APHUG vocab 16-30 U1

Newark charter school ap human geography unit one vocab words 16-30

distribution

how things are spread or arranged across an area

patterns

the general arrangement of things

clustered/agglomerated

grouping of a phenomenon on a map

dispersed

scattering of a phenomenon on a map

map projection

the process of showing a curved surface (Earth) on a flat surface (map); taking a three-dimensional object and making it two-dimensional; distort spatial relationships in shape, area, distance, direction

Mercator map projection

purpose is navigation, direction is true/accurate everywhere; distorts size of areas, especially near poles

Robinson map projection

size is closer to accurate; good for displaying information across the oceans; ocean size accurate, land size small; makes errors in all four ways: size, shape, distance, direction

field observation

physically visiting a place and recording firsthand information there

remote sensing

observing Earth from afar (plane, satellite)

fieldwork

collecting data/info from the real world through hands-on methods: direct observation, interviews, surveys, etc.

Global Positioning System (GPS)

satellite-enabled technology giving precise, exact absolute locations

Geographic Information System (GIS)

software that displays layers of data on maps

smartphone + computer applications

location-aware apps that gather, store, and use locational data from computers or other personal devices

spatial approach

the arrangement of phenomena on Earth’s surface and the connections between locations

location

position on the Earth’s surface, can be absolute or relative