World Geography 1st Semester Review

Cultural Hearth

FACT: surplus food set the stage for the rise of cities and civilizations.

Diffusion

Spreading from one culture to another

1.) increased standard of living--levels of wealth, goods and necessities available (esp. for people in poorer countries.) 2.) A larger selection of competitively priced goods and services. 3.) The growth of creativity and innovations though global competition. 4.) New technology 5.) Cooperation and awareness. Governments are better able to work together toward common goals. 6.) Greater access to foreign culture.

What are some benefits of globalization?

Sovereignty

a freedom and power to decide on politics and actions who governs the country.

Sunbelt

a mild climate region in the southern and southwestern portions of United States.

Functions of an urban area

manufacturing, retail, service centers These generate employment and wealth. Larger cities have more functions.

Distribution of world population

the pattern of human settlement varies from country to country. Rapid Growth, Slow Growth, Decline

Types of borders

1.) natural boundary-follows physical geographic features-mountains, rivers, etc.. 2.) cultural boundary-geographical divides two identifiable cultures 3.) Geometric boundary-often treaties might create this to separate countries or nations- often follow straight lines.

Biomes

A biome is a major type of ecological community defined primarily by distinctive natural vegetation and animal groups. Two main factors affect the distribution of Earth's biomes—climate and terrain.

Relative/ Absolute location

An absolute location is an exact global address derived from the latitude and longitude lines that intersect at that place. For example, Tokyo, Japan, is located at approximately 36° N latitude and 140° E longitude. A relative location uses a reference point to identify one place in relation to another. For example, locate the city of Paris on the map of France and use this as your reference point. The relative location of the city of Lyon can be described as southeast of Paris.

Coriolis Effect

As winds blow because of pressure differences on Earth's surface, warm tropical air moves toward the Poles and cool polar air moves toward the Equator. This movement of air creates the global winds that blow in fairly constant patterns called prevailing winds. The direction of prevailing winds is determined by latitude and is also affected by the Earth's movement. As the Earth rotates from west to east, the paths of the global winds are deflected to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and deflected to the left in the Southern Hemisphere. This phenomenon is called the Coriolis effect and causes prevailing winds to blow diagonally rather than along strict north, south, east, or west directions. The strength of the Coriolis effect is proportional to the speed of Earth's rotation at different latitudes. The Coriolis Effect is also seen in ocean currents.

The information revolution

At the end of the twentieth century, the world experienced a new turning point and a new revolutions. What was this revolution? -- The revolution of technology-- 1.) computers and the internet (storing information and INSTANTLY send it all over the world)

Location of Great Plains

From the panhandle south to Edwards Plateau and the Balcones Escarpment and between the Pecos River and Colorado River and includes the Llano Basin and the High Plains. The Llano Basin contains rolling plains, hills, rivers, lakes, and reservoirs that make it a center of tourism, hunting, and livestock production. The Edwards Plateau has gently rolling country, but the cover of thin soil limits farming. The local economy depends largely on the raising of cattle, goats, and sheep.

GNP/GDP

GNP: gross national product is the total value of goods and services produced by a country over a year. GDP: Gross domestic product is the value of goods and services produced within a country in a year.

Dominion

In 1867 the colonies of Quebec, Ontario, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick united as provinces of the Dominion of Canada, a new country within the British Empire. Canada was created as a dominion, a partially self-governing country with close ties to Great Britain.

Nationalism

Is the belief that the individual's loyalty and devotion to the n action or state surpasses other individual or group interests. Spread in the 19th century--starting in Latin America and continuing in Europe.

Globalization

Is the process by which the countries of the world have experienced greater connectivity or the degree of connection between people, places, and things. This is true in the areas of economics, poetics, and culture.

Lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, biosphere

Lithosphere is the land and ocean basins (land beneath the oceans) which make up the Earth's crust. About 30 percent of the Earth's surface is land, including continents and islands. Hydrosphere includes the oceans, lakes, rivers, underground water, and other bodies of water. About 70 percent of our planet's surface is water. Atmosphere is the air we breathe, a thin layer of gases extending above the planet's surface. (78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and some argon and other gases. Biosphere is all the people, animals, and plants live on or close to the Earth's surface or in the atmosphere. It supports life.

