Chapter 1 Nature And Perspectives On Geography

Front 1

Fieldwork

Back 1

The study of geographic phenomena by visiting places and observing how people interact with and thereby change those places

Front 2

Human Geography

Back 2

One of the two major divisions of geography; The spatial analysis of human population, its culture, activities and landscapes

Front 3

Globalization

Back 3

The expansion of economic, political and cultural processes to the point that they become global in scale and impact; The process transcends state boundaries and has outcomes that vary across places and scales

Front 4

Spatial

Back 4

Pertaining to space on the Earth’s surface; how things are spread apart on the Earth’s surface

Front 5

Spatial Distribution

Back 5

Physical location of a geographic phenomena across space

Front 6

Pattern

Back 6

The design of spatial distribution (Scattered or Concentrated)

Front 7

Spatial Perspective

Back 7

Observing variations in geographic phenomena across space

Front 8

Location

Back 8

The geographical situation of people and things.

Front 9

Human-Environment Interaction

Back 9

How humans and the environment interact with each other 2nd Theme of Geography

Front 10

Region

Back 10

An area on the Earth’s surface marked by a degree of formal, functional. or perceptual homogeneity of some phenomenon

Front 11

Place

Back 11

Uniqueness of a location 4th Theme if Geography

Front 12

Perception of Place

Back 12

Belief or Understanding about a place developed through books, movies, stories or pictures

Front 13

Spatial Interaction

Back 13

Interactions across a space

Front 14

Distance

Back 14

A measurement of the physical space between two places

Front 15

Cultural Landscape

Back 15

The visible imprint of human activity and culture on the landscape. The layers of buildings, forms, and artifacts sequentially imprinted on the landscape by the activities of various human beings

Front 16

Sequent Occupance

Back 16

The notion that successive societies leave their cultural imprints on a place, each contributing to the cultural landscape

Front 17

Reference Maps

Back 17

Maps that show the absolute location of place and geographic features determined by a frame of reference, typically latitude and longitude lines.

Front 18

Thematic Maps

Back 18

Maps that tell stories, typically showing the degree of some attribute or the movement of a geographic phenomenon

Front 19

Absolute Location

Back 19

The position or place of a certain item on Earth’s surface as expressed through Latitude and Longitude

Front 20

Relative Location

Back 20

The regional position or situation of a place relative to the position of other places. Distance, accessibility and connectivity affect relative location

Front 21

GPS

Back 21

Global Positioning System-satellite based system for determining the absolute location of places or geographic features

Front 22

Mental Map

Back 22

Image or picture of the way space is organized as determined by an individual's perception, impression, and knowledge of that space

Front 23

Activity Space

Back 23

The space within which daily activity occurs

Front 24

GIS

Back 24

Geographic Information System-A collection of computer hardware and software that permits spatial data to be collected, recorded, stored, retrieved, manipulated, analyzed, and displayed to the user

Front 25

Formal Region

Back 25

A type of region marked by a certain degree of homogeneity in one or more phenomena; also called uniform region or homogenous region

Front 26

Functional Region

Back 26

A region defined by the particular set of activities or interactions that occur within it

Front 27

Perceptual Region

Back 27

A region that only exist as a conceptualization or an idea and not as a physically demarcated entity. (Ex. “The South” and “The Mid-Atlantic” Regions)

Front 28

Culture

Back 28

The sum total of the knowledge, attitudes, and habitual behavior patterns shared and transmitted by the members of a society.

Front 29

Culture Trait

Back 29

A single element of normal practice in a culture (Ex. Wearing a turban)

Front 30

Culture Complex

Back 30

A related set of cultural traits (Ex. prevailing dress codes and cooking and eating utensils)

Front 31

Time-Distance Decay

Back 31

The declining degree of acceptance of an idea or innovation with increasing time and distance from its point of origin or source

Front 32

Contagious Diffusion

Back 32

The distance controlled spreading of an idea, innovation, or some other item through a local population by contact from person to person (Like contagious illnesses)

Front 33

Hierarchical Diffusion

Back 33

A form of diffusion in which an idea or innovation spreads by passing first among the most connected places or peoples. An urban hierarchy is usually involved, encouraging the leapfrogging of innovations over wide areas, with geographic distance a less important influence

Front 34

Relocation Diffusion

Back 34

Sequential diffusion process in which the items being diffused are transmitted by their carrier agents as they evacuate the old areas and relocate to new ones. Most common form involves the spreading of innovations by a migrating population.

Front 35

Environmental Determinism

Back 35

The view that the natural environment has a controlling influence over various aspects of human life, including cultural development. Also known as environmentalism.

Front 36

Possibilism

Back 36

A geographic viewpoint- a response to determinism-That holds that human decision making, not the environment, is the crucial factor in cultural development. Possibilists view the environment as providing a set of broad constraints that limits the possibilities of human choice