Physical Geography - study of spatial characteristics of various elements of physical environment

Physical geographers study - landforms, bodies of water, climate, ecosystems and erosion

Human Geo - study of spatial characteristics of humans and human activities

Human geographers study - pop., culture, politics, urban areas, and economics.

References Maps - General info. and locations

Political Maps - Shows political boundaries

Physical Maps - Natural features

Road maps - Highways, Streets, etc.

Plot Maps - land ownership/ lot lines

Thematic Maps - Communicate info. abt a place

Choropleth Maps - Various colors to show a location and distribution of spatial data

Dot Distribution Maps - Dots represents a specified quantity of a characteristics

Graduated Symbol Maps - Symbols of diff. sizes to indicate amounts of a variable

Isoline Maps - Symbols of diff. sizes to indicate amounts of a variable

Topographic Maps - Lines and textures to show elevation

Cartogram - Sizes of countries according to a specific variable

Map Projections - Process of cartographer shows the curved surface of the earth on a map

Mercator Projection (1569 and *the oldest projection still being used)

• Direction, shape, preserves right angles of latitude and longitude

• Purpose - Navigation

• Disadvantages - Area is distorted near the poles, increase size of high latitude areas

Peters

• Landmasses are accurate; repositions many countries to right size

• Disadvantages - Shapes are inaccurate, vertically stretched near equator

Robinson

• No Major distortions

• Purpose - Compromise

• Disadvantages - All aspects are slightly disordered

Mollweide

• Preserves the size of fig.

• Disadvantages - heavily distorts shape, not good for navigation

Distortion - Affects Shape, area, distance and directions.

Absolute Location - Exact and uses co-ordinates and addresses

Relative Location - Relative to another place (minutes)

Absolute Distance - Exact miles, km or ft to another place

Relative Distance - Connections, movement and flow of things between places

Absolute Direction - Exact Precise (Compass Rose)

Relative Direction - Giving verbal directions to someone

Clustering - The # of things in a given area

Dispersal - The way something is spread out over an area

Spatial Patterns - Shows 2 or + phenomena may be related with 1 another

Quantitive Data - Using #’s (Hard Facts)

Qualitative Data - Using Descriptions (interviews, etc.)

Field Work/Field Observations - An individual visiting the place and recording info firsthand

Field Work example - US Census

Field Observations Examples - Media reports, Travel Narratives, Policy Documents, Personal Interviews

Geospatial Tech - Used by business, organization, governments to make decisions.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) - stores, analyzes and displays info from multiple sets.

GIS Identifier - Multiple layers

GIS can be used for - Crime data, pollution, urban planning

Aerial Photography - Taking pics from flying stuff

Remote Sensing - Taking pics or sensors to take info of the earth

Uses of Remote Sensing - Weather, environment changes

Geovisualizations - 2D/3D maps that allow ppl to zoom in/out to see data

Community based solutions - Power of NGO and GO’s to help improve living standard, also increases likelihood of success and more culturally accepted

Nongovernmental Organizations (NGO) - An organization (NOT GO) focused on issues of humans and social issues (EX - basic needs)

Landscape Analysis - Defining and describing landscapes

Sense of Place - Factors that contribute to the uniqueness of a location. ​

Cultural Landscape/Built Environment - Physical artifacts that humans created which make up the landscape. Human produced.

Placelessness - A location without a ​sense of place.

Toponym - Location’s name - usually reflective of the culture & history of a place.

Site/Physical Landscape - Environmental features of a location; includes climate, water sources, topography, soil, vegetation, elevation.

Spatial Interaction - Connections, contacts, movement, and flow of things between places.​​

Regionalization - The process geographers use to divide and categorize space into smaller areas of analysis. ​

​Distance Decay - The interaction between 2 places declines as distance increases

Time Space Compression - Increasing sense of accessibility which brings us closer

Diffusion - the process by which a characteristic spreads across space from one place to another.

Relocation Diffusion - When people move, they spread ideas with them

Expansion Diffusion - Innovations spread to new places while staying strong in their original locations

Globalization- Are we more connected now than ever before?

Cultural Ecology - The study of how humans interact or adapt to the environment. ​

Spatial Perspective - What? Where? Why there? Why care?

Human environmental interaction - Interactions between human social system and the ecosystem

Natural Resources - Resources that can be found on Earth

Non Renewable Resources - Coal, oil, gas and nuclear E. Cannot be replaced

Renewable natural resources - sun, water wind. Can replenish themselves

Environmental determinism - Climate and landforms are the most powerful forces shaping human behavior and society/cultural development

Possibilism - Acknowledges the limitations imposed by the natural environment but focuses on the role of humans to modify the environment.

Scale - Relationship of the size of a map to amount of area it represents (wht can you see?)

Scales of analysis - Level of analysis at which data is presented

Small scale maps - Show large area with SMALL amounts of data. Zoomed out.

Large scale maps - Shows small area with LARGE amounts of data. Zoomed IN

Aggregation - Grouping data together. Organize data at different scales.

Global - Show the world at 1 level of data

Regional - Shows data by countries/world regions

National - Shows data for 1/more countries

Local - Shows data at a subnational level

Census Tract - Smallest scale of analysis (1,000-8,000 ppl)

Regions - One or more unifying characteristics/patterns of analysis

Formal (uniform) region - united by 1 or more specific traits

Types of formal regions - Economic, Social/cultural, Political, ENvironment

Functional (nodal) regions - organized around a central nodal and the relationship is typically based around economic, travel, communication

Nodal - Focus point

Perceptual (vernacular) region - based on person’s perceptive/perception of a certain location.

Core country - Controls the global market, good allies, politically and economically dominant

Core Country Examples - USA, Australia, Canada, France, Spain

Semiperiphery Country - Have core and periphery processes occurring, have potential to grow to a core country, better transportation, communication than periphery

Semiperiphery Country Examples - India, China, Brazil, Mexico, South Korea

Periphery Country - Have unstable governments, less wealth and lower levels of edcu. than core, bad infrastructure, export natural resources to core

Periphery Country Examples - North Korea, Russia, Sri Lanka, Cuba, Pakistan