Relationship between temperature and equator

Low latitude zone includes the equator and receives direct rays from the sun year-round and therefore has warm to hot climates.

Pangaea

Many scientists believe that most of the landmasses forming our present-day continents were once part of one gigantic supercontinent.

Purpose of map projections

Maps are better than globes for showing more in-depth information. Cartographers convert the three-dimensional globe image onto a flat map by creating a map projection. But because map projections can distort one or more of the properties of size, shape, distance, area, or direction, the cartographer must choose the projection to use based on the purpose of the map. It is important to know which properties are distorted, and how much they are distorted, so you can use and interpret the map accurately. Three major categories of map projections are planar, cylindrical, and conic.

Market/mixed/traditional/command economy

Market Economy: individuals and private groups make decisions about what to produce. Mixed Economy: one in which the government supports and regulates free enterprise through decisions that affect the marketplace. Traditional Economy: habit and custom determine the rules for all economic activity. Command Economy: the government owns or directs the means of production - land, labor, capital like machinery, and business managers and controls distribution.

Mental maps

Mental maps provide a good way for answering questions. They help people remember important information about places. They describe an individual's internal map. A mental map can be used to describe small or large areas. You can have a mental map of your classroom or of your home. You can also have a mental map of what you saw on an airplane flight across the country. Mental maps help geographers understand how people think about the space around them. Mental maps mix exact facts with a person's ideas about or knowledge of a place. For example, students may be asked to memorize the locations of the original 13 colonies.

Rain shadow

Most of the precipitation falls on the windward side of the mountain, or the side of the mountain range facing the wind. After the precipitation is released, winds become warmer and drier as they descend on the opposite, or leeward, side of the mountains. The hot, dry air produces little precipitation in an effect known as a rain shadow. The rain shadow effect often causes dry areas—and even deserts—to develop on the leeward sides of mountain ranges.

Orographic/ convectional/ frontal precipitation

Orographic: warm, moist air is forced up a mountain, cools rapidly, and form precipitation on the windward side of the mountain. Liquid forms of precipitation include rain and drizzle. Also called relief precipitation. Convectional precipitation: When the land becomes very hot, it heats the air above it. This air expands and rises. As it rises, cooling and condensation take place. If it continues to rise, rain will fall. This is very common in tropical areas. Frontal precipitation: rainfall that occurs where two air masses meet. Warmer, humid air rises over cooler air and condenses to form clouds.

*An increasing gap between the rich and the poor. Many poorer countries obtain loans from wealthier countries, but are often unable to repay them. *loss of culture-the spread of Western culture results in a narrowing of beliefs and values from that country and the unique characteristics of individual cultures begin to fade. *The spread of disease across a large area or even the world. More people are moving to more parts of the Earth, carrying deadly diseases like HIV/AIDS (this is called Pandemics)

Other challenges or negatives for globalization are?

suburbs

Outlying communities around a city.

American Revolution War Causes

Parliament's unfair policies forced on Americans. Protests.

Questions answered by the five themes

Place answers "What's it like?" Region answers "How are locations similar or different?" Location answers "Where is it?" Human-Environment Interaction answers "How do people relate to the physical world?" Movement looks at transportation of products, people, and ideas.

Levels of economic activity

Primary: gathering raw materials to make the finished product. Secondary: using the raw materials to make finished products. Tertiary: service industries Quaternary: providing information, management, and research services (research development)

Plate tectonics

Refers to all of the physical processes that create many of the Earth's physical features. Scientists theorize that plates moving around the globe have produced Earth's largest features like continents, oceans and mountain ranges. Most of the time, plate movement is so gradual—only about 1 inch (2 to 3 cm) a year—that it cannot be felt unless there is an earthquake.

Desalination

Removing the salt from ocean water or groundwater to make freshwater for people to drink. Desalinated ocean water is expensive.

outsourcing

Setting up business abroad to produce parts and products for domestic use or sale is called _____________.

