unit 1: thinking geographically

MDC

more developed country

LDC

less developed country

Latitude

horizontal

Longitude

vertical

International Date Line

defines days

Hemispheres

divided into halves

Time zones

+1

Absolute location

longitude and latitude

Relative location

in relation to other places

Absolute distance

miles/kilometers

Relative distance

measures relationship between two places

Absolute direction

cardinal directions

Relative direction

left/right/above/below

Site

physical location and location of a place

Situation

where a place is in relation to its surroundings

Toponym

name of a place

why are all maps inaccurate?

the earth is round

Mercator

good for direction (greenland is gufe)

Gall peters

stretched

Goode homolosine

not filled all the way

Polar

top view

Robinson

looks normal

Reference maps

designed for general info

Contiguous cartogram

sizes are distorted but countries still attached

Noncontiguous cartogram

countries not touching

Dorling cartogram

each country is replaced with a shape and size represents data

Categorical

depict areas different in kind

Choropleth

depict areas that are different in amount

Dot distribution

uses points to show distribution

Graduated symbol

symbols of different sizes used to show distribution

Isoline

connects points of equality with chosen theme (ex - elevation)

Topographic

record of a land area (type of isoline)

Geographic information systems (GIS)

records information with computers

Global position system (GPS)

system of satelites tracking and listening for signals; ex of GIS

Remote sensing

LIDAR (light detection)

Satellite imagery

images taken from satellites

Quantitative data

numbers based

Qualitative data

qualities based

Landscape interpretation

explaination of how different forces shape environments

Space

the natural environment without humans

Place

the way humans modify space

Flow

how we move

Density

the amount of things somewhere

Distribution

how things are arranged

Patterns of distribution

random/clustered/dispersed/linear/circular/peripheral/geometric/grid

Time-space compression

tech connects us

Distance decay

the farther away something is/the less connected

Spatial data

data associated with locations

Spatial analysis

examining mapped data

Tobler's First Law of Geography

as things get further apart. they become less related

Friction of distance

movement has a cost

Reily's law of retail gravitation

willing to travel to large retail centers

gravity model

things near you have the most weight

environmental determinism

humans react to only their environment

possibilism

humans adapt to their environment

cartographic scale

ex - 1 inch = 1 mile

small scale

large area

geographic scale

global/national/regional/local

region

area with unifying characteristic

formal regions

also called uniform; cant argue it

functional regions

also called nodal; spread from a center node

perceptual

also called vernacular; based on prejudice

natural boundaries

based on nature

geometric boundaries

straight lines (parallels)

cultural boundaries

based on cultural differences

economic boundaries

based on economic factors