Embed Code - If you would like this activity on your web page, copy the script below and paste it into your web page.

Normal Size Small Size show me how

Unit 1

Term	Definition
Geography	The study of the distribution and interaction of physical and human features on the earth.
Absolute Location	The exact place where a geographical feature is found.
Relative Location	Describes a place in relation to other places around it.
Hemisphere	The earth is divided into two equal halves.
Equator	The imaginary line that divides the north and south.
Prime Meridian	The imaginary line that divides the east and west.
Latitude Lines	Imaginary lines that run parallel to the equator. These locate north and south.
Longitude Lines	Imaginary lines that go around the earth over the poles. These locate east and west.
Place	The physical features and cultural landscape of a location.
Physical (Nautral) Characteristics	Landforms, climate, vegetation.
Human (Cultural) Characteristics	Language, religion, ethnicity, population.
Location	A place's physical physical and human characteristics.
Region	A group of places with at least one common physical or human characteristic, and may be determined by people's perceptions, or viewpoints influenced by one's own culture and experiences.
Formal Region	Areas in which certain a characteristic is found throughout them.
Functional Region	Consists of a central place and the surrounding places affected by it.
Perceptual Region	Defined by people's attitudes and feelings about areas.
Cartography	Map making.
Map Projection	A way of drawing the earth's surface by presenting a round earth on flat paper.
Topographical Map	Shows the natural and man made features of the earth.
Geographic Information System (GIS)	Uses digital map information to produce a special map.
Global Positioning System (GPS)	Uses a series of 24 satellites called navstar. They send the exact latitude, longitude, altitude, and time to a hand held receiver.
Core	The center of the earth and is made up of iron and nickel.
Mantle	A soft layer of molten rock that is about 1800 miles thick.
Crust	Thin layer of gases called the atmosphere. It contains the air we breathe. It also protects the earth from radiation and space debris.
Atmosphere	Layer around earth that contains air and protects the earth from the radiation and the space debris; where weather and climate take place.
Lithosphere	The solid rock portion of earth, some of the lithosphere is below water and forms the ocean floor.
Hydrosphere	Made of water, including oceans, seas, rivers, lakes, and water in the atmosphere.
Biosphere	The part of earth where plants and animals live.
Plate Tectonics	Heated rock rises then cools and circulates downward; enormous moving pieces of earth's lithosphere.
Continental Drift Theory	Maintains that earth was once a super continent that slowly.
Pangea	The super continent.
Plate Movement	Tectonic plates move in one of four ways: 1) Moving apart (Divergent) 2) Diving under another plate 3) Collision (Convergent) 4) Slide past one another (Transformation)
Ring of Fire	A group of volcanoes and volcanic islands around the rim of the Pacific Ocean.
Weathering	The breakdown of rick at or near the earth's surface into smaller and smaller pieces.
Mechanical Weathering	When a rock is physically weakened or broken: most common is when water freezes and cracks in rock.
Chemical Weathering	Alters the chemical make up of a rock; carbon dioxide and water are the most important factors.
Acid Rain	A type of chemical weathering caused by air pollution and water.
Erosion	The moving of weathered materials; the single greatest cause of erosion is water, and the second greatest cause is wind.
Delta	Landform created when sediment is deposited as a river enters the ocean.
Glacier	A large, long lasting mass of ice.
Glacation	The changing landforms by slowly moving glaciers.
Coriolis Effect	The apparent curvature of global winds, ocean currents, and everything else that moves freely across the Earth's surface; influences wind direction around the world: Northern hemisphere curves its winds to the right and the Southern curves its to the left
Weather	The condition of the atmosphere at a particular location and time.
Climate	The term for weather conditions in a particular location over a long period of time.
Precipitation	As warm air rises it cools and loses the ability to hold water vapor; the water vapor condenses and water droplets form a cloud; when the amount of water in the clouds is to heavy to hold it falls as rain.
Convectional	Typically of hot climates, convection occurs after morning sunshine heats the warm moist air; clouds form in the afternoon and rain falls.
Rain Shadow (Orographic)	Associated with mountain areas, orographic storms drop more rain on the windward side of the mountain.
Frontal	Mid-Latitude frontal storms feature cold dense air masses that push lighter air mass upward, causing precipitation to form.
Desalinization	One of many process that remove some salt and other minerals from water, to provide fresh water.
Human Adaptation	A change in human behavior to cope with the environmental conditions.(Example: Change in clothing)
Human Modification	Humans have actually changed some part of the physical environment. (Example: Building a Dam)
