Social Sciences Ftce

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Geography

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a spatial discipline - is the study of the earths surface, including such aspects as its climate, topography, vegetation, population

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3 Questions of Geography

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Where?
Why there?
What are the consequences of is being there?

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Spacial Perspective

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the way of identifying, explaining, and predicting the human and physical patterns in space and the interconnectedness of various spaces

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4 Main Branches of Geography

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Human, Physical, Regional, Topical/Systematic

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Human Geography

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humans and the cultures they create relative to their space; encompasses areas like population geography, economic and political geography. Looks at how peoples activities relates to the environment politically, culturally, historically, and socially.

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Physical Geography

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The physical environment of the earth - water, air, animals, land (i.e., all that is part of the four spheres - the atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere). Looks at areas such as land formation, water, weather, and climate and includes such areas as geomorphology, biogeography, and environmental geography.

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Regional Geography

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focuses on areas of Earth that have some degree of similarity and divides the world into different realms

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Topical/Systematic Geography

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considers systematic studies of climate, landforms, economics, and culture.

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Population Geography

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form of geography that deals with the relationships between geography and population patterns, including birth and death rates.

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Political Geography

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deals with the effect of geography on politics, especially on national boundaries and relations between states

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Economic Geography

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study of the interaction between the Earth's landscape and the economic activity of the human population

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Five Themes of Geography

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Location, Places, Human/Environment Interaction, Movement, Regions

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Absolute Location

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the exact whereabouts of a place, person, or thing

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Latitude

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horizontal lines that extend from East to West along the globe

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Longitude

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vertical line which runs from North to the South pole

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Equator

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the imaginary great circle around Earth that is the same distance from the North and South Poles and divides Earth into the northern and southern hemispheres

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Relative Location

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a description of the relationship of a place between and amongst other places; most commonly used

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Place

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a unique combination of physical and cultural attributes that give each location on the earth its individual "stamp"

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Physical Characteristics (Place)

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the natural environment of a place; emanate from geological, hydrological, atmospheric, and biological processes present in that location
e.g. mountains, rivers, beaches, topography, flora (plant life), fauna (animal life), resources (trees, oil, petroleum, and diamonds), land forms (rivers, plateaus, plains), bodies of water, climate, soils, and natural vegetation

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Human Characteristics (Place)

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changes to an environment as a result of human ideas and actions
e.g. man-made designed features - architecture, religion, food, and transportation and communication networks

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Cultural Diffusion (Movement)

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how ideas, innovation, and ideology spread from one area to another

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Spatial Interaction (Movement)

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the flow of products, people, services, or information among places, in response to localized supply and demand.

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Friction of Distance (Movement)

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the degree to which distance interferes with some interaction
e.g. the friction of distance for a working-class Ohio man wanting to visit a dentist in Ethiopia is quite high

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Space-Time Compression

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the phenomena of the increasing sense of accessibility and connectivity that seems to bring humans in distant places closer together

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Distance Decay

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the interaction between two places declines as the distance between the two places increases

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Regions

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units of the world that have unifying characteristics that may be physical, cultural, or human-based -- they may occur over large spaces and can be found across great distances
Physical Characteristics -- land forms, climate, soil, and natural vegetation, like a mountain range. May also be distinguished by human characteristics, like similar language, economic, social, political, and cultural similarities

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Three basic types of regions

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Formal, Functional, Vernacular

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Formal Region (sometimes Uniform Regions)

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areas that have common (or uniform) cultural or physical features and are often defined by governmental or administrative boundaries (i.e. U.S., Birmingham, Brazil)

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Functional Region (sometimes Nodal Regions)

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like together by some function's influence on them. However, if the function ceases to exist, the region no longer exists.

Functional regions are defined by the places affected by the movement of some phenomenon from its source of node of other places.

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Vernacular Region

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loosely defined by people's perception (e.g. the South, the Middle East). The boundaries of a perceptual region are determined by people's beliefs, not a scientifically measurable process

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The Six Essential Elements of Geography - what a geographically informed person should understand (broken down into 18 standards)

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1. The World in Spacial Terms
2. Places and Regions
3. Physical Systems
4. Human Systems
5. Environment and Society
6. The Uses of Geography

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The World in Spacial Terms - standards

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1. How to use maps and other geographic representation, tools, and technologies to acquire, process and report information
2. How to use mental maps (a person's internalized picture of a part of the Earth's surface) to organize information about people, places, and environments
3. How to analyze the spatial organization of people, places, and environments on Earth's surface

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Places and Region - standards

