De Anza College___________________________
Social Sciences

Key Terms:
map, thematic map, cartogram, scale, projections, globe, axis, pole, latitude/longitude coordinates, site and situation, exact/relative location, distance decay, context (cultural, historical and spatial), process, boundary, ecology, four types of regions: 1) formal region, 2) nodal or functional region, 3) perceptual or vernacular region, 4) natural region.

Study Questions:
Define the word "map", Define "perspective", Define "scale" What would be the specialty of an area studies specialist? (a regional geographer). How does the 'Man-Land' tradition differ from the Earth Sciences Tradition? How are flat map projections created? How are they distorted and why? How does scale limit the amount and type of information that can be shown on a map? Distinguish between different types of regions.  How do the borders of different regions differ? Why is Istambul, Turkey located where it is? Explain in terms of site and situation.

Key Terms:
global climate change, greenhouse effect, greenhouse gasses, (carbon compounds- CO2-Carbon Dioxide, CFC's, CH4-Methane, etc.), fossil fuels, photosynthesis, systems theory, dynamic equilibrium, inputs & outputs, salt flushing, ocean currents, ice cores, pollen cores.

Study Questions:
What is the greenhouse effect, what human processes are contributing to it, and what are its potential implications?, Which places will be most affected by potential sea level rise?, Why might the earth's climate cool abruptly?  How were scientists able to discover that climate changes occur rapidly? What affect might climate change have on European agriculture and civilization?

Key Terms:
urban sprawl, mass transit, automobility, commute, suburbanization, urban morphology, raison d'être, urban function, perception/mental map, balkanize.
Study Questions:
How did changes in transportation technology change North American cities?  What is the relationship of any city to its hinterland? What is the relationship between North American urban morphology and the greenhouse effect? How can public transit help reduce our carbon emissions to the atmosphere? What factors determine the location of a city? What factors influence the contents of an individual's personal perception map?

Key Terms
Hispanic, rainforests, deforestation, biodiversity, sustenance, prosperity, El Niño, convection, rainshadow, verticality.

Study Questions:
Describe the geographic distribution of "Hispanics." Explain why this group is too diverse to be understood as a single people.  If Rainforests cover a small part of earth's surface, why is their continued existence considered to be so important? Describe the conflict between the rubber tappers (Chico Mendez) and cattle ranchers in Amazonia. Why does deforestation contribute to the greenhouse effect? Describe the El Niño effect in terms of ocean temperature, currents, and related weather abnormalities in Latin America. What factors account for differences in climate from place to place? What effect do mountains have on climate?
 

Key Terms:
nation, state, empire, multinationalism, border, homeland, sovereignty, ethnicity, minority, language group, friction of distance, modernization, industrial revolution, mechanization, population, continentality, maritime climate.

Study Questions:
What is the relationship between political boundaries and the following: ethnicity, economics, and language? Is a 'nation' a contiguous entity? Can culture be 'mapped'? Describe the potential problems encountered by a nation without a state. Explain the history behind the current geographic distribution of Romance languages in Europe. Describe the problems encountered by the break-up of Czechoslovakia into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Describe the reasons for the conflict in Dagestan, Russia. Why is the population of Russia declining?