Unit 1

• Cartographers: people who create maps for explorers to fallow
• Cartographer‘s map would estimate how long someone’s route and would collect that data to make the maps even more accurate
• Absolute Distance: a distance that can me measured with a standard unit of length
• Relative Distance: distance measured with criteria excluding a unit of measurement (Money or music)
• Absolute Direction: North, South, East, West
• Relative Direction: based on perspective (Up, Down, Left, Right)
• Map Scale: the mathematical relationship between the size of a map and the actual size of the area it represents
• Map Projection: any method used to represent the world or part of the world in 2 dimensions
• Different map projections can distort the size, direction and distance
• Conformal Projection: distorts the area but keeps the shape intact which gives the impression that some continents are larger the they actually are
• Equal-area projections: a map that distributes the distortion evenly across the map but will distort the shape of landmasses
• Reference Maps: a map that includes illustrated boundaries, toponyms, and other unique identifiers of places
• Thematic Maps: maps with a specific theme or purpose that focuses on the relationship among geographical data (spread of disease or trade patterns)
• Physical Maps: A map that shows the physical features of an area
• Political Map: A map that shows boundaries between government units (states)
• Quantitative: information measured by numbers (city population)
• Qualitative: interpretations of data sources (field operations or media reports)
• Census: collects data on the US population every 10 years
• The government uses census data to understand the agricultural quantity needed
• Individuals can conduct data-gathering by gathering photos and interviews to get data
• Geographic Information System (GIS): a computer system that captures, stores, organizes, and displays geographical data so that accurate maps can be created
• GIS stores information through specific surfaces
• Topography: the shape and features of land surfaces
• GIS can show topography and demographic information on people in different places
• GIS can create visuals that compare and organize ideas that can be used to solve issues
• Remote Sensing: geographical technology that gathers data from far away
• Recently, GIS has been used to identify vacant buildings and track natural disasters
• Drones are being used to take photos and collect date for GIS
• GPS provides the accurate and precise time it will take to get to a specific location
• Scales can provide a broader/closer look on data
• Geographers use a variety of scales to get a better understanding of situations
• Local Scales provide specific data that might not be available on larger scales
• Regional scales provide geographers with a broader understanding of an area
• People use geographical data to help decide where to live and how it will effect them
• Buisnuses use geographical data to decide where to go and what people are in the area
• Absolute Location: the exact location of an object
• Absolute location is often expressed using longitude and latitude
• Relative Location: A location is determined based off of other locations or features (Germany is southwest between Poland and France)
• Place: a location identified by physical and human characteristics
• Physical Characteristics: climate and landforms