AP Human Geography Note Cards – Flashcards
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Agricultural density
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Definition: The ratio of the number of farmers to the total amount of land suitable for agriculture. Sentence: The agricultural density for the area was 25 to 60.
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Arithmetic density
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Definition: The total number of people divided by the total land area. Sentence: The total Arithmetic density was .41.
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Base line
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Definition: An east-west line designated under the Land Ordinance of 1785 to facilitate the surveying and numbering of townships in the United States. Sentence: The base line in the United States was established in 1785.
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Cartography
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Definition: The science of making maps. Sentence: The scientist's specialty was in cartography.
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Concentration
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Definition: The spread of something over a given area. Sentence: The concentration of the amount of cattle continued to grow as years passed.
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Connections
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Definition: Relationships among people and objects across the barrier of space. Sentence: People have connections throughout the world via the internet.
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Contagious diffusion
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Definition: The rapid, widespread diffusion of a feature or trend throughout a population. Sentence: The invention of cars spread so quickly that it was considered contagious diffusion.
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Cultural ecology
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Definition: Geographic approach that emphasizes the human-environment relationships. Sentence: Scientists use cultural ecology to study the environment and the humans in it.
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Cultural landscapes
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Definition: Fashioning of a natural landscape by a cultural group. Sentence: Cultural landscapes would differ if you were in India compared to America.
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Culture
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Definition: The body of customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits that together constitute a groups distinct tradition. Sentence: Every family as their own culture and traditions from their ancestors.
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Density
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Definition: The frequency with which something exists within a given unit of area. Sentence: The density of the water was considerably higher than expected.
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Diffusion
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Definition: The process of spread of a feature or trend from one place to another over time. Sentence: There was a diffusion of the new tradition throughout the entire town.
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Distance decay
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Definition: The diminishing in importance and eventual disappearance of a phenomenon with increasing distance from its origin. Sentence: Distance decay occurred when the beautiful rock formation diminished over time.
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Distribution
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Definition: The arrangement of something across Earth's surface. Sentence:There was a distribution of cattle throughout Wisconsin.
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Environmental determinism
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Definition: A nineteenth- and early twentieth- century approach to the study of geography which argued that the general laws sought by human geographers could be found in the physical sciences. Geography was therefore the study of how the physical environment caused human activities. Sentence: Environmental determinism was when geography was decided to be how the environment causes human activities.
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Expansion diffusion
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Definition: The spread of a feature or trend among people from one area to another in a snowballing process. Sentence: Expansion diffusion occurred when too many people moved to one place so the had to spread out.
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Formal region
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Definition: An area in which everyone shares in one or more distinctive characteristics. Sentence: The city was a formal region, so everybody had to practice the same religion.
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Functional region
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Definition: An area organized around a node or focal point. Sentence: People began to settle by the lake because of the surplus of fish, this is known as a functional region.
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Geographic information system (GIS)
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Definition: A computer system that stores, organizes, analyzes, and displays geographic data. Sentence: The scientists used a GIS to secure all of their geographic findings.
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Global positioning system (GPS)
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Definition: A system that determines the precise position of something on Earth through a series of satellites, tracking stations, and receivers. Sentence: People use GPS's routinely to navigate around the country.
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Globalization
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Definition: Actions or processes that involve the entire world and result in making something worldwide in scope. Sentence: Globalization occurred when the world came together and united as one upon the tragedy that had occurred.
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Greenwhich Mean Time (GMT)
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Definition: The time in that time zone encompassing the prime meridian, or 0 degrees longitude. Sentence: We experienced the GMT while on vacation near the prime meridian.
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Hearth
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Definition: The region from which innovative ideas originate. Sentence: The hearth of the invention was in America.
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Hierarchical diffusion
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Definition: The spread of a feature or trend from one key person or node of authority or power to other persons or places. Sentence: The discovery of the rare rock spread by hierarchical diffusion.
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International Date Line
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Definition: An arc that for the most part follows 180° longitude, although it deviates in several places to avoid dividing land areas. When you cross the International Date Line heading east (toward America), the clock moves back 24 hours, or one entire day. When you go west (toward Asia), the calendar moves ahead one day. Sentence: We passed the international date line on our cruise.
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Land Ordinance of 1785
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Definition: A law that divided much of the United States into a system of townships to facilitate the sale of land to settlers. Sentences: The Land Ordinance of 1785 divided the US into several townships.
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Latitude
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Definition: The numbering system used to indicate the location of parallels drawn on a globe and measuring distance north and south of the equator (0 degrees). Sentence: Latitude is the opposite of longitude.
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Location
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Definition: The position of anything on Earth's surface. Sentence: The location of Canada is north of the U.S.
