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Chapter 1
AP Human Geo
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Geography | the spatial study of people, place, space, and environment |
Human Geography | the spatial analysis of human phenomena, including population, cultures, activities, and landscapes |
Globalization | processes heightening interactions, increasing interdependence, and deepening relations across country borders |
Fieldwork | observations researchers make of physical and cultural landscapes with a focus on seeing similarities and differences |
Patterns | description of the spatial distribution of human or physical phenomenon |
Physical Geography | one of the two major divisions of geography; the spatial analysis of physical phenomena, including climate, environmental hazards, weather systems, animals, and topography |
Spatial distribution | physical locations of geographic phenomena, usually shown on a map |
Pandemic | an outbreak of a disease that spreads worldwide |
Epidemic | widespread, rapid diffusion of disease among people in a particular location or region at a particular time |
Spatial perspective | looking at where things occur, why they occur where they do, and how places are interconnected |
Geographic concepts | mental categories used to organize and analyze the world spatially |
Location | position on earth, including both absolute location and relative location (one of the 5 themes of geography) |
Absolute location | precise location of a place, usually defined by latitude and longitude |
Relative location | the location of a place or attribute in reference to another place or attribute |
Location theory | understanding the distribution of cities, industries, services, or consumers with the goal of explaining why places are chosen as sights of production or consumption |
Human-environment interactions | the reciprocal relationship between humans and the physical world |
Environmental determinism | set of theories that use environmental differences to explain everything from intelligence to wealth |
Hearth | area or place where an idea, innovation, or technology originates |
Possibilism | theory in geography that humans, not environment, shape culture |
Carrying capacity | the idea that land can hold a measurable amount of plant and animal life |
Cultural Ecology | study of historical interaction between humans and environment in a place, including ways humans have modified and adapted to environment |
Political Ecology | an approach to studying human-environment interactions in the context of political, economic, and historical conditions operating at multiple scales |
Region | area of earth identified as sharing a formal, functional, or perceptual commonality that makes it different from regions around it |
Formal Region | area of land with common cultural or physical traits |
Cultural traits | a learned belief, norm, or value passed down through the generations in a culture |
Functional Region | area of land defined as sharing a common purpose in society |
Nodes | connection point in a network, where goods and ideas flow in, out, and through the network |
Perceptual/Vernacular Region | area of land that an individual perceives as being similar; a vernacular region is a perceptual region that has such a strong significance to the people in the region that it becomes the lens through which they see their world |
Place | uniqueness of location (one of 5 themes of geography) |
Sense of Place | infusing a place with meaning as a result of experiences in a place |
Perception of Place | how a place is envisioned |
Movement | mobility of people, goods, and services across the earth (one of 5 themes of geography) |
Diffusion | spread of an idea, innovation, or technology from its hearth to other people and places |
Spatial Interaction | degree of connectedness or contact among people or places |
Distance | the measured physical space between things |
Accessibility | ease of flow between two places |
Connectivity | position of a place or area relative to others in a network |
Expansion Diffusion | the spread of an idea or an innovation form its hearth across space without the aid of people moving |
Contagious Diffusion | spread of an idea or innovation from one person or place to another person or place based on proximity; specific type of expansion diffusion. |
Hierarchical Diffusion | spread of an idea or innovation from one person or place to another person or place based on a hierarchy of connectedness; specific type of expansion diffusion |
Stimulus Diffusion | a process of diffusion where two cultural traits blend to create a distinct trait |
Relocation Diffusion | spread of an idea or innovation from its hearth by the act of people moving and taking the idea or innovation with them |
Cultural Landscape | the visible human imprint on the landscape |
Sequent Occupants | imprints left on the cultural landscape by a series of successive societies; each society contributed to the cumulative cultural landscape |
Scale | geographical scope (local, national, or global) in which we analyze and understand a phenomenon |
Rescale | changing the geographical scope at which a problem is addressed by engaging decision makers and gatekeepers at another scale |
Context | the physical and human geographies creating the place, environment, and space in which events occur and people act |
Cartography | the art and science of making maps |
Reference Maps | maps showing absolute location of places and geographic features |
Thematic Maps | a map that tells a story, typically showing the degree of some attribute or the movement of geographic phenomenon using map symbols |
Global Positioning System (GPS) | satellite-based system for determining the absolute location of places or geographic features |
Mental Maps | maps of an area made from memory or experience by individuals or groups (also known as cognitive maps) |
Activity Spaces | places within the rounds of daily activity |
Terra Incognita | areas on maps that are not well defined because they're off limits or unknown to the map maker |
Remote Sensing | a method of collecting data or information through the use of instruments that are physically distant from the area of study |
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) | a system of computer hardware and software designed to show, analyze, and represent geographic data |
Culture | group of belief systems, norms, and values practiced by a people |
Culture Complex | a group of interrelated cultural traits, such as prevailing dress codes and cooking and eating utensils |