geographic Information Systems)

Using layers of data to make informed decisions

GPS (Global Positioning System)

Uses satellites to determine your exact location on Earth, part of Satellite Navigation

Satellite Navigation System

Uses satelittes to determine your exact location, includes GPS

Remote Sensing

Acquiring information without physical contact

Absolute Location

Uses longitude and latitude to find exact location

Distance Decay

Contact diminishes with increasing distance and eventually disappears

Space-Time Compression

More and more rapid connections have reduced the distance across space between places

Sustainability

Using Earth’s resources so that there will still be resources in the future

Environmental Determinism

The belief that the environment determines the patterns of human culture and societal development

Possibilism

The view that culture is determined by social conditions, rather than strictly the environment, through modifications and changes

Scales of Analysis

Global, Regional, National, Local

Region

Larger than a point, smaller than the planet

Formal/Uniform Region

An area within which everyone shares in common one or more distinctive characteristics

Functional/Nodal Region

An area organized areound a node or focal point

Perceptual/Vernacular Region

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

Site

Physical characteristics of a place, such as climate, water soruces, topography, soil, vegetation, latitude, elevation

Situation

The location of a place relative to other places

Toponym

The name given to a portion of the Earth’s surface

Diffusion

A characteristic spreads from one place to another

Hearth

The place from which an innovation originates

Expansion Diffusion

Spread of an idea through a population growing continuously larger

Hierarchical Diffusion

Spread of an idea from people or areas of power down to others

Contagious Diffusion

Spread of something through a group of people or an area equally

Stimulus Diffusion

Spread of an underlying principle even though the characteristic itself does not spread

Relocation Diffusion

When people migrate and take their cultural attributes with them

Mercator Projection

Used for ship navigation, heavy distortion at poles

Robinson Projection

Land areas are much smaller, stretches poles

Goode’s Interrupted Homolosine

Ocean interrupted, land masses are accurate size and shape

Proportional Symbol Map

Uses symbols of different size to represent data

Choropleth

Shows statistical data by coloring or shading certain regions

Dot Distribution/Density

Uses dot symbols to show data

Cartogram

Size and shape of countries is altered to show an amount of something

Isoline

Lines of the same altitude are connected to show elevation

Geography

Where and why

Maps

2D model of Earth

Cartography

The science of map making

Aristotle

Spherical Earth

Eratosthenes

Coined the term ‘geography’

Ptolemy

Codified principles of mapmaking, first geography textbook of maps

Scale

Relationship of a feature’s size on a map to its actual size on Earth

Spatial Analysis

Studying entities by examining spatial data features such as locations that reveal the grographic properties of data

Latitude

Horizonal lines, climate zones, length of daylight

Longitude

Vertical lines, time zones

Time Zones

Every 15 degrees = 1 hours, 180 degrees = International Date Line

Globalization

Shrinks the world so that global can feel local

Distribution

The arrangement of a feature in space

Density

Frequency something occurs in an area

Arithmetic Density

Number of people per unit of area

Physiological Density

Number of people per unit of area suitable for agriculture

Agricultural Density

Number of farmers per unit area of farmland

Concentration

The extent of a feature’s spread over space

Renewable Resources

Produced in nature more rapidly than it is consumed by humans

Nonrenewable Resources

Produced in nature more slowly than it is consumed by humans

Modification

Humans changing their environment to fit their needs

Adaptation

Changing behavior in response to the environment