GEO 102 Midterm 1 Chapter 1 – Flashcards
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Geography is described as
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A spatial science
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The word spatial refers to
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The nature and character of physical space
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A principle methodology governing geographic inquiry
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Involves spatial analysis
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Which of the following best describes the current emphasis in the field of physical geography?
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Understanding how Earth's systems interact to produce natural phenomena
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Which of the following most accurately characterizes the goal of geography?
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Understanding why a place has the characteristics that it does
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The inductive method of reasoning used by Earth scientists to discern patterns in nature involves reasoning from
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The specific to the general
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The scientific method is described by which of the following?
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The application of common sense, a series of procedures developed by Sir Isaac Newton, the development of hypothesis for testing and prediction
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Which of the following is an example of a system?
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None of these are examples: a leaf, a river drainage basin, a midlatitude cyclonic storm.
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A battery can best be described as a/an_____ energy system and a/an______ material system.
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Open; closed
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Which of the following is false? Earth represents a vast integrated system, Earth represents an open system in terms of energy, Earth represents a closed system in terms of matter, New resources and matter are being added to Earth's systems all the time.
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False: New resources and matter are being added to Earth's systems all the time.
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What type of feedback maintains stability in a system? What type of feedback keeps a system functioning properly?
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Negative
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If a system responds to a change in input by moving further away from its equilibrium condition, what type of feedback has occurred?
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Positive
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Which of the following best describes the condition of steady-state equilibrium?
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Systems inputs and outputs fluctuate around a stable average so the system does not move far from its average condition.
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If increased levels of carbon dioxide lead to further increases in temperature by promoting the release of even more carbon dioxide from the oceans, this means that______ feedback has occurred and that the planet is_____.
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Positive; out of equilibrium
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The increase in melt ponds in Arctic regions is an example of
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Positive feedback, because the melt ponds absorb more solar energy than the ice did.
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The realization that Earth was a sphere
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Was first made by Pythagoras, 580-500 BC.
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A value for Earth's circumference was first calculated by
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Eratosthenes
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Which of the following is easily determined using the position of the Sun or stars?
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Latitude
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An angular distance measured North or South of the equator front the center of Earth is termed
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Latitude
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An angular distance measured East or West of a prime meridian from the center of Earth is termed
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Longitude
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How far North you live from the Equator is measured as your ______, whereas an imaginary line marking all those places at the same distance North of the Equator is called a ______.
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Latitude, parallel
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The basis for defining the length of a day is the fact that
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Earth rotates on its axis in 24 hours, it rotates 15 degrees of longitude per hour.
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Latitude is
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The angular distance measured North or South of the Equator
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Longitude is
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An angular distance measured East or West of a prime meridian
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A line connecting all points along the same longitudinal angle is called a
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Meridian
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The letters AM stand for
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Ante Meridiem
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The letters PM stand for
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Post Meridiem
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If a clock on a ship indicates that it is 2 pm in its home port, while another clock on the ship indicates that it is 12 noon at the ship's present location, what is the difference in longitude between the ship's position and its home port?
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The ship is 30 degrees West of its home port.
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Standard time zones
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Are 15 degrees wide because Earth rotates through that distance in one hour.
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If it is 10 am in Miami, FL (Eastern Time Zone), what time is it in LA located 3 time zones to the West in the Pacific Time Zone?
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7 am
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A map scale of 1:24,000 means that
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One inch on the map equals 24,000 inches on the ground, one centimeter on the map equals 24,000 centimeters on the ground, one foot on the map equals 24,000 feet on Earth.
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The larger the scale of the map, the _____ the area covered by the map and the _______ detail it provides.
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Smaller, more
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Global Positioning System (GPS) units
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Are used for all of these: Recently found the correct height of Mount Everest to be 8850m (29,035 ft), show your location accurate to 100 m, are used in Precision Agriculture, are used by surveyors and the military.
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Remote sensing is
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The monitoring of a distant object without physical contact.
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A satellite imaging system that beams electromagnetic energy at the surface and then records the energy that is reflected is classified as a/an ______ system.
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Active, passive, photographic, or holographic.
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Which of the following is an example of an active remote sensing device?
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Radar
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Which of the following is a capability of a geographic information system (GIS)?
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GIS systems can do all of these things: Data storage, data manipulation and analysis, map production with overlays of different information layers.
