Chapter 1: Essentials Of Geography Flashcards
Define the terms geography and spatial. How are they connected?
-Geography is a science that studies relationships among natural systems, geographic areas, society, cultural activities, and the interdependence of all these over space.
- Spatial refers to nature and character of physical space, its measurements, and distribution of things within it.
They are connected because geography
is concerning different systems and concepts of nature as well as where and how they are distributed across Earth.
Describe the 5 themes of geographic science. Give an example for each.
- Location - allows you to discuss areas of the world in absolute terms
(Ex. lat & long, UTM coordinates - Place - describes physical and human characteristics of specific area
(Ex. landforms, bodies of water, cities, towns, cultures) - Region - concerns a group of places with similar physical features and/or human characteristics.
- Movement - Things on Earth like animals, plants, people, and physical features can go from one place to the other.
(Ex. Ppl travel or move to different countries, cities and towns often or every now and then) - Human-Earth Relationship - humans depend on, adapt to, and modify the environment around them
(Ex. Human depend on natural resources to survive like water, they have to adapt to fit into the culture an area and have a way of life)
What is Physical Geography?
It is the science concerned with the spatial aspects and interactions of the physical element and process systems that make up the environment.
-Also uses that spatial perspective to analyze processes and events happening in specific locations and follow their effects
Describe the process of the scientific method.
1.) Obverse and ask questions
2.) Make a general statement to summarize observation
3.) Form a hypothesis
4.) conduct an experiment & collect data to test hypothesis
5.) Interpret results (is hypothesis supported or rejected?)
6.) Repeat testing & peer review
7.) Develop a theory
What is a system? What’s the difference between an open, closed system? Give examples for each.
-A system is any ordered, interrelated set of things and their attributes, linked by flows of energy and matter, as distinct from surrounding environment outside the system
- Open systems are usually not self-contained, and have inputs of energy and matter flow in it, and outputs of both flow out of it. (Ex. a car because things like fuel, o2, oil, payments are inputs, and it outputs exhaust gases, heat energy, oil waste and debt)
- Closed system are self-contained because they are shut off from the environment; more rare in nature.
closed systems don’t allow matter in or out but allow energy (ex. water bottle)
What are Earth’s four spheres?
-Atmosphere (air, thin layer of gas around earth)
-hydrosphere (water)
-lithosphere (land; Earth’s crust)
-(All abiotic (non-living)
-biosphere (all life forms on Earth)
- (only biotic (living) sphere)
Define negative and positive feedback loops and provide examples of each.
- Negative feedback is when feedback information discourages change in a system which leads to stability.
-Ex/ in forests, trees produce roots that stabilize hillslopes and inhibit erosion - Positive feedback is when feedback info encourages change in a system. Could lead to instability, disruption and death of organisms
-Ex/ global warming causes permafrost to thaw; the thawing organic matter is converted to CO2 and CH4; greenhouses in atmosphere increases, intensifying global warming
What was the evidence early geographers had for the Earth’s sphericity?
-The ship “sinking” concept. They realized that if the earth were truly flat, the whole ship would be seen in view when sailing beyond horizon. However the bottom of the ship was always hidden, so it must have been by Earth’s curvature
- Also by the star positions - some were visible in different locations on earth and some aren’t
What is a geoid? What purpose does a reference ellipsoid/system (datum) serve in coordinate grid systems?
-A geoid is a unique, irregular shape of earth’s surface. It corresponds with average sea level and is perpendicular to the direction of gravity
- A datum provides a frame of reference for measuring locations on the surface of the earth. It defines the origin and orientation of latitude and longitude lines.
What is latitude? Longitude? Meridian? Great circle?
-Latitude - angular distance north or south of a point on earth’s surface, measured from earth’s center
-line connecting all points along same latitudinal angle is parallel
-Longitude - angular distance east or west of a point on earth’s surface from earth’s center
-line connecting all points along same longitude is a meridian
-Great circle - any circle drawn of earth’s circumference with its center corresponding with earth’s center. infinite number of circles can be drawn
Where is the Prime Meridian?
The prime meridian is a meridian designated at 0 degrees, and it’s located in Greenwich, London
how does the physical distance of 1 degree of longitude change with distance north and south of the equator? What about the distance of 1 degree of latitude?
-For longitude, the distance is greatest at the equator (where meridians are wide apart) and decrease as you move closer to the poles (where meridians converge)
- For latitude, the distance is fairly constant.
What is a map? What’s a map scale?
How does a representative fraction or written scale translates map distances to real-life distances?
-A map is a generalized view of an area; portion of earth’s surface seen from above at a greatly reduced size
-A map scale relates to size of a unit on a map to size of similar unit on the ground.
-If there was a map scale of 1:10 000, It would mean a distance of 1 unit on the map (for ex, cm) would equal 10 000 cm in real life.
What’s the difference between large, medium, and small scale maps?
-Large-scale maps (1:50 000 or less) show a smaller area in larger detail
-Small-scale maps (1:250 000 or more)
show a greater area in small detail
-Intermediate-scale maps (1:50 000-1:250 000) are in between.
What is a map projection? Describe the the 4 general classes
-It’s a reduction of Earth as a spherical shape onto a flat surface (paper), and re-aligned to to fit the latitude and longitudinal grid
4 general classes of projections
1.) Cylindrical - meridians appear as equally spaced straight lines spaced closer together at equator
2.) Planar - really distorted so it stops full hemisphere from being shown on one projection. However, shortest distance between two points are projected as straight lines
3.) Conic - less distortion at mid-latitudes
4.) Oval - The compromise projection; tries to keep all types of distortion to a minimum through out map area