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4. the physical and human characteristics of a place
5. that people create regions to interpret Earth's complexity
6. how culture and experience influence people's perceptions of places and regions

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Physical Systems - standards

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7. the physical processes that shape the patterns of the earths surface
8. the characteristics and distribution of ecosystems on Earth's surface

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Human Systems - standards

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9. the characteristics, distribution, and migration of human population
10. the characteristics, distribution, and complexity of Earth's cultural mosaics
11. the patterns and networks of economic independence
12. the processes, patterns, and functions of human settlements
13. how the forces of cooperation and conflict amongst people influence the division and control of Earth's surface

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Environment and Society - standards

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14. how human actions modify the physical environment
15. how physical systems affect human systems
16. the changes that occur in the meaning, use, distribution, and importance of resources

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The Uses of Geography - standards

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17. how to apply geography to interpret the past
18. how to apply geography to interpret the present and plan for the future

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Physical Processes - four areas

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Air (atmospheric), Land (lithospheric), Water (hydrospheric), Animals (biospheric)

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Air

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this is referred to as atmospheric and includes examinations of climate and meteorology

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Land

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this is referred to as lithospheric and can examine plate tectonics, erosion, and meteorology

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Water

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this is referred to as hydrospheric and examines things like the circulation of the oceans and the hydrologic cycle

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Animals

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this is referred to as biospheric and examines plant and animal communities and ecosystems

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Seven main natural processes that have shaped the Earth's landforms and physical systems and features

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plate tectonics, weathering, transportation, erosion, freezing and thawing, gravity, and deposition

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Weathering

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the physical and chemical breakdown of rocks at or near the Earth's surface

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Erosion

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soil and rock debris that loosen and get carried away by natural process

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Various Agents of Erosion

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Streams (running water), Glaciers (moving ice), Wave Action, Wind, Mass Movement

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Place Tectonics

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the movement in the Earth and the forces that produce movement

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Cultural Ecology

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the many components of culture (language, technology, political and economic institutions, religion, work ethics, values, education, dress) and its interaction with the earth

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Environmental Determinism

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the view that the environment can overpower people and determine their culture and the direction and extent of their development

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Human-Cultural Determinism

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the view that culture overpowers and shapes the environment

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Human-Environmental Interaction

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the idea that there is a cycle of interaction between humans and the environment this is complex and tautological -- the environment shapes the people and people shape the environment

(tautological def - linguistic redundancy: the redundant repetition of a meaning in a sentence, using different words)

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Political Ecology

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a multi-disciplinary study of how social and environmental change occurs in the context of power relations, social structures, economic issues, and human-environment interactions

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Map

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a two-dimensional model of the earth or a portion of its surface

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Cartography

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the process of mapmaking

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Political Map

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shows political boundaries, states, cities, capitals, countries

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Physical Map

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shows landforms and bodies of water found in an area

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Thematic Map

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features a variety of subjects, like climate, vegetation, population density, historical trends, etc.

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Four main Map Properties

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Shape, size (area), distance, and direction

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Shape

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the geometric shapes of the objects on the map

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Size (area)

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refers to the relative amount of space taken up on the map by the landforms or objects on the map

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Distance

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the represented distance between objects on the map

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Direction

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the degree of accuracy representing the cardinal directions, north, south, east and west, -- and their intermediate directions -- northwest, northeast, southwest, southeast

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The six parts of a map

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title, compass (rose), scale, labels, key (legend), contour

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Title (Map)

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reveals the subject of a map and gives you an idea about what information the map conveys

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Compass or Compass Rose (Map)

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helps you orient a map

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Scale (Map)

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tells you how much smaller the distance is on a map compared to the actual distance

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Labels (Map)

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words or phrases that explain features on a map

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Key or Legend (Map)

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explains or shows what the symbols or colors on a map mean

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Contour (Map)

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depicts elevation

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Contour Lines

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the closer together they are, the steeper the elevation

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Graphs and Charts

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graphical representations usually of a large amount of numeric data and also detail the relationships between the parts of data; each contains an x-axis (horizontal) and a y-axis (vertical)

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Title (Graphs and Charts)

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usually appears above the main graphic and provides a description of the information contained in the chart or graph

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Diagram (Graphs and Charts)

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represents the visualization of the underlying data

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Dimensions (Graphs and Charts)

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dimensions in the data are expressed along the axes. All charts, with exceptions of pie charts (circle graphs), have one or more axis, usually x and y

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Scale (Graphs and Charts)

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Each chart or graph will have a scale marked by periodic gradations and accompanied by numerical or categorical information

