Complete List of Course Terms - 2024 PDF

Social Studies 3201 Unit Terminology UNIT 1 - Integrated Concepts and Processes Note: Unit # 1 terms will be integrated throughout the course and are not part of the overall selected response questions for assessments. Audience -...

Social Studies 3201 Unit Terminology UNIT 1 - Integrated Concepts and Processes Note: Unit # 1 terms will be integrated throughout the course and are not part of the overall selected response questions for assessments. Audience - Individuals or groups that are the intended recipients of our research and communication. Cause and consequence - The factors that contribute to an event or issue and the effects of an event or issue. Collaboration - The ability to work together in mutually beneficial ways. Democracy - A form of government in which power is held by the people and is expressed through voting. Engaged citizenship - Acting to create positive change in society. Evidence - Facts and information that we use to learn about events and issues. Inquiry - The investigation of topics, events, and issues based on research, analysis, and the use of questioning. Liberty - The democratic idea that all citizens have rights that cannot be taken away. Making comparisons - Examining the similarities, differences, patterns or trends among information. Perspective - The point of view of an individual or group. Primary sources - Eyewitness accounts of history. They include letters, diaries, speeches, interviews, photographs, etc. Rule of law - The democratic idea that all people must act within the bounds of the law and that no one is exempt from this. Secondary sources - Sources of information that involve an author compiling, analyzing, and interpreting information gained from primary sources. Significance - Determining what information, events, or issues are most important. Magnitude, scope, and duration are used to determine this. Stakeholder - A person or organization with an interest in a particular place or issue. Values - The ideas, beliefs, and attitudes about what is important that help guide the way we live. UNIT 2 - Quality of Life Anthropocentric worldview - This refers to human-centered worldviews. Bias - A prejudice or preference for or against a particular point of view. Biocentric worldview - This refers to life-centