How did the oceans become salinized?
Dissolved salts which have accumulated from runoff.
What relationship does density have with the Hydrosphere?
The density of sea water makes circulation different, slight density differences cause water to move.
What are the two basic components of the Biosphere?
Biotic and Abiotic.
Six levels of Ecology? (Smallest to Largest?)
Organisms, Populations, Communities, Ecosystems, Biomes, Biosphere.
Environment
The physical conditions of the natural surroundings.
Biomes
A major type of ecological community defined primarily by distinctive natural vegetation and animal groups. The characteristics of biomes may overlap each other.
Natural Vegetation
Typical plant life in areas where humans have not altered the landscape.
Lithosphere
All inorganic material besides water and gases.
Deciduous
Trees that shed their leaves once a season. (Mid-Latitude)
Coniferous
Trees that don't lose their leaves until they die, and their seeds are protected by cones. (Mid-Latitude)
Chaparral
Consisting of the same evergreen trees in low bushes, or scrub. (Other Forest Types)
Steep
Cool dry grasslands similar to the Great Plains but treeless. (Grasslands)
Rotation (Time It Takes?)
The spinning of the earth on its axis from west to east.
(24 Hours)
Revolution (Time It Takes?)
The movement of the earth around the sun in a 365.25 day cycle, this pass around the sun is called an orbit.
Equinox
March 21st and September 21st, this marks the change of Spring and Fall, and also the day that the sun is directly over the equator.
Convectional Precipitation
Near the equator, hot, humid air rises, then cools, losing its ability to hold water.
Orographic Precipitation
Common on sea coasts when hot, moist air is moved upward by an incline in elevation causing precipitation.
Leeward
The side of a mountain facing away from the wind, and is in the rain's shadow. (Does not rain here)
Windward
The side of the mountain facing the ocean receiving the rainfall.
Frontal Precipitation
The most common form of precipitation; when two fronts, or air masses, of different temperature meet. The warm air is forced up by the cool air, the rising air then cools, and forms precipitation.
Tropical
Tropical Wet, Tropical Wet and Dry
Dry
Semi-Arid, Arid
Moderate
Mediterranean, Humid Sub-Tropical, Marine West Coast
Continental
Humid Continental, Sub-Arctic
Polar
Tundra, Ice Cap, Highlands
Demography
The study of human populations including subjects such as: the geographical distribution of people, birth and death rates, socio-economic status, and age and gender distributions in order to identify their influences on population growth, structure, and d
Population Density (Formulas?)
The average number of people in a square mile or a kilometer. Most population clusters are found on the coast. Most of the earth's population lives near a coastal source for fresh water and food.
The Formula is Population/Land Area
The More Precise Formul
Natural Increase
The growth rate of a population; the difference between the death and the birth rate.
Birth Rate
The number of live births each year per one thousand people.
Death Rate
The number of deaths each year per one thousand people.
Migration
The movement of people from place to place.
Immigrant
People who move into a country.
Emigrant
People who leave a country to live elsewhere.
Voluntary Migration
People who chose to leave a country.
Involuntary Migration
People who are forced out of a country (refugees).
Pull Factors
Beneficial reasons to move to a new area.
Push Factors
Negative reasons to leave an area.
Urbanization
The growth of city populations.
Culture
The beliefs and actions that define a group of people's way of life.
Ethnic Group
A group of people who share common ancestry, language, religion, customs, or place of origin.
Social Organization
Culture create structures by organizing itself into members of smaller units. This helps people of the same culture to meet their needs (family, money, occupation, education, and ancestry).
What is a Glacier?
Huge slow moving sheets of ice. They form over many years as layers of ice pressed together, thawing slightly, and then turn back to ice.
What is the Troposphere?
The lowest layer of Earth's atmosphere and site of all weather on Earth. Airplanes fly here.
Basic Water Cycle?
First, water on the earth, in lakes and in the sea is evaporated by the heat from the Sun.
Excess water from plants also goes into the atmosphere, this process is called transpiration.
Then, water collects as water vapor in the sky. This makes clouds.
Nex
Language
The cornerstone of culture. It reflects the cultures identity.
Religion
Answers basic questions about the meaning and purpose of life. It also supports the values of that group.
Acculturation
Adapting traits from another culture.
Oli
Few
Auto
One
Demo
People
Clearly Defined Territory
Included water, resources. Resources can be more important that size. Land and resources are the most common resource for war throughout history.
Population
This does not determine the existence of a country. Countries vary in population size and land area. Some Countries have diverse populations. But as citizens of that country are expected to pay taxes, serve in the military, and fulfill other obligations o
Sovereignty
Freedom from outside control. The ability for a country to determine its own policies and course of action. It can act independently.
Government
...
Autocracy
The leader holds all the political power. (Most common throughout history.) Authoritarian governments take different forms.
Dictatorship
Power is concentrated in a small group or even a single person. Most use military force or political terror to gain and exercise power. No freedom of expression.
Totalitarian
The government tries to control every part of society - politics, economy, personal lives.
Monarchy (Two Types)
Absolute Monarchy - Kings and queens rule the country as dictators.
Constitutional Monarchy - Real power rests with an elected law making body, such as legislatures or parliament. The Monarchy serves primarily as a symbol for national unity.
Democracy
Any government in which the people choose their leaders and have power to set government policy.
Representative Democracy
Nation's eligible adult citizens have the right to choose the representatives making the country's laws. Elected legislatures make and carry out laws.
Direct Democracy
Each individual eligible citizen votes for leaders and laws or policy.
Oligarchy
Rule by a few. Most dictatorships and monarchies fall into this category because to administer a government it takes more than one person.
Theocracy
Rule by religion. Religion dictates the government. Religious law is the government law.
Three basic economic questions?
i. What and how many goods and services should be produced?
ii. How should goods be produced?
iii. Who gets the goods and services that are produced?
Four types of economic systems?
i. Traditional
ii. Command
iii. Market
iv. Mixed
Three main goals of socialism?
1. Equal distribution of wealth and economic opportunity.
i. Income Distribution: how all the income earned in a country is divided among different groups of income earners.
2. Society's control, through government, of all major decisions about production