Ch. 1 Flashcards
(24 cards)
physical geography
one of the two principal branches in geography. landforms. rocks, minerals, water, weather and climate, plants, animals, soil
cultural geography
those of human endeavor. population, economic activities, languages, religions, political systems, settlements, and food
global environmental change
both human caused and natural processes that are currently altering the landscape of the world
globalization
the processes and consequences of an increasingly interconnected world, between the economies, cultures, and political systems of the world
scientific method
(1) observe a phenomena (2) make a hypothesis (3) design experiment (4) predict the outcome (5) conduct experiment (6) draw conclusion
theory
represents the highest order of understanding for a body of understanding, a logical well tested explanation
lithosphere
comprises the rocks of earths crust as well as the unconsolidated particles of mineral matter that overlie the solid bedrock
atmosphere
gaseous envelope of the air that surrounds earth. complex mixture of gases needed to sustain life
hydrosphere
all water.
cyroshpere
a level of the hydrosphere, all frozen water as snow and ice
biosphere
all parts of the earth where living organisms can live
great circles
the equator is a great circle. any plane that is passed through the center of a sphere bisects that sphere and creates a great circle where it intersects the surface of the sphere. this is the largest circle that can be drawn.
latitude
description of a location expressed as an angle north or south of the equator.
a parallel
a line connecting all points of the same latitude
longitude
an angular description of east west location also measured in degrees, minutes, and seconds
meridians
longitudinal lines that are not parallel to each other except where they cross the equator
rotation
requires 24 hrs, from west to east, counterclockwise,
revolution
orbit around the sun, takes 365 days 5 hours 48 min and 46 seconds, known officially as the tropical year
perihelion
when the earth is closest to the sun,
aphelion
furthest from the sun
plane of the ecliptic
the imaginary plane defined by the orbital path of earth around the sun
polarity of earths axis (parallelism)
at any time during the yearn earths rotation axis is parallel to its orientation at all other times
solar altitude
the height of the sun above the horizon
June solstice
occurs on June 21, the earth reaches the position in its orbit where the both pole is oriented most directly toward the sun