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Labels (Graphs and Charts)

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Each axis will have a label displayed outside of beside it that describes what sore of dimensions it represents

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Data (Graphs and Charts)

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the information that the graph represents

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Area Chart (Area Graph)

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used to show how something changes with respect to time. It shows the contribution, over time, of each type of data in a series, in the form of a whole picture

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Bar Chart (Bar Graph)

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uses horizontal and vertical blocks or bars to compare the amounts or frequencies of distinct items or shows single items at distinctive intervals. Bar charts are useful for comparing groups of data that are in competition with one another

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Column Chart

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similar to bar charts because they compare items at distinct intervals, but they differ from bar chats in that they arrange the categories along the horizontal axis and place values along the vertical axis. As a result, the bars are vertical on the chart. Column charts are often used to show how values can change over a certain period of time.

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Line Chart (Line Graph)

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allows you to look at two pieces of information, which have both similarities and dissimilarities with one another. A line chart plots the value of data in a data point and then "connects the dots" in order to illustrate the relationship of consecutive points. Line charts are usually used to show how something changes over time.

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Pie Chart (Circle Graph)

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used to represent a part-to-whole relationship between data groups.

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Sector (Pie Chart)

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section of a pie chart

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Sector Labels (Pie Chart)

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indicate the category of information the sector relates to and may also give numeric data, like percentages

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Scatter Plot (Scatter Graph)

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the simplest type of graph in which the data are displayed at a collection of points that simply plots the data points against their values, without making any connection lines, columns, or bars.

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Economics

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the social science that examines how people choose to use the limited or scarce resources to obtain maximum satisfaction of unlimited wants

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Macroeconomics

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the study of economics as a whole

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Microeconomics

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the study of individual parts, like households, business firms, and government agencies, that make up the economy and particularly emphasizes both how these units make decisions and the consequences of these decisions

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Scarcity

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unlimited wants for limited goods

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The decisions a society has to make

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1. Which and how many goods and services it should produce;
2. How it should produce these good and services;
3. How the goods and services should then be distributed among the people

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Economic Growth

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One way to deal with scarcity is to grow the economy to produce more of the goods and services that people want so that whatever is wanted is in abundant supply. In order to accomplish this, you would need more resources, better resources, and better technology to get those resources

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Improve the Use of Goods and Services

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If society uses its resources wisely, then scarcity is less likely to be an issue

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Reduce Wants

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If people did not want so much, then an item would not be scarce.

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The 4-E's
The four ways that society can use its existing resources to reduce scarcity and obtain the maximum satisfaction possible.

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1. Allocative Efficiency
2. Productive Efficiency
3. Full Employment
4. Equity

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Allocative Efficiency

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producing the types and quantities of goods and services that most satisfy its people

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Productive Efficiency (Technical Efficiency)

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producing the greatest quantity of goods and services possible from its resources at a minimum cost, thus using fewer resources and increasing production quantities

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Three methods that can be used to achieve productive efficiency

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1. Not using more resources than necessary
2. Using resources where they are best suited
3. Using technology that minimizes cost

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Equity

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a society wants the distribution of good and services to conform with its notion of "fairness", not synonymous with equality

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Three Standards of Equity

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Contributory Standard - people entitled to a share of goods and services based on what they contribute to society
Needs Standard - goods and services are distributed based on the needs of different households
Equality Standard - every person is entitled to an equal share of goods and services, simply because he or she is a human being

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Full Employment

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means using all available resources, not just labor.

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The Production Possibilities Curve

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A model of the economy used to illustrate the problems associated with scarcity. It shows the maximum feasible combination of two goods or services that society can produce, assuming all resources are used in their most productive manner

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Technical Efficiency

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achieved when more of one good cannot be produced without producing less of another good

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Opportunity Cost

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the cost of gaining a more of one item but losing the production of other items.

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Law of Increasing Costs

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as more of a good or service is produced, its opportunity cost will rise

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Allocative Efficiency (Production Possibility Curve)

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will be presented by the point on the curve that best satisfies society's needs and wants

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Economic Growth (Production Possibilities Curve)

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requires that society increases the amount of resources it has or make those resources more productive through the application of technology

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Traditional Economics

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Rely in custom/tradition to determine production and distribution questions. Resistant to change, therefore ill-equipped to grow a society

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Command Economy

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rely on a central authority, be it a dictator or democratically constituted government, to make all the decisions about the economy

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Market Economy

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In a pure market system, there is no central authority, and custom plays very little role in this rather competitive market. Buyers and sellers determine what goods and services will be produced.