Subduction, divergent, transform, convergent

Subduction: Mountains (the Andes) are also created when an oceanic plate collides with a continental plate. The heavier oceanic plate dives beneath the lighter continental plate in this process. Accretion is when the oceanic plate slides under the continental plate at a shallow angle. Divergent: occurs when two tectonic plates move away from each other. Transform: two plates sliding past each other. Convergent: when two plates come together.

Poles at 90*

The North Pole's latitude is 90 degrees north, and the South Pole's latitude is 90 degrees south.

Moraines

This is when glaciers melt and recede in some places and they leave behind large piles of rocks and debris.

Constitutional monarchy

This type of monarchy share governmental powers with elected legislatures or serve as ceremonial leaders and is called _______________ monarchy. For example, United Kingdom, Sweden, Jordan, Japan, and Thailand.

Tropic of Cancer/ Tropic of Capricorn

Tropic of Cancer: latitude line at 23½° N that passes through Mexico, North Africa, and India. The summer solstice is around June 21 and is the longest day of sunlight to the Northern Hemisphere. It marks the beginning of the summer season in the Northern Hemisphere. Tropic of Capricorn: latitude line at 23½° S running through South America, the southern tip of Africa, and Australia. The winter solstice is around December 22 and is the shortest day of sunlight in the Northern Hemisphere and signaling the beginning of the winter season.

Weather/ climate

Weather is the condition of the atmosphere in one place over a short period of time, such as hours or days. For example, when you look outside the window in the morning to decide what to wear that day, you are checking the weather. Climate, on the other hand, refers to the average weather conditions as measured over many years. Climate is the reason why you decide to buy certain types of clothing to wear based on where you live. The relationship between the Earth's position in relation to the sun affects the climate.

Weathering

Weathering breaks down rocks. The Earth is changed by two basic kinds of weathering. Physical weathering occurs when large masses of rock are physically broken down into smaller pieces. For example, water seeps into the cracks in a rock and freezes, expanding and causing the rock to split. Chemical weathering changes the chemical makeup of rocks. For example, rainwater that contains carbon dioxide from the air easily dissolves certain rocks such as limestone. Many of the world's caves have been and continue to be formed by this process.

Role of wetlands and swamps

Wetlands and swamps such as Florida's Everglades shelter a great variety of vegetation and wildlife.

OUTSOURCING--Setting up business abroad to produce parts and products for domestic use or sale. Outsourcing can provide jobs to many people in one country but can also take away jobs from those in another country, which negatively impacts the standard of living.

What are some challenges or negatives of globalization?

The love for one country and loyalty with emphasis on values and beliefs

What is Patriotism?

When a country grows to quickly, the use of resources are used up quickly. Countries may face shortages of housing, food, clothing, water. Rapid resource growth strains these limited resources

What is the negative effect of a population growing to quickly?

US high tech region

While agriculture and manufacturing are still important, the postindustrial economy is dominated by high-tech, biotechnology, and service industries. In the high-tech industry, California's Silicon Valley and cities such as Seattle, Washington, and Austin and Dallas, both in Texas, are leaders in software development. The North Carolina cities of Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill form the Research Triangle region, known for attracting biotechnology companies. In recent years, businesses in the United States have turned to offshoring, the practice of setting up plants abroad to produce parts or products for domestic use and international sale. While offshoring decreases the costs of goods, some people argue that it takes jobs away from American workers.

Manufacturing Belt

a concentrated region of manufacturing industries in the northeastern and midwestern United States.

Manufacturing belt

a concentrated region of manufacturing industries in the northeastern and midwestern United States.

Acculturation

cultural modification of an individual, group, or people by adapting to or borrowing traits from another culture.

Postindustrial economy

economy that emphasizes services and technology rather than industry and manufacturing.

Smog

haze caused by the interaction of ultraviolet solar radiation with chemical fumes from automobile exhausts and other pollution sources

Subarctic climate

is a climate characterised by long, usually very cold winters, and short, cool to mild summers.

Definition of Geography

is the study of distribution and interaction of physical and human features on the earth.

Natural vegetation

plant life that grows in a certain area if people have not changed the natural environment

Acid rain

precipitation carrying large amounts of dissolved acids, which kills wildlife and damages buildings, forests, and crops.

