Unit 1 World Geography Vocab.
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Created by:
marmarm on February 7, 2012
Classes:
Class of 2015 STA, STA Class of 2015
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147 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 geography | the study of physical, biological, and cultural features of Earth's surface |
| perspective | the way a person looks at something |
| landscapes | scenery of places, including physical, human, and cultural features |
| cartography | the study of maps and map making |
| meteorology | the study of weather |
| region | an area with one or more common features that make it different from surrounding areas |
| formal region | region with one or more common features that make it different from surrounding areas |
| functional region | region with one or more common features that make it different from surrounding areas |
| perception | our awareness and understanding of the environment around us |
| perceptual regions | regions that reflect human feelings and attitudes |
| grid | lines crisscrossing each other in uniform intervals to create a pattern of squares |
| latitude | lines on a globe drawn in an east-west direction measured in degrees |
| longitude | lines on a globe drawn in a north-south direction measured in degrees |
| equator | an imaginary line that circles the globe ½ way between the north and south poles |
| parallels | lines of latitude |
| meridians | lines of longitude |
| prime meridian | an imaginary line drawn from the North Pole, through Greenwich, England, to the South Pole |
| degrees | units used to measure distances between parallels and between meridians |
| hemispheres | halves s of the globe divided by the equator and prime meridian |
| continents | large landmasses on earth's surface |
| atlas | a collection of maps in one book |
| map projections | different ways of representing a round earth on a flat map |
| great-circle route | shortest route between 2 places on the planet |
| compass rose | a map element with arrows pointing in all 4 principal directions |
| legend | a map key |
| contiguous | connecting or bordering |
| precipitation | condensed droplets of rain that fall as rain, snow, sleet, or hail |
| topography | elevation, shape, and layout of the land |
| climate graphs | graphs showing average climate and precipitation in a place |
| population pyramids | graphs showing the percentages of males and females by age group in a country's population |
| atmosphere | the envelope of gases surrounding a planet like Earth |
| hydrosphere | Earth's water in all of its forms |
| lithosphere | solid crust of Earth |
| biosphere | the part of Earth that includes all life forms |
| environment | combination of Earth's 4 spheres, including all the biological, chemical, and physical conditions that affect life |
| weather | the condition of the atmosphere at any given time or place |
| climate | weather conditions in a region over a long time |
| temperature | measurement of heat |
| greenhouse effect | the process by which Earth's atmosphere traps heat energy |
| global warming | the process by which Earth grows warmer over a period of time |
| cyclones | winds around the centers of low atmospheric pressure |
| prevailing winds | winds that blow from the same direction most of the time |
| doldrums | areas with no prevailing winds |
| front | zone of contact between two air masses of widely different temperatures or moisture levels |
| evaporation | process by which liquid changes to gas |
| humidity | the amount of water vapor in the air |
| condensation | the process by which water vapor changes from a gas into liquid droplets |
| orographic effect | cooling effect that occurs when air is forced to rise over a mountain, resulting in a wetter windward side and drier leeward side |
| rain shadow | a drier area on the leeward side of a mountain range |
| tornadoes | violent, swirling spirals of air |
| hurricanes | the most powerful and destructive tropical cyclones |
| typhoons | the term for hurricanes in the western Pacific Ocean |
| ecosystems | communities of plants and animals |
| monsoon | a wind system in which winds reverse directions and cause seasons of wet and dry weather |
| savannas | areas of tropical grasslands, scattered trees, and shrubs |
| arid | dry |
| deciduous forests | forests made up of trees that lose their leaves during part of the year |
| coniferous forests | forests of cone-bearing evergreen trees |
| permafrost | permanently frozen soil below the ground's surface |
| core | Earth's center where pressures and centers are very high |
| mantle | the section of Earth's interior that lies above the outer core and has the most mass |
| magma | liquid rock within Earth |
| plate tectonics | the theory that Earth's crust is divided into rigid plates that slowly move across the upper mantle |
| continental drift | the process by which Earth's plates slowly move across the upper mantle |
| rift valleys | places on Earth's surface where the crust stretches until it breaks |
| abyssal plains | areas of the ocean floor where rocks gradually sink because they have not supporting heat below them; the world's flattest and smoothest regions |
| continental shelves | areas where continental surfaces extend under the shallow ocean water around the continents |
| trench | a deep valley making a collision of plates, where one plate slides under the other |
| folds | places where rocks have been compressed into bends by colliding plates |
| faults | places where rock masses have been broken apart and are moving away from each other |
| weathering | the process by which rocks break and decay over time |
| sediment | small particles of weathered rock |
| erosion | movement of surface material from one location to another by wind, water, and ice |
| glaciers | thick masses of ice, including great ice sheets and bodies of ice that flow down mountains like slow rivers |
