Texes 232 Domain Iv: Geography, Culture And The Behavioral And Social Sciences

Front 1

Climate

Back 1

Humans have either adapted to their native climates or they have settled in areas where the climate is more hospitable. Climate determines which plants and animals survive, how accessible water sources are, and the types of shelter that humans build. For human survival, the most important aspects of climate are rainfall and temperature. THE LOCATION OF WATER IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT OF HUMAN SETTLEMENT.

Front 2

Lithosphere

Back 2

The part of the earth that is land, rock and soil.

Front 3

Atmosphere

Back 3

The area of gasses that surrounds the earth.

Front 4

Hydrosphere

Back 4

The part of the earth that is made of water. Rivers, lakes, oceans.

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Biosphere

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Where life is found on the earth. Found on all three earth layers.

Front 6

Physical Region

Back 6

In order to study the physical world in a systematic and manageable way, geologists study the world in physical regions. These regions are determined by similar soil types, climates, vegetation, and river systems. A very common physical region is plain regions where flat land dominates. These are found in the central areas of every major continent.

Front 7

Latitude

Back 7

We measure the distance from the equator by latitude north and south. The father north or south of the equator, the colder the climate. The north and south poles are farthest away from the equator and they are basically the coldest areas on earth.

Front 8

Elevation

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the farther away from sea level, the colder it is.

Front 9

Tectonic Processes

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The lithosphere is not one continuously connected body, but rather it is made up of several separate masses "floating on the oceans". These tectonic plates are constantly moving, colliding with each other, and drifting apart. Where the plates have collided over history, mountains have been formed. Where the plates are moving away from each other or are simply "rubbing" against each other earthquakes commonly occur.
The earth is constantly moving and changing. This can be seen in the constantly moving water and rock cycles. These changes have affected human behavior. For example, during the ice age humans were able to cross from Asia to North America vie the Bering Strait. At the end of the ice age large glaciers of ice receded back to oceans. As they did so, they took great chunks of land with them - creating valleys and fjords - and they left water behind that created numerous lakes, including the Great Lakes. These new water sources attracted human settlement.

Front 10

Deposition

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When items are left behind from geological movements, like the receding glaciers, it is called deposition. Deposition is normally defined by the size of what was left behind.

Front 11

Erosion

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Earth formations are altered due to exposure to wind and rain. Volcanic eruptions form islands.

Front 12

Sun/Earth relationship

Back 12

Our survival on this planet depends on the sun. The sun is the primary determinant in our seasonal climates. The earth is on an axis, meaning that it tilts. During the North American summer (June through September) the earth is tilting its northern part towards the sun and the strongest rays of the sun are concentrated on the northern hemisphere. During the same time, the southern hemisphere is experiencing winter.
*The amount of sunlight a hemisphere receives affects the ability of that hemisphere to grow certain plants.
*The equator divides the world into northern and southern hemispheres. Regardless of the time of year the equator always has some direct sun rays hence the reason why the areas along the equator is normally so hot.

Front 13

Soil

Back 13

Part of the lithosphere

Front 14

cultural diffusion

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Ideas, religions, inventions and other aspects of one group's culture have spread to other groups through contact. Examples of this include the spreading of Christianity and Buddhism, the spreading of democratic ideals and the spreading of the industrial revolution and the Phoenician alphabet.

Front 15

region

Back 15

To study the world's population, geographer's have divided the world into regions based upon culture. People who have similar languages, religions, economies, political structures, and traditions are studied as a group.

Front 16

push and pull factors

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many areas have experienced population growth through push pull factors. a push factor is when war refugees are forced to leave their home country (pushed from) and go to another. A pull factor is when immigrants come to the U.S. for new economic opportunities. (pulled to)

Front 17

developed/developing countries

Back 17

Developed:
rich countries.
high literacy rates
low infant mortality rates
higher life expectancy rates
democratic governments
(U.S., Canada, Great Britain, Germany, France, Australia, Spain, Italy, and Sweden.)