Push-pull factors

reasons people leave their homeland and migrate to another region, like 1.) better social and economic conditions and religions or political freedoms. Most people move from one place or another in search of a better environment, economic opportunity or a better life. 2.) Wars, persecution or famines

Types of Natural Resources

renewable; nonrenewable; oil, gas, coal, agriculture, cattle, water

Tar Sands in Alberta

sand or sandstone naturally impregnated with petroleum.

Urban sprawl

spreading of urban developments on developed land near a city

Per capita income

the average amount of money earned by each person in a political unit.

Timberline

the elevation above which trees cannot grow

Population density

the number of people living on a square mile or square kilometer of land; used to see how crowded an area is.

Functional Region

this incorporates a central node and a surrounding area that is connected to the node by some defined function.

Immigration

to change residence from a country to begin living permanently in another country.

Emigration

to leave one's own country to settle permanently in another.

Migration

The movement of people from one place to another

Erosion

Erosion wears away the Earth's surface by wind, glaciers, and moving water. Wind erosion carries small particles of dust, sand, and soil from one place to another. Plants help protect the land from wind erosion. Wind erosion can provide some benefits like when the dust carried by wind forms large deposits of mineral-rich soil.

Culture

FACT: A particular culture can be understood by looking at various elememts: what language is spoken, what religions are practiced, and what smaller groups form as parts of their society. The study of a culture also includes examining people's daily lives.

Culture

FACT: Language is a key element in a culture's development. Through language, people communicate information and experiences and pass on cultural values and tardiness. Sharing a language is one of the STRONGEST cultural forces for a culture.

Cultural Hearth

FACT: The most influential culture hearths developed in ares that make up the modern countries of Egypt, Iraq, Pakistan, China, and Mexico.

Cultural Hearth

FACT: These five culture heaths had certain geographic features in common-- 1.) farming settlements w/mild temperatures, climate, and fertile land. 2.) located near a major river or source of water. 3.) Made us of materials from that area. or favorable environments. Dug canals and ditches to irrigate the land.

Ground water

Freshwater that lies beneath the Earth's surface, comes from rain and melted snow that filter through the soil and from water that seeps into the ground from lakes and rivers. Wells and springs tap into groundwater. An underground porous rock layer often saturated by very slow flows of water is called an aquifer.

Quebequois

British migration fueled French nationalism among Quebecois which are Quebec's French-speaking inhabitants.

Overfishing

Catching more fish than are being replaced through reproduction.

Continentality

Climatic effect within the interior areas of a landmass is called continentality. For example, warmer air from the Atlantic Ocean moderates temperatures in western Russia. Most of Russia, however, lies well within the Eurasian landmass, far away from any moderating ocean influences. As a result, much of the country's interior has more extreme variations in temperature and little precipitation.

Deciduous/ coniferous

Coniferous trees, most of which are evergreens, have cones. Deciduous trees, most of which have broad leaves, change color and drop their leaves in autumn.

Culture Region

Division of the Earth in which people share a similar way of life, including language, religion, economic systems and values. Culture Region: The different countries have certain traits in common. They many share similar economic systems, forms of government, and social groups. The food, clothing, and housing of people in these countries may all have common characteristics as well.

Equator/ Prime Meridian/ International Date Line

Equator: The imaginary line that divides the Earth in halves, north and south. Prime Meridian: The zero-degree line of longitude, found in Greenwich, England. International Date Line: The longitude line located 180° from the Prime Meridian, on the opposite side of the Earth, is called the International Date Line.

Solstice/ equinox

Equinox: Twice a year (around March 21 and September 23), the direct sunlight falls on the Equator. This day is called an equinox, meaning "equal night," because daytime and nighttime hours are equal. On the equinox, equal amounts of light reach the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Solstice: either of the two times in the year, the summer solstice and the winter solstice, when the sun reaches its highest or lowest point in the sky at noon, marked by the longest and shortest days.

Types of Regions

Geographers identify three types of regions: formal, functional, and perceptual. A formal region features a unifying characteristic, such as a product produced in that region. For example, the Corn Belt is a band of farmland stretching from Ohio to Nebraska in the United States. A functional region incorporates a central node and a surrounding area that is connected to the node by some defined function. For example, a cell tower provides the central node for a surrounding area in which cell phone users can obtain phone reception. A perceptual region uses a looser standard like commonly accepted tradition or value than by objective data. For example, the term "heartland" refers to a central area in the United States in which traditional values of family and hospitality are believed to predominate. A perceptual region could also be labeled a vernacular region. This refers to patterns native to a particular region in spite of boundary lines. The Creole dialect that is spoken in southern Louisiana is an example of a vernacular region.

Greenhouse effect

Greenhouse gases—atmospheric gases such as water vapor, methane, and carbon dioxide (CO2)—absorb the reradiated heat energy and trap it so that most of it cannot escape back into space. The atmosphere is therefore like a greenhouse. It traps enough radiation to warm the land, water, and air and help plants grow without overheating. This greenhouse effect is the warming of the Earth that occurs when the sun's radiation passes through the atmosphere, is absorbed by the Earth, and is radiated as heat energy back into the atmosphere where it cannot escape into space. Without the greenhouse effect, Earth's average temperature would be below 0°F (-17°C) and life as we know it could not exist.

Economic value of Niagra Falls

Niagara Falls, on the Niagara River, forms another part of the Canada-U.S. border. The falls are a key source of hydroelectric power.

political boundaries

Often not permanent and change as the result of war or territorial disputes.

Mid-latitude climates - temperate zones

The midlatitude climates include four temperate climate regions: humid subtropical, marine west coast, Mediterranean, and humid continental. Midlatitude climates experience variable weather patterns due to two conflicting air masses. Tropical air masses move from the Equator to the Poles, and polar air masses move in the opposite direction from the Poles to the Equator.

Transportation Systems in Canada

The development of good transportation systems has been important to the economic growth of Canada because of its large land area. Most of Canada's transportation systems are located in the southern part of the country. The Trans-Canada Highway runs 4,860 miles (7,821 km) from Victoria, British Columbia, to St. John's, Newfoundland. Communication networks (linking systems) have also helped the economy to develop. Cellular and digital services using satellites (machines sent into space for communication) have made telephone communication more available in faraway places. Business deals and personal communications can be done instantly using e-mail and the Internet.

Globalization

The expansion of economic, political, and cultural process to the point that they become global in scale and impact.

Terrestrial planets

The four inner planets are called terrestrial planets because they have solid, rocky crusts. Mercury and Venus are scalding hot, and Mars is a cold, barren desert. Only Earth has temperatures that are moderate enough to allow liquid water at the surface and to support a variety of life.

Fossil fuel burning

The fuels oxidise completely and produce carbon dioxide and water. This can lead to global warming, acid rain and other types of pollution.

Humid continental

The humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russian-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, which is typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot summers and cold winter since the moderating affects of the ocean winds are not around.

Continental Divide

The line in the Rockies that separates rivers flowing eastward and westward.

Inuit

The main indigenous groups that exist in Canada today are the Inuit, the Métis, and First Nations peoples. The Inuit are the indigenous people of the Canadian Arctic. Métis are persons who have both indigenous and French Canadian ancestry.

Cultural Diffusion

The spread of culture traits, materials, and non-materials from one culture to another. The earliest humans were small groups of hunters and gatherers, who moved from place to place in search of animals to hunt, plants to gather, water and useful materials. Cultural diffusion has increased rapidly during the last 250 years. The period known as the INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION had power-driven machines and factories to mass produce goods and items.

pandemics

The spread of disease across a large area or even the world esp. when more people are moving to more parts of the Earth, carrying deadly diseases.

Continental drift

The theory that the continents were once joined and then slowly drifted apart.

Water cycle

The total amount of water on Earth does not change, but it is constantly moving—from the oceans to the air to the land and finally back to the oceans. This regular movement of water is called the water cycle. The sun drives the water cycle by evaporating water from the surfaces of bodies of water.

Water table

The uppermost level at which groundwater is found.

Culture

The way of life that a group of people who share similar beliefs and customs. They share similar culture traits, including beliefs, customs, technology and material items.

Cultural hearth

The world's first civilization's --early centers of civilization whose ideas and practices spread to surrounding areas. ALSO center where cultures developed and from which ideas and traditions spread outward.