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Longitude
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Definition: The numbering system used to indicate the location of meridians drawn on a globe and measuring distance east and west of the prime meridian (0°). Sentence: Longitude runs east and west and latitude runs north and south.
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Map
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Definition: A two-dimensional, or flat, representation of Earth's surface or a portion of it. Sentence: We used a map to navigate on our road trip.
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Mental map
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Definition: An internal representation of a portion of Earth's surface based on what an individual knows about a place, containing personal impressions of what is in a place and where places are located. Sentence: I used a mental map to remember where all the countries were for my history test.
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Meridian
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Definition: An arc drawn on a map between the North and South poles. Sentence: The meridian is in the middle of the north and south poles.
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Parallel
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Definition: A circle drawn around the globe parallel to the equator and at right angles to the meridians. Sentence: The parallel on the globe is parallel to the equator.
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Pattern
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Definition: The geometric or regular arrangement of something in a study area. Sentence: Scientists found that there was a pattern in how the countries were arranged.
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Physiological density
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Definition: The number of people per unit of area of arable land, which is land suitable for agriculture. Sentences: The psychological density was 120 to 320.
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Place
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Definition: A specific point on Earth distinguished by a particular character. Sentence: All the countries are places on earth.
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Polder
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Definition: Land created by the Dutch by draining water from an area. Sentence: The explorers found a polder created by the Dutch.
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Possibilism
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Definition: The theory that the physical environment may set limits on human actions, but people have the ability to adjust to the physical environment and choose a course of action from many alternatives. Sentence: The group believed in possibilism, a theory that the environment is basically in charge of their actions.
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Prime Meridian
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Definition: The meridian, designated at 0° longitude, which passes through the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, England. Sentence: The Prime Meridian is located in England and is at 0 degrees longitude.
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Principle Meridian
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Definition: A north-south line designated in the Land Ordinance of 1785 to facilitate the surveying and numbering of townships in the U.S. Sentence: The principle meridian surveyed the number of townships in the U.S.
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Projection
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Definition: The system used to transfer locations from Earth's surface to a flat map. Sentence: The scientists used a projection to transfer locations from the earth's surface.
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Region
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Definition: An area distinguished by a unique combination of trends or features. Sentence: A desert is considered a dry region.
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Regional (or cultural landscape) studies
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Definition: An approach to geography that emphasizes the relationships among social and physical phenomena in a particular study area. Sentence: Regional studies emphasizes the relationships in certain areas.
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Relocation diffusion
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Definition: The spread of a feature or trend through bodily movement of people from one place to another. Sentence: The process of relocation diffusion occurred when a group brought their customs to the U.S.
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Remote sensing
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Definition: The acquisition of data about Earth's surface from a satellite orbiting the planet or other long-distance methods. Sentence: Scientists use remote sensing to receive data about the earth's surface from space.
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Resource
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Definition: A substance in the environment that is useful to people, is economically and technologically feasible to access, and is socially acceptable to use. Sentence: Water is a resource that people can't live without.
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Scale
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Definition: Generally, the relationship between the portion of Earth being studied and Earth as a whole, specifically the relationship between the size of an object on a map and the size of the actual feature on Earth's surface. Sentence:There was a scale at the bottom of the map to explain the actual size.
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Section
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Definition: A square normally 1 mile on a side. The Land Ordinance of 1785 divided townships in the United States into 36 sections. Sentence: America is divided into several sections called states.
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Site
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Definition: The physical character of a place. Sentence: The site of the desert is very dry.
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Situation
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Definition: The location of a place relative to other places. Sentence: The situation of America is just below Canada.
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Space
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Definition: The physical gap or interval between two objects. Sentence: The space between California and New York is very large.
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Space-time compression
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Definition: The reduction in the time it takes to diffuse something to a distant place, as a result of improved communications and transportation systems. Sentence: Planes contribute to space-time compression.
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Stimulus diffusion
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Definition: The spread of an underlying principle, even though a specific characteristic is rejected. Sentences: Stimulus diffusion rejects characteristics that don't fit.
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Toponym
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Definition: The name given to a portion of Earth's surface. Sentence: Toponym is the name of the earth's surface.
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Township
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Definition: A square normally 6 miles on a side. The Land Ordinance of 1785 divided much of the United States into a series of townships. Sentence: The United States was divided into several townships.
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Transnational corporation
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Definition: A company that conducts research, operates factories, and sells products in many countries, not just where its headquarters or shareholders are located. Sentence: A transnational corporation conducts research, its not just the headquarters.
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Uneven development
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Definition: The increasing gap in economic conditions between core and peripheral regions as a result of the globalization of the economy. Sentences: When economies grow at different rates its generally called uneven development.
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Vernacular region
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Definition: An area that people believe to exist as part of their cultural identity (perceptual region). Sentences: A vernacular region is a region that is basically one specific cultural group.
