Geography Glossary Definitions Flashcards
Biodiversity
The variety of living organisms and the ecosystems they form. Biodiversity has direct value as consumable or useful commodities, indirect value through the provision of ecosystem services, and intrinsic value independent of its utility to humans.
Biomes
A major terrestrial vegetation community; for example, a tropical forest, a temperate grassland or a desert. Similar biomes, but with different species of plants and animals, are found around the world in similar climatic zones.
Change
The concept of change involves both time and space. Geographical phenomena are constantly changing, and can often be best understood by investigating how they have developed over time periods ranging from a few years to thousands of years. This is important in helping students to understand what is happening around them and to see their world as dynamic. In History, change refers to aspects of life or of a society that have changed or developed over time. The causes of change, or the resistance to change, can be investigated, along with the nature and pace of change and the impact of change.
Characteristics of places
The geographical characteristics of places include people, climate, production, landforms, built elements of the environment, soils, vegetation, communities, water resources, cultures, mineral resources and landscape. Some characteristics are tangible, for example, rivers and buildings. Others are intangible, for example, scenic quality and socioeconomic status.
Climate
The average types of weather, including seasonal variations, experienced by a place over a long period of time. For example, some climates are hot and wet all year (Singapore), some have hot, wet summers and warm, dry winters (Darwin), and some have warm, dry summers and cool, wet winters (Adelaide and Perth). Climates can be classified into distinctive types, such as equatorial, tropical, temperate, Mediterranean, semi-arid and arid. These types are found in similar locations around the world.
Climatic Zones
Refers to areas of the Earth that have similar temperatures. The major zones are hot, temperate and polar and are roughly demarcated by lines of latitude. Within each zone there are different climates, because of the effects of the distribution of continents and oceans and the circulation patterns of the atmosphere and oceans. For example, Adelaide and Sydney are on almost the same line of latitude but, while Adelaide has a Mediterranean climate with very dry summers and moderately wet winters, Sydney has a temperate climate with wet summers and drier, but not dry, winters.
connection/s
It is about the ways that people and places and other people and places are connected to each other through many different ways such as environmental processes, the movement of people, flows of trade and investment, the purchase of goods and services, cultural influences, the exchange of ideas and information, political power and international agreements. These connections can be complex, reciprocal or interdependent, and have a strong influence on our perceptions and sense of connection to other people and places.
culture
The customs, habits, beliefs, social organisation and ways of life that characterise different groups and communities.
environments
means the living and non-living elements of the Earth’s surface and atmosphere (i.e. the natural environment). It also includes human changes to the Earth’s surface, for example, croplands, planted forests, buildings and roads (i.e. the built environment).
environmental quality
The characteristics of the local environment that affect human physical and mental health and quality of life, for example, the extent of air and water pollution, noise, access to open space, traffic volumes, and the visual effects of buildings and roads.
environmental resources
Environmental resources can be classified as renewable, non-renewable and continuous.
* Renewable environmental resources are those which are, or can be, renewed within a relatively short time, for example, water through the water cycle; and plants, animals and marine life through reproduction. However, overuse of a renewable resource can lead to its disappearance, as with the overexploitation of a fishery or the over-extraction of groundwater.
* Non-renewable environmental resources are those that cannot be renewed, for example, minerals. Soils that have been degraded can only be renewed over long timescales.
* Continuous environmental resources are those, such as solar or wind energy, whose availability is unaffected by their use by humans.
features
The visible elements of a place or landscape, classified as natural (e.g. rivers, hills), managed (e.g. parks and farms) and constructed (e.g. roads and buildings). This term is used in early primary, but is later replaced by the term ‘characteristics’, which includes both the physical and human elements of a place.
geographical processes
The physical and human forces that work in combination to form and transform the world, for example, erosion, the water cycle, migration or urbanisation. Geographical processes can operate within and between places.
interconnection
The concept of interconnection emphasises that no object of geographical study can be viewed in isolation. It is about the ways that geographical phenomena are connected to each other through environmental processes; the movement of people; flows of trade and investment; the purchase of goods and services; cultural influences; the exchange of ideas and information; political power and international agreements. Interconnections can be complex, reciprocal or interdependent, and have a strong influence on the characteristics of places. An understanding of the significance of interconnection leads to holistic thinking and helps students to see the various aspects of geography as connected rather than separate bodies of knowledge.
land and water degradation
Degradation of the health of land and water resources through human actions in ways that threaten their ability to maintain their environmental functions. Degradation includes salinity, accelerated soil erosion, soil fertility decline, soil acidification, the spread of weeds, loss of biodiversity and habitats, and water pollution.
landforms
The individual surface features of the Earth identified by their shape, for example, dunes, plateaus, canyons, beaches, plains, hills, rivers and valleys.
natural vegetation
The vegetation that has evolved in an area over time.
nutrient cycles
The recycling of plant nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen, whether by natural means or human intervention.
place
Places play a fundamental role in human life. The world is made up of places, from those with largely natural features, for example, an area of rainforest, to those with largely constructed features, such as the centre of a large city. They are where we live and grow up. Our most common relationships are likely to be with people in the same place. The environmental and human qualities of places influence our lives and life opportunities. Places are sites of biodiversity; locations for economic activity; centres of decision –making and administration; sites for the transmission and exchange of knowledge and ideas; meeting places for social interaction, sources of identity, belonging and enjoyment; and areas of natural beauty and wonder. They are where major events occur, from natural disasters and financial crises to sporting events. Places can also be laboratories for the comparative study of the relationships between processes and phenomena, because the uniqueness of each place means that similar processes and influences can produce different outcomes in different places. The importance of Country/Place to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples is an example of the interaction between culture and identity, and shows how places can be invested with spiritual and other significance.
settlement
Any type of place where people live on a permanent basis. Two major categories of settlements are rural and urban. Rural settlements are those where people are often involved in primary industries and located in country areas. Urban settlements are those where people mainly work in secondary and tertiary industries.
space
The concept of space includes location, spatial distribution and the organisation of space.
* Location plays an important role in determining the environmental characteristics of a place, the viability of an economic activity or the opportunities open to an individual, but the effects of location on human activities also depend on the infrastructure and technology that link places, and the way these are managed by businesses and governments.
* Spatial distribution, the second element in the concept of space, underlies much geographical study. The geographical characteristics of places have distributions across space that form patterns, and the analysis of these patterns contributes to an understanding of the causes of these characteristics and of the form they take in particular places. Spatial distributions also have significant environmental, economic, social and political consequences. Students learn to identify and evaluate these consequences and the policies that could be adopted to respond to them.
* The organisation of space concerns how it is perceived, structured, organised and managed by people, and how this creates particular types of spaces. Early primary school students can investigate how the space within their classroom and their school grounds is organised for different purposes. Older students can investigate how urban planning organises the environment, creates commercial, industrial, residential and green spaces, and manages the flows of goods and people between spaces.
Spatial association
Similarity in the spatial distributions of two or more phenomena. A spatial association suggests that there may be a relationship between the phenomena, which can then be explained through the operation of atmospheric, hydrologic, geomorphic, biological, socioeconomic or political processes.
spatial distribution
The arrangement of particular phenomena or activities across the surface of the Earth
sustainable
Allows for the continued use of the environment in such a way as not to harm it or to reduce its ability to provide for future generations