(developing countries have the opposite of these factors. Yemen, Uganda, El Salvador, Laos, and Afghanistan.)

Front 18

standard of living

Back 18

developed countries are said to have "high standard of living" whereas developing countries are said to have "low standards of living"

Front 19

ocean currents

Back 19

air blows over the oceans and to land. If air comes from a cold ocean current, then it brings cold air to land and if the air comes from a warm ocean current, then it brings warmer air to the land.

Front 20

mountain barriers

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mountains can block many air currents and clouds. This can lead to very dry, desert-like areas on the base of some mountains.

Front 21

cultural region of U.S. and Canada

Back 21

major language is English, with Spanish and French.
major religion is Christianity, more catholics in Canada and more protestants in u.s.
capitalist democracies.
advanced, industrial/technological societies with high literacy rates and advanced medical care. majority of population lives in urban centers.

Front 22

cultural region of Latin America

Back 22

major language is Spanish
Christianity/Catholicism
military dictatorships and political unrest; shows advances to becoming a democratic region.
Capitalism with socialism is becoming the dominant economic system (excluding cuba which remains communism)
The Catholic church had a major role in development. native americans make up huge portion of population still.
area is still dominated by agriculture with cash crops.
literacy rates are low and infant mortality rates are high

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cultural region of europe

Back 23

English and French are common languages but plenty of other languages are spoken as well.
Christianity/Catholicism
European union
socialism, mostly urban.
high literacy rates and superior medical care

Front 24

cultural region of Russia and the former soviet union

Back 24

Slavic languages, Russian
eastern orthodox Christianity. some muslims and jews
communists dictatorship.
education was required so high literacy

Front 25

cultural region of east asia

Back 25

china dominance
Buddhism and Confucianism
communism/capitalism
China, south korea and japan have literacy rates and are advanced technologically with extensive international trade.

Front 26

cultural region of south asia

Back 26

India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, sri lanka.
common history centers on india.
Hinduism and islam
region is primarily poor
capitalistic

Front 27

cultural region of southeast asia

Back 27

Vietnam, laos Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia.
Catholicism is major religion. also Buddhism. and Islamic.
agriculture dominates the area and most people live in poverty
communism dominates Vietnam, capitalism everywhere else. cheap labor has brought some factories to the region.
literacy rates are poor and medical care is not readily available.

Front 28

cultural region of sub Saharan africa

Back 28

most diverse in world. hundreds of languages and ethnic groups.
most people have historically been nomadic but agriculture is currently the primary economic activity.
war, famine, and disease(AIDS), has caused widespread devastation to the area.
Christianity, islam.
literacy rates are low and medical care is limited
military regimes have been common

Front 29

cultural region of north Africa/southwest asia(Middle East)

Back 29

Arabic language
islam religion
oil is a major factor in the area.
lack of water
many countries are led by absolute monarchs

Front 30

Mecca

Back 30

the most sacred city in Islam. Mecca is located in Saudi Arabia. Muslims turn towards Mecca five times a day to pray, they also visit it once in their lifetime.

Front 31

Jerusalem

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considered a sacred city to all three monotheistic religions. Jews consider the city sacred because it was the location of Solomon's temple and was the capital of King David's empire. Christians consider Jerusalem sacred because it was the location of the crucifixion of Jesus. Muslims consider the city sacred because under Islamic tradition, Muhammad appeared in Jerusalem after his death and then ascended into Heaven. Today Jerusalem remains a major city of pilgrims from all three regions.

Front 32

Cuzco

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the most sacred city to the native incas. huge temples were built to honor their gods.

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ganges river

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considered sacred by the hindus

Front 34

shrine of guadelupe

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this Mexican shrine is considered the most sacred catholic place in the western hemisphere. it commemorates a reported visit of the virgin mary to a native American women in the 16th century.

Front 35

The Arts

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-ancient greek sculpture depicted idealized human bodies where "man was the measure of all things"
-statutes of Buddha are common throughout asia. long earlobes mean you are wise.
-due to the fact that in the Islamic tradition the reproduction of human and animal images is discouraged, many Islamic mosques are decorated with elaborate and very beautiful calligraphy designs.
-among west coast native americans, totem poles were common. these engraved carvings reflected the history of their ancestors and were considered sacred.
-the architecture of our nations capital reflects the image that our new republic wanted to bestow around the world. the buildings are in the Greco-Roman tradition and were designed to reflect permanence - we weren't going anywhere and we wanted the world to know it.

Front 36

interdependent

Back 36

(two or more people or things) dependent on each other. When humans anywhere in the world modify the environment for their own use, then others are ultimately affected.

Front 37

Neolithic revolution

Back 37

humans settled in areas where the environment provided for fresh water, a nurturing climate, and useful flora and fauna(plants and animals).
-the greek civilizations flourished because the mountains and islands provided protection from invaders.
-the Russians have depended upon their climate to help protect them from invaders.
-throughout north America, vast plains have provided fertile land to millions of settlers.

Front 38

suez canal and panama

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greatly enhanced world trade and boosted economic development. generations of people in different areas of the world have access to clean drinking water that they did not have before the dams were built.
(an example of how humans modify their climate)

Front 39

natural resources

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materials or substances such as minerals, forests, water, and fertile land that occur in nature and can be used for economic gain.

Front 40

The economic activities of many areas are dependent upon the environment. for ex:

Back 40

-middle east relies upon oil
-coastal villages rely upon fishing
-wales and Pennsylvania rely upon coal.
-amazon rain forest people among trees
-Africa relies on gold and diamond mines

Front 41

how population growth and modernization have affected the physical environment throughout history:

Back 41

-building of dams has destroyed some fish spawning zones and has led to freshwater shortages for wildlife.
-chemical fertilizers have caused widespread pollution and possible increased cancer rates.
-with the loss of just one species of animal, entire ecosystems can be placed in turmoil as some creatures lose their natural predators and their natural prey.
-as humans make environments better suited for their own use, population increases lead to urbanization, more pollution, and scarce resources.

Front 42

behavior

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motivation is what directs behavior. motivation can be either physiologically(hunger) or psychologically(stress) triggered. The need to belong or achieve, the need for money.

Front 43

culture

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the foundation of anthropological study. Our culture is one factor that shapes our personalities. culture is composed of several components:
-language
-religion
-history
-symbols
-customs
*Culture is not static, it is constantly changing.

Front 44

stratification

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Every society has inequality. An uneven distribution to the means.

Front 45

social institutions

Back 45

humans are members of social institutions. our membership in these institutions helps us form our values, beliefs, and behaviors and help us meet our basic needs. These social institutions include:
-family; nuclear and extended
-community
-religion, church
-education, schools
-ethnic or cultural group
-government
*our status within each group helps determine which role we play: leader or follower.

Front 46

socialization

Back 46

As humans we are members in a variety of different social institutions and through these institutions we experience "socialization" and an education in how to behave.

Front 47

cognitive development

Back 47

The cognitive development (learning) of humans is a never ending process that begins with conception and ends with death. The ability to recall, associate, and synthesize information does begin to fade with age; however, the brain's ability to learn appears to be indestructible.
There are three major theorists in regards to basic cognitive development:
-Jean Piaget's theory that we learn by forming schemas and that there are levels of development. These levels include the preoperational stage (lack logical operations), the concrete operational state (can conceive and perform basic logical operations), and the formal operational (can deal with abstract reasoning).
-Lawrence Kohlberg theorized that humans go through stages of moral learning.
-Erik Erikson theorized that adolescence is dominated by defining one's identity.

Front 48

personality

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one of the major factors that determine our behavior. many factors affect our personality, including biological, sociological, intellectual and hereditary. Freud developed the theory of the Id(pleasure seeking), the Ego (reality), and Superego (moral guide) to try to explain some aspects of personality. Two of the most common terms used to describe personality are extrovert and introvert. Extroverts are more sociologically outgoing and they enjoy being with many people while introverts are more focused on their own internal thoughts and emotions.

Front 49

Sensation and Perception

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humans see the world through sensation and perception. the world around us is constantly sending us stimuli so that we can react and act (we sense the temperature around us and perceive it to be cold, so we respond with a sweater.) Our various senses (vision, smell, taste, hearing and touch) have different jobs. Our behavior is determined by how well our senses "sense" and "perceive" different situations, people, and surroundings. From infancy, our brains have been working on perfecting perception. We must be trained on how to perceive danger from safeness, hot from cold, humor from pain.

Front 50

Classical conditioning

Back 50

One of the most basic understandings of learning is classical conditioning. Classical conditioning was defined by experiments conducted by Ivan Pavlov who used a dog and a bell to see if animals could "learn" to respond a certain way when presented with a stimuli. When the dog heard a bell it would salivate and prepare to eat.

Front 51

operant conditioning

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behavior is either reinforced or punished. Skinner.

Front 52

observational learning

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when people learn how to behave by observing the behaviors of others.

Front 53

A map scale of 1:4,000,000 represents:

Back 53

one inch on the map for every 4,000,000 inches on the ground. Geographers express the scale of a map as a simple ratio of a length on the map to the length it represents on the actual ground. Thus, on a map drawn to 1:4,000,000 scale, one inch on the map represents 4,000,000 inches on the ground

Front 54

Which of the following best represents an application of the geographic principle of region?

Back 54

Constructing a table of several countries and listing common political, social and economic characteristics

Front 55

A country is most likely to join the European Union for which of the following reasons?

Back 55

So that it can exercise more economic power in the world market; The European Union, an economic union that developed out of earlier western European free-trade organizations, aimed to abolish trade barriers and encouraged the free movement of goods, people and labor within the union. The EU acts as a common market and member states benefit from being part of a much larger economic unit.

Front 56

Commercial agriculture is most often practiced on farms where:

Back 56

a single crop is grown for sale and processing. A common type of commercial agriculture features the production of a single crop (monoculture) for sale to processors. Monoculture is often more efficient than producing multiple crops on the same farm.

Front 57

When people imitate the way celebrities dress, act or talk, it is an example of which of the following?

Back 57

Social learning theory; social learning theory involves people learning by observing models and imitating them

Front 58

The Physical Geography of Texas

Back 58

Texas is made up of several different types of physical geographic areas. These include the Plains, coastland areas, and mountainous areas, such as Edward's Plateau. The Texas climate is also very diverse and includes desert, humid-subtropical, and semiarid.

The oil boom and technological advances were "pull" factors for Texas.

Front 59

Spatial Diffusion

Back 59

The spread of diseases, as well as culture. The spread of a disease, the growth of a city, and the
transfer of a new invention from one society to another.

Front 60

Population Explosion

Back 60

The world population has exploded in the 19th and 20th centuries with over 6 billion humans sharing our land, water, and resources. The main causes of this population explosion are increased food production and improved health care and sanitation. Major problems that have resulted from such a large population include pollution caused by human waste and byproducts of energy sources-coal, gas, etc. Another major concern is that of water. The areas that our experiencing the highest population increases are the areas where fresh, sanitary drinking water is scarce-Africa, Asia, Middle East, and Latin America.

Front 61

The rate of soil erosion is most likely to
exceed the rate of soil formation in areas
where people have:

Back 61

cut down forests to increase the
amount of land under cultivation.

Front 62

The concept of region facilitates the
examination of geographic phenomena
mainly by providing geographers with:

Back 62

a convenient and manageable unit
for studying the earth's human and
natural environments.