Cartography- The science or practice of drawing maps

Cultural Ecology-The study of human adaptations to social/physical environments

Atmosphere-a envelope of gases surrounding a planet

Biosphere- regions of the surface, atmosphere, and hydrosphere of the earth occupied by living organisms

Hydrosphere- all the waters on the earth’s surface, sometimes including water over the earth, such as clouds

Density-the frequency in which something occurs/is found in a place

Density arithmetic- number of people divided by total land area

Density physiological- number of ppl per unit area of arable land/ number of ppl that can be sustained by an area

Density agricultural- number of famers per unit area of farmland

Diffusion-the spread of something (ideas, trends, ect)

Hearth diffusion-Point of origin of a trend/idea

Relocation Diffusion-People move, bring trends and ideas with them

Expansion-traits spread by passing from one person to another via communication

Hierarchical Expansion-starts in major nodes of authority, trickles down to medium and small cities to towns

Contagious Expansion- rapid and widespread, places near origin/node are affected first

Stimulus Expansion-when an idea diffuses from its origan/node, but is changed as it is adopted in other places

Absolute Direction- relative to a fixed from of reference and always point in the same direction ex) cardinal directions

Relative Direction/egocentric coordinates- coordinates that depend on a person and that change with a person ex) up/down, left/right

Dispersion-the spacing of people within geographic population boundaries

Concentration-the spread of a feature over space

Dispersed/scattered-if objects are relatively far apart

Clustered/agglomerated- if objects are grouped/close together

Distance- how far apart objects are

Absolute Distance -the distance that can be measured with a standard length

Relative Distance-the distance between the two places based on known places

Distance decay- the effect of distance on interactions/ the farther/longer away a place is, the less interaction you have with that place

Distribution- Arrangement of features in space. Density, concentration, patter

Environmental determinism- the environment predisposes societies and peoples to a path/choice

Absolute Location-a fixed point on the earth’s surface/coordinates (lat and long)

Relative Location- location of something in relation to another thing

Site-the exact place of a settlement on earth

Situation- where a settlement is in relation to its surrounding features.

Toponym- a place name

Linear Pattern- straight pattern ex) houses on a street

Centralized Pattern-clustered or concentrated at a certain place

Random Pattern- a pattern with no specific order

Physical attributes (natural landscape)- a physical landscape or environment that has not been affected by human activities

Cultural attributes (cultural landscape)- cultural features such as region, language, religion, economies

Possibilism- the physical environment may set limits on human actions, but people can adjust to the environment and choose a course of action from many alternatives

Spatial- space on or near earth’s surface

Region-an area of earth distinguished by a distinctive combination of cultural and physical features

Formal/uniform Region- an area where everyone shares a common characteristic(s)

Functional/nodal Region- an area organized around a focal point

Region perceptual/vernacular- a place that people believe exists as part of their cultural identity

Core

Domain

Sphere-

Scale (implied decree of generalization)- Relationship between the earth being studied and the earth as a whole

Space-Time Compression- the decreasing space between people and ideas (makes relative distance “shrink”)

Distortion- the alteration of the original shape

Geographic Information System (GIS)- a computer system that can capture, store, query, analyze and display geographic data

Global Positioning System (GPS)- a system that determines accurately the precise position of something on earth

Grid North & South Poles- north and south along a grid projection. It is usually very close to true north/south on a map

Latitude- the angular distance of a place north or south of the equator

Parallel-imaginary line around the world to the equator

Equator-imaginary line that divides the earth by north and south

Longitude- numbering system that calculates distance east and west of the prime meridian

Meridian- an arc drawn between the north and the south poles that measure longitude

Prime meridian-located at the observatory in Greenwich, England at 0 degrees longitude

International date line- an imaginary line through the Pacific Ocean that marks one day earlier then the west

Maps- a representation of an area that shows physical and non-physical features ex) political boundaries, cities, roads

Map Scale- ration of distance on earth compared to the same distance on a map

Reference Map- shows the boundaries and names of geographic areas.

Thematic Map- designed to represent a specific area’s theme/characteristics

Statistical Map- shows the quantity of the variation of a factor

Cartogram Map- map that has been simplified to present a single idea

Dot Map-a thematic map in which a dot represents some frequency of the mapped variable

Choropleth Map- a thematic map that ranks classes of some variables are depicted with shading patterns or colors for predefined zones

Isoline Map-a thematic map with lines that connects points of equal value

Mental maps- an internal representation of a place, based on one’s ideas and the information available

Model-a simplified version of reality, structured to clarify relationships

Projection-Scientific method of transferring locations on earth’s surface to a flat map

Cylindrical Projection- A map projection that shows the earth surface in the form of a cylinder

Azimuthal Projection- shows true direction from a single point, creating a realistic view of earth as seen from space

Elliptical/oval Projection- a map of the surface of the earth formed on an ellipse’s interior

Interrupted Projection- shows the map if it had been peeled off a globe. Is typically interrupted along a whole meridian

Robinson Projection- has 90 degrees, mildly distorts both area and position

Mercator Projection- a conformal cylindrical map projection that is useful for navigation. It preserves direction, but distorts area around the poles

Remote Sensing- The scanning of the earth by satellite/aircraft to get info about it

Time Zones- an area that uses the same clock. Earth is divided into 24 time zones, and in the 24, they are divided into smaller time zones