Green House Effect	A process by which radiative energy leaving the planetary surface is absorbed by some atmospheric gases, called green house gases.
El Nino	A weather pattern created by the warming of the waters off the west coast of South Africa, which pushes warm water and heavy rains towards the Americas and produces drought conditions in Australia and Asia.
Global Warming	The increase in the average temperature of Earth's near surface air and oceans since the mid-20th century and its projected continuation.
Deforestation	The clearance of forests by logging and/or burning (popularly known as slash and burn).
Natural Hazard	An uncontrollable natural even of unusual magnitude that threatens the activities of people or people themselves.
Solstice	The day when earth is at the farthest north and south latitude.
Equinox	Two times a year when day and night are exactly equal in length.
Hurricane	Storms that occur over warm tropical ocean waters.
Blizzard	A tense snow form.
Tornado	Violently rotating column of air extending from the base of a thunder storm to the ground.
Drought	A long period of time without rain or very minimal rain fall.
Flood	When water spreads over land not normally covered in water.
Human Geography	A branch of Geography that studies patterns and processes that shape human interaction with the environment.
State	An independent unit that occupies a specific territory and has control of its external and internal affairs.
Nation	A group of people living in a territory and having a strong sense of unity.
Nation-State	When a nation and state occupy the same territory.
Stateless Nation	When a nation doesn't have a territory.
Democracy	Citizens hold power, either directly or through elected representatives.
Monarchy	A ruling family holds power and may or may not share power with the citizens.
Dictatorship	An individual or group holds complete political power.
Communism	Officially an economic system, political power is held by the government in the name of the people.
Totalitarism	Political system where the state, usually under control of a single political person, faction, or class.
Theocracy	Religious leaders control the government, Rulers rely on religious law to run the country.
National Boundaries	Boundaries set the limits of the area controlled
Artificial Boundaries	A fixed line generally following latitude or longitude lines.
Urban Geography	The study of how people use space in cities.
Urbanization	The movement of people to and the clustering of people in towns and cities.
Suburbs	Areas surrounding the metropolitan area.
Metropolitan Area	Includes the central city, the suburbs, and other areas linked economically.
Residential Land Use	Single family housing and apartment buildings.
Industrial Land Use	Areas reserved for the manufacturing of goods.
Commercial Land Use	Used for private businesses and the buying and selling of retail products.
Economy	Consists of the production and exchange of goods and services among a group of people.
Traditional Economic System	Goods and services are traded without exchange.
Command Economic System	Production of goods and services are determined by the central government.
Market Economic System	Production of goods and services determined by the consumer. (Supply and demand).
Mixed Economic System	A combination of command and market economies that provide goods and services so all can benefit.
Subsistence Agriculture	People have enough food or animals to meet their needs and little left over.
Market Oriented Agriculture	Crops or animals are produced so that farmers can sell to markets.
Cottage Industry	A family of crafts persons who produce goods to be sold in a local area.
Commercial Industry	Production of goods or services that meet the needs of people in a large area.
Primary Activity	The gathering of raw materials.
Secondary Activity	Adding values to a material or changing its form.
Tertiary Activty	Providing business or professional services.
Quaternary Activity	Providing information management and research by highly trained professionals.
Renewable Resources	These resources can be replaced through the natural process.
Nonrenewable Resources	These resources cannot be replaced after they have been removed from the ground.
Inexhaustible Energy Resources	These resources which are used for producing power are the result of solar or planetary processes and are unlimited quantity.
Per Capita Income	The average amount of money earned by each person in a political unit.
Gross National Product (GNP)	Total value of all goods and services produced by a country over a year.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)	Total value of all goods and services produced within a country in a given period of time.
Globalization	The process of increased interconnections among countries.
Natural Increase	The rate of natural increase (RIN) is the crude birth rate minus the crude death rate of a population .

Created by: ashlee.babkowski

Popular Geography sets

Northeast Capitals

"50 States / Capitals"

Semester 1 Vocabulary

Southeast States and Capitals

Midwest States and Capitals

Primary Economic Activities

AICP Certification Case Law and Legal Basis for Planning

"50 States and Capitals"

AICP History Questions

AICP Spatial Areas of Planning Questions

AICP Law Questions

All Countries and Capitals of the World.

"Know" box contains:
Time elapsed:
Retries: