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Geography Glossary
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human and physical characteristics:
- human characteristics refer to features of human activities such as farms, settlements, cities, ski resorts, shopping centres.
- physical characteristics refer to features of the natural environment such as rivers, mountains, forests, climate, coasts.
spatial concepts: Spatial concepts are the organising concepts common to all branches of geography. From Level 1 through to Level 6, and beyond, spatial concepts can be used and applied according to the stages of learning – laying the foundations, building breadth and depth, and developing pathways. Although there are many organising concepts, there are nine commonly recognised concepts:
- location: Where natural and built phenomena are found on the surface of the Earth. A place has an absolute location measured accurately by co-ordinates, and a relative location measured by distance and direction from one place to another.
- scale: The term ‘scale’ includes two uses.
- The map scale shows the relationship between measurements on a map and the actual measurements on the ground. Map scales are expressed in words, by a line scale, or as a representative fraction. A large scale map covers a small area with detail; a small scale map will cover a larger area with less detail.
- The observational scale refers to the size of an area being studied. A range of scales includes the following:
- local scale: Involves the smallest area and is immediate to wherever the study is taking place. Fieldwork is conducted at the local scale.
- regional scale: Covers a larger area than the local scale. The study of the Murray–Darling Basin is at a regional scale.
- national scale: Focuses study on a nation, for example, the Australian government's response to a global phenomenon.
- international scale: Considers two or more nations. The combined efforts of several Asian nations would be an example.
- global scale: Considers a significant proportion of the Earth, for example, the distribution of rainforests across the Earth.
- distance: The space between different locations on Earth. The absolute or linear distance is measured in units such as metres and kilometres. The relative distance is the length of time it takes to travel from one location to another, cost involved and the convenience of the journey.
- distribution: The arrangement of things at or near the Earth’s surface viewed at a variety of scales.
- region: A definable area of the Earth’s surface which contains one or more common characteristics that distinguish it from other areas. Regions are different for different groups of people. For example, Oakleigh South (local), Gippsland (regional), Australia (national), Sub Saharan Africa (international).
- spatial change over time: The degree to which an area has changed its geographic characteristics, features or patterns of use over a period of time. Change occurs at varying rates at different times and may be considered at different scales. For example, the redevelopment of the Melbourne Docklands since the 1990s would look at distribution, spatial association between things, movement and spatial interaction.
- movement: The change in location of one or more things across the Earth’s surface. Movement includes direction, method, rate, nature and volume.
- spatial association: The degree to which things are similarly arranged over space. Spatial association compares distribution patterns. A strong spatial association occurs where two distributions are similar. Weak association describes little similarity. No association occurs when two distributions are dissimilar.
- spatial interaction: The strengths of the relationships between phenomena and places in the environment, and the degree to which they influence or interact with each other. Over time, the impact of people on the environment changes and the environment in turn changes people.
