Geography flashcards

90 HSC Geography cards across 3 modules (36 definitions, 36 key facts, 18 fill-the-gap, 0 formulas). Each session gives you 20 cards, due cards first. Swipe right for easy, left for hard, down for again. Keyboard: Space to flip, 1 to 4 to rate.

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What this deck covers

Focus Area: Ecosystems and global biodiversity (2022 syllabus) (30 cards, 6 dot points)
Focus Area: Global sustainability (2022 syllabus) (30 cards, 6 dot points)
Focus Area: Rural and urban places (2022 syllabus) (30 cards, 6 dot points)

Sample cards from this deck

Definition
Biodiversity patterns and hotspots: HSC Geography 2022 Focus Area
Define Genetic diversity
Variation within species (different populations, different alleles). Important because genetic variation provides the raw material for adaptation to environmental change. A population reduced to low numbers loses genetic diversity even if it recovers in count.
Definition
Climate change as a global sustainability challenge: HSC Geography 2022 Focus Area
Define Climate change
Climate change is the long-term shift in global temperature and weather patterns, primarily caused by emissions of greenhouse gases (CO2, methane, nitrous oxide, fluorinated gases) from fossil-fuel combustion, agriculture, land-use change, industry and waste. The IPCC's Sixth Assessment Report (AR6, 2021-2023) confirms human influence as the dominant cause of observed warming since the mid-20th century.
Definition
Economic activities in rural and urban places: HSC Geography 2022 Focus Area
Define Primary
Extraction or harvest of natural resources: agriculture, forestry, fishing, mining. Spatially tied to where the resource is (soil, climate, ore bodies, water). Dominant in rural Australia.
Definition
Ecosystem services and biodiversity loss: HSC Geography 2022 Focus Area
Define Provisioning services
Material goods provided by ecosystems: food (fish, game, crops), fresh water, timber, fibre, medicines, fuel.
Definition
Global economic inequality and development: HSC Geography 2022 Focus Area
Define Development
Development is the process of improving human wellbeing, including economic, social and environmental dimensions. Economic inequality between countries (and within them) is one of the defining features of the global system, and it intersects with every other sustainability challenge (climate, food security, demographic change).
Definition
Liveability and urban quality of life: HSC Geography 2022 Focus Area
Define Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) Global Liveability Index
Annual ranking of approximately 170 cities across five categories: stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, infrastructure. Used heavily by international corporate relocations and journalism.
Definition
Ecosystem structure and function: HSC Geography 2022 Focus Area
Define Abiotic components
Climate (temperature, precipitation, sunlight, wind); substrate (soil, rock, sediment); water chemistry; topography; disturbance regimes (fire, flood, tropical cyclone).
Definition
Global population change and demographic transition: HSC Geography 2022 Focus Area
Define Constrictive (narrowing base)
Falling birth rate, ageing population. Typical of Stage 4 to Stage 5 (Japan, Italy, Australia).
Definition
Planning and management of rural and urban places: HSC Geography 2022 Focus Area
Define Local Environmental Plans (LEPs)
Local Environmental Plans (LEPs) are the principal land-use planning instrument at council level. They zone land (residential, commercial, industrial, recreation, environmental conservation, special purpose) and set development controls.
Definition
Great Barrier Reef case study: HSC Geography 2022 Focus Area
Define Biodiversity
The reef supports a very high marine biodiversity, including a large number of coral species, fish species, marine turtles (green, loggerhead, hawksbill, flatback, olive ridley, leatherback all use the region), dugongs, marine mammals and seabirds. Published assessments cite hundreds of coral species and well over a thousand fish species; precise counts vary in published surveys.