AP Human Unit 5 Definitions

Agrarian: Relating to cultivated land or the cultivation of land.

Agribusiness: Agriculture conducted on commercial principles, especially using

advanced technology.

Agriculture: The practice of cultivating the land or raising stock.

Aquaculture: The rearing of aquatic animals (fish, shrimp, crab…) or the cultivation of

aquatic plants for food.

Bid-rent theory: A geographical economic theory that refers to how the price and

demand for real estate change as the distance from the central business district

increases.

Biotechnology: The use of living systems and organisms to develop or make products,

or any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms, or

derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processes for specific use.

Commercial agriculture: Agriculture based on generating products for sale off the

farm.

Crop rotation: The practice of growing a series of dissimilar or different types of crops

in the same area in sequenced seasons in order to maintain soil fertility.

Dairy farming: A class of animal farming for long-term production of milk, usually

from dairy cows.

Desertification: The process by which fertile land becomes desert, typically as a result

of drought, deforestation, or inappropriate agriculture.

Domestication: The process of taming an animal and keeping it as a pet or on a farm.

Extensive agriculture: A system of agricultural production that uses a small amount

of labor and capital; large plots of land far from population centers; low yields per acre.

Feedlot: An area or building where livestock are fattened for market.

First Agricultural Revolution: The transformation of human societies from hunting

and gathering to farming.

Food insecurity: The state of being without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of

affordable, nutritious food.

Genetically modified food: Food produced from organisms that have had changes

introduced into their DNA using the methods of genetic engineering.

Grain farming: A type of crop farming where grains, such as wheat, barley, and maize,

are grown.

Green Revolution: A large increase in crop production in developing countries

achieved by the use of modern farming techniques and technology.

Horticulture: The practice of garden cultivation and management.

Intensive agriculture: A system of agricultural production that uses a large amount

of capital and labor relative to the space being used; small plots of land near large

population centers; and high yield per acre.

Livestock ranching: A commercial type of agriculture that produces meat for human

consumption.

Long lot: A collective land division pattern associated with French colonial areas in

North America in which farms are placed on narrow lots perpendicular to a long river,

so that all farmers could have access to the water.

Market gardening: The relatively small-scale production of fruits, vegetables, and

flowers as cash crops.

Mediterranean farming: Agricultural activity in a climate characterized by mild, wet

winters and hot, dry summers.

Metes and bounds: A boundary or boundary description that uses local features to

describe the boundaries of a piece of land.

Milk shed: The area around a city from which milk is supplied; also known as a

milkshed.

Mixed crop and livestock farming: A type of farming that integrates crop and

livestock farming on the same farm.

Non-renewables: Resources that cannot be replaced easily by nature.

Organic farming: A form of agriculture that relies on techniques such as crop

rotation, green manure, compost, and biological pest control.

Pastoral nomadism: A form of subsistence agriculture based on the herding of

domesticated animals.

Plantation farming: A form of commercial agriculture found in tropical and

subtropical regions.

Second Agricultural Revolution: A period of agricultural development and

industrialization that increased food production and distribution.

Shifting cultivation: A form of subsistence agriculture in which people shift activity

from one field to another with no permanent settlements.

Specialization: The process of concentrating on and becoming expert in a particular

subject or skill.

Subsistence agriculture: Self-sufficiency farming in which the farmers focus on

growing enough food to feed themselves and their families.

Third Agricultural Revolution: Also known as The Green Revolution. A period of

rapid diffusion of new agricultural technology, especially new high-yield seeds and

fertilizers.

Township and range: A rectangular land division scheme designed by Thomas

Jefferson to disperse settlers evenly across farmlands of the U.S. interior.

"Tragedy of the Commons": A situation in a shared-resource system where

individual users acting independently according to their own self-interest behave

contrary to the common good of all users by depleting or spoiling the shared resource

through their collective action.