1st Quarter Vocabulary
5 themes of Geography – MR. HELP – Movement, Region, Human Environment Interaction, Location, and Place
Environment – The circumstances, objects, or conditions by which one is surrounded
Population Density – the number of people in a city, country, or district per square mile
Regions – Parts of the earth that share common characteristics
Migrations – Actions of moving from one place to another (push and pull factors); usually due to famine, disease, economic opportunity, technology, and war
Settlement – Establishment of a person in life as in a fixed place or a permanent residence
Map Projection – a way of drawing a round earth on a flat map; Robinson/Mercator
Place – Physical (landforms) or cultural characteristics that define an area
Urban – city or high-populated area
Rural – small town or country; low populated area
Adaptation – Enabling/changing something or someone to fit into a certain environment or situation (change house, clothing, tools)
Developed country – A country with a high level of education, effective government, and specialized jobs
Natural resources – Like water, oil, natural gas, and coal
Climate – Usual weather pattern of an area over a long period of time
Weather – Condition of the earth’s atmosphere over a short period of time
Elevation – Height of land above sea level
Longitude lines – Prime Meridian, these lines touch at North and South poles
Latitude lines – Equator; these lines never touch
Economic system – how people produce goods/service; how they distribute them among themselves; and how they use them; Examples – markets (free enterprise/capitalism)/mixed/command/traditional
Market Economy – (free enterprise/capitalism): consumers or citizens can choose their jobs and buy any type of goods and services
Mixed Economy – Some businesses are owned by the government and others are owned by private citizens.
Command Economy – The government owns the country’s resources and businesses. The government decides what goods should be produced; people’s choices of jobs, goods, and services are limited.
Traditional Economy – People use the same work methods and tools that were used a long time ago; They do not produce enough goods to have a surplus to sell so they can not earn extra money to buy better equipment. This makes certain that the working method will never change.
Barter – A money-less exchange of goods or services.
Money – Any object or material serving as a medium of exchange and a measure of value.
Credit – A debt system enabling people to get goods/services before fully paying for them.
Scarcity – A limited supply of a good or service; usually high prices.
Interdependence – Where people, businesses, and countries rely on others to survive.
Profit – Money made after the bills are paid; Sales Revenue – bills = profit.
Invest – Commit money in order to gain a financial return.
Productivity – The amount of goods or services that can be made in a certain amount of time; increased with new knowledge, technology, and specialization.
Specialization – When one person does a specific job in a business.
Competition – Where more than one person or business make a good or service.
Supply – Amount of goods/services a business can make for a certain price.
Demand – Amount of goods/services consumers want to buy at a certain price.
Production Equation – Land(natural resources) + Labor(work done by people) + Capital (machines/tools) = goods/services/products
Good – Object bought that you take with you.
Service – Something paid for that other people do for you.
Consumer – A person who uses up any good or service from a producer.
Producer – Maker of a good or service.
Tax – A payment to the government.
Tariff – Tax on imported goods.
Excise Tax – Tax placed on goods made, sold, and used within a country.
Import – Bringing in products from another country.
Export – Selling goods to another country.
Blockade – Something that prevents goods and people from moving in and out of an area.
Embargo – Stop buying or selling goods to another country; sometimes countries set up a blockade.
Opportunity Cost – Second choice; what was given up.
Monopoly – When only one producer makes a product; leads to high prices; no competition.
Culture – A way of life for a group of people including clothing, religion, art, food, tradition, government, language, and daily life. (CRAFTGOLD)
Civilization – High developed culture with a religion, government, and specialization.
Custom – Usage or practice common to many or to a particular place, class, or individual.
Language – The words, their pronunciation, and the methods of combining them used and understood by a considerable community.
Artifact – An object made by humans that represents a culture.
Bering Land Bridge – A strip of land connecting Alaska with Russia that emerged from underwater around 38,000 BC.
Immigrant – A person who move to another country after leaving his or her homeland.
Immune – Having a natural resistance to disease.
Conquistador – A Spanish soldier and explorer who led military expeditions in the Americas and captured land for Spain.
Pueblos – aboveground houses made of a heavy clay called adobe that were built by Native Americans of the southwestern United States.
Teepees – cone-shaped shelters made of buffalo skins used by Native Americans in the Plains region.
Totems – Images of ancestors or animal spirits; often carved onto tall, wooden poles by Native American peoples of the Pacific Northwest.
Maya – Lived in Central America; had terrace farming, trades, built cities, religions, wrote hieroglyphics; finally destroyed by the Spanish.
Terrace farming - a type of farming that was developed first by the Inca people; this method of farming uses "steps" that are built into the side of a mountain or hill.
Aztec – Located near Mexico City; built causeways and aqueducts, trade, were religious; conquered by Cortes (Spanish).
Inca – In South America Andes Mountains the empire had a military, government, farming, and bridges; conquered by the Spanish; developed terrace farming.
Divine right – Theory of government that holds that monarchy receives the right to rule directly from God and not from the people.
Class system – System in which members of social classes are prevented from moving into other classes
Perspective – An opinion or view from a certain person or group.
Ethnic group – A group of the same race (African American, Caucasian, Asian)
Conflict – A disagreement, clash, fight, or struggle.
Competition – Where 2 or more groups want the same thing.
Oligarchy – A small, elite group that has control of the government.
Democracy – A type of government where power comes from the people; can be direct or indirect.
Republic – a government in which people elect officials to represent them; representative democracy.
Monarchy - A form of government ruled by a single person and power is hereditary meaning it passes from parent to child.
Anarchy – No government exist.
Communism - A political and economic system in which the major productive resources in a society—such as mines, factories, and farms—are owned by the government, and wealth is divided among citizens equally or according to individual need.