| plateau | an elevated flatland that rises sharply above nearby land on at least one side |
| alluvial fan | fan-shaped deposit of mud and gravel often found along the base of mountains |
| delta | accumulation of sediment at the mouth of a river |
| desalinization | process of removing salt from ocean water |
| hydrologic cycle | movement of water through the hydrosphere |
| headwaters | first and smallest streams formed from the runoff of a mountain, eventually forming rivers |
| tributary | any stream or river that flows into a larger stream or river |
| watershed | the entire region drained by a river and its tributaries |
| drainage basin | a region drained by a river and its tributaries |
| estuaries | semi-enclosed bodies of water, seawater, and fresh water formed where a river meets an inlet of the sea |
| wetlands | landscapes that are covered with water for at least part of the year |
| ground water | water found below ground |
| water table | the groundwater level at which all the cracks and spaces in rock are filled with water |
| humus | broken-down plant and animal matter found in soil |
| leaching | downward movement of minerals and humus in soil |
| contour plowing | plowing fields across a hill, rather than up and down |
| soil exhaustion | a condition in which soil has lost nutrients and becomes nearly useless for farming |
| crop rotation | the practice of planting different crops in alternating years |
| irrigation | a process in which water is artificially supplied to the land |
| soil salinization | salt buildup in the soil |
| deforestation | destruction or loss of forests |
| reforestation | the replanting of a forest |
| acid rain | polluted rain that can damage trees and kill fish in lakes |
| aqueducts | artificial channels for transporting water |
| aquifers | rock layers where ground water is plentiful |
| fossil water | ground water that is not replenished by rain |
| ore | mineral-bearing rock |
| fossil fuels | energy resources-formed from the remains of ancient plants and animals-including coal, natural gas, and petroleum |
| petrochemicals | certain products made from oil |
| hydroelectric power | electricity produced by moving water |
| geothermal energy | heat of Earth's interior |
| demography | statistical study of human populations |
| population density | the average number of people living in an area; usually expressed by people per square mile(or kilometer) |
| birthrate | the number of live births each year for every 1000 people living in a place |
| death rate | total number of deaths each year for every 1000 people living in a place |
| migration | the process of moving from one place to live in another |
| emigrants | people who leave a country to live someplace else |
| immigrants | people who come to a new country to live |
| push factors | factors causing people to leave a location |
| pull factors | factors attracting people to a new location |
| refugees | people who have been forced to leave an area |
| culture | all the features of a people's way of life |
| culture traits | learned activities and behaviors that people often take part in |
| culture region | an area in which people have many shared culture traits |
| ethnic groups | human populations that share a common culture or ancestry |
| acculturation | process in which an individual or group adopts some of the traits of another culture |
| innovation | new idea that a culture accepts |
| diffusion | a process occurring when an idea or innovation spreads from one person or group to another and is adopted |
| globalization | the process in which connections around the world increase and cultures become more alike |
| traditionalism | following longtime processes and opposing many modern technologies and ideas |
| fundamentalism | movement in which people believe in strictly following certain established principles or teachings |
| dialect | a regional variety of languages |
| lingua franca | a language of trade and communication used by people who speak different languages |
| ethnic religions | religions founded among people of one ethnic group and that generally have not spread into other cultures |
| animist religions | religions in which people believe in the presence of spirits and forces of nature |
| polytheism | the belief in many gods |
| universalizing religion | religions that seek followers all over the world |
| monotheism | the belief in one god |
| missionaries | people whose goal is to spread their religions |
| mosques | Islamic houses of worship |
| hajj | religious journey to Mecca required of Muslims |
| market economy | an economic system in which people choose freely what to buy and sell |
| free enterprise | system that lets competition among businesses determine prices of products |
| capitalism | an economic association in which businesses, industries, and resources are privately owned |
| command economy | an economy in which the government decides what to produce, where to make it, and what price to charge |
| communism | an economic and political system in which the government owns or controls almost all the means of production |
| gross national product(GNP) | the total value of goods and services that a country produces in a year |
| gross domestic product(GDP) | the total value of goods and services created within a country |
| industrialization | the process by which manufacturing based on machine becomes widespread in an area |
| literacy rate | percentage of people who can read and write |
| developed countries | countries with high levels of industrialization and high standards of living |
| infrastructure | system of roads, ports, and other facilities needed by a modern economy |
| developing countries | countries with less productive economies than developed countries and have low standards of living |
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