Unit 1: Basics of Geography - Essential Vocabulary
• cardinal directions
• intermediate directions
• geography
• location
• absolute location
• relative location
• grid system
• latitude
• longitude
• hemisphere
• axis
• place
• human/environmental interaction
• infrastructure
• movement
• interdependence
• region – formal, functional and
perceptual
• cartographers/cartography
• scale/key/compass rose
• political map
• physical map
• Mercator map
• line graph
• circle graph
• pictograph
• bar graph
• charts
• tables
• Tropic of Cancer
• Tropic of Capricorn
• Arctic Circle
• Antarctic Circle
• Pacific Ocean
• Atlantic Ocean
• Indian Ocean
• Arctic Ocean
• mountains
• hills
• plains – coastal & interior
• plateaus/mesas
• canyons
• valleys
• basins
• isthmus
• delta
• strait
• seas
• bays/gulfs
• rivers
• tributaries
• creeks/brooks/
streams
• faults
• folds
• glaciers
• sheet glaciers
• ice cap
• fjords
• Pacific Rim or
Ring of Fire
• volcanoes
• earthquakes
• tsunami
• Pangaea
• seismic
• Earth
• planets
• Solar system
• rotation
• revolution
• day/night
• direct rays
• indirect rays
• elliptical orbit
• midnight sun
• natural resources
• minerals
• fossil fuels
• gas/coal/oil
• renewable resources
• nonrenewable resources
• imports
• exports
• interdependence
• vegetation zones
• deciduous
• mixed forest
• coniferous
• needle leaf evergreen
• broad leaf evergreen
• temperate grassland
• tundra
• tropical rainforest
• tropical grassland
• desert
• steppe
• highlands
• oasis
• cactus
• chaparral
• grapes/olives
• cork oak
• tumbleweed
• sagebrush
• canopy
• permafrost
• Taiga
• El Nino
• climate vs weather
• Tropical Climates: tropical rain forest, savanna
• Dry (arid) Climates: steppe, desert
• Mid Latitude Climates: Mediterranean, Humid Subtropical, Marine West Coast, Humid Continental
• High Latitude Climates: Sub Artic, Tundra, Ice Cap, Highland
• desertification
• condensation
• evaporation
• precipitation