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Mixed Economy

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A mix of traditional, command, and market

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Capitalism

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the key characteristic of capitalism is that productive resources are owned by private individuals

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Socialism

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a mixed economic system in which productive resources are all owned collectively by society, and thus, the allocation of them remains under the control of the government. Markets are used, however, to determine the prices of goods and wages

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Planned Economy

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the means of production are publicly owned with little or no private ownership. In these economies, instead of markets solving the basic economic questions, a central planning authority makes the decisions and decides what will be produced and how such production will occur

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Demand

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the relationship that shows how much someone will pay for something

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Supply

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a relationship between price and corresponding quantities that are produced

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Demand relation

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the quantity demanded at a particular price

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Equilibrium

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the intersection of the supply and demand curves

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Elasticity

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the measure of the market's responsiveness of quantity to price

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Demand is Elastic

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the quantity produced responds to the change in price

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Demand is Inelastic

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the quantity fails to respond to price change

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Excess Demand

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the difference in quantity supplied versus quantity demanded where the price is below equilibrium

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Excess Supply

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the difference in quantity supplied versus quantity demanded where the price is above equilibrium

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Three focuses of Macro-economists

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1. National Output (measured by GNP - Gross National Product)
2. The role of inflation
3. Unemployment

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GDP

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the total money value of final goods and services that a country produces over a given period of time, usually one year.

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Expenditures Approach

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looks at the amount of new goods and services purchased in a country for a given year

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Expenditures Approach Equation

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GDP=C+I+G+NX
C=Consumption
I=Investment
G= Government Goods
NX= Net Exports

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Consumption

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the total amount of goods and services

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Investment

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the total amount of investment items bought by businesses and individuals

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Government Goods

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the amount of new goods and services bought by the government

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Net Exports

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the difference between the goods bought by people outside the country and the goods people in the country bought from outside the country

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Aggregate Supply

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the amount of national output produced

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Aggregate Demand

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the amount of national output purchased

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Four phases of the Economic cycle of a Market Economy

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1. Boom
2. Recession
3. Trough
4. Recovery

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Boom

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an expansion of the economy that brings prosperity

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Recession

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a contraction of the economy with a decline in GDP and a rise in unemployment

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Trough

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a turning point in an economic cycle, a period in which there is a slide from the mean to the lowest point in a recession

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Recovery

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a period in which there is a rise fro the trough back to the mean and during which there is lessening unemployment and rising prices

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Expansionary fiscal policy

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raises government spending and/or decreases taxes in order to increase spending

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Conractionary fiscal policy

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decreases government spending and increases taxes in order to decrease spending in the economy

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Federal Reserve System (The Fed)

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implements monetary policy by changing the level of money in the banking system

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Open-Market Operations

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refers to the Fed's buying or selling of U.S. government bonds in the open market.

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Bonds

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financial instruments used by government and business as a way to borrow money

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Consumer Economy

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the part of the economy that is centered on the consumer, rather than on the relationship between businesses

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Credit

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a promise to pay for goods or services that have already been provided

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Political theory

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a historical exploration of the major contributions to political thought from the ancient Greeks to contemporary theorists

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American government and politics

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a survey of the origins and development of the political system in the United States from the colonial days to modern times, with and emphasis on the Constitution, various political structures such as the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, the federal system, political parties, voter behavior, and fundamental freedoms

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Comparative government and politics

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a systematic study of the structures of two or more political systems to achieve an understanding of how different societies manage the realities of governing

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International Relations

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a consideration of how nations interact with each other within the frameworks of law, diplomacy, and international organizations, such as the United Nations

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The Constitution

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a basic plan that outlines the structure and functions of the national government; clearly rooted in Western political thought, it sets limits on government and protects both property and individual rights

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The Articles of Confederation

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served as the national government from 1781-1787, where the government consisted of a unicameral (one house) legislature that was clearly subordinate to the states

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Key weaknesses to the Articles of Confederation

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1. inability to levy taxes
2. inability to draft troops
3. inability to regulate interstate and foreign trade
4. lack of powerful or effective chief executive and a national court system
5. rule that amendments must be approved by unanimous consent
6. The inability of the government to make the states enforce the legislation that they did not support

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Shays' Rebellion

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in 1789 a Revolutionary War veteran Daniel Shays led a rebellion of farmers against the tax collectors and the banks that were seizing their property

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Constitutional Convention

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held in 1787 in Philadelphia for four months, presided over by George Washington, and had representatives from every state except Rhode Island

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Popular Sovereignty

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the idea that government derives its power from the people