My Geography Study Guide
Maps and Geographic skills
Vocabulary:
• Geography: Geography is the study of the distribution and interaction of physical and human features on earth. o Physical features are like bodies of water, landforms, climate, and natural fertility of soil. Human features are man made things, anything constructed by humans.
• Physical characteristics: Include the description of the natural landforms of a place such as mountains, rivers, beaches, landscape, animals, and plant life.
• Human (cultural) characteristics: Include the human designed cultural features of a place, from land use and architecture to forms of livelihood and religion to food and folk ways to transportation and communication networks.
• Geographic Inquiry: The study of questions that relate to people interacting with earth, which are asked by geographers.
• Latitude: Latitude lines are imaginary lines on the earth's surface that run east and west around the globe and tell you your distance north or south of the Equator.
• Longitude: Longitude lines are imaginary lines on the earth's surface that run from pole to pole around the globe and tell you your distance east or west from the Prime Meridian.
• Compass Rose: A symbol on a map used to display the orientation of the cardinal directions.
• Cardinal directions: The directions of North, East, West, and South.
• Orientation: Positioning, placement, location….
• Absolute location: The exact place on earth where a geographic feature is found.
• Relative location: A place/location in comparison to another. o A way of describing a place using reference point.
• Scale: Geographers decide on what size of scale they should use by determining how much detail to show. If many details are needed in a small area they, a large scale is used. If a few details of a large area is needed to be present, a small scale map is used.
• GIS: A computer database for storing and manipulating geographic information. Users can select the layers of information.
Vocabulary:
• Geography: Geography is the study of the distribution and interaction of physical and human features on earth. o Physical features are like bodies of water, landforms, climate, and natural fertility of soil. Human features are man made things, anything constructed by humans.
• Physical characteristics: Include the description of the natural landforms of a place such as mountains, rivers, beaches, landscape, animals, and plant life.
• Human (cultural) characteristics: Include the human designed cultural features of a place, from land use and architecture to forms of livelihood and religion to food and folk ways to transportation and communication networks.
• Geographic Inquiry: The study of questions that relate to people interacting with earth, which are asked by geographers.
• Latitude: Latitude lines are imaginary lines on the earth's surface that run east and west around the globe and tell you your distance north or south of the Equator.
• Longitude: Longitude lines are imaginary lines on the earth's surface that run from pole to pole around the globe and tell you your distance east or west from the Prime Meridian.
• Compass Rose: A symbol on a map used to display the orientation of the cardinal directions.
• Cardinal directions: The directions of North, East, West, and South.
• Orientation: Positioning, placement, location….
• Absolute location: The exact place on earth where a geographic feature is found.
• Relative location: A place/location in comparison to another. o A way of describing a place using reference point.
• Scale: Geographers decide on what size of scale they should use by determining how much detail to show. If many details are needed in a small area they, a large scale is used. If a few details of a large area is needed to be present, a small scale map is used.
• GIS: A computer database for storing and manipulating geographic information. Users can select the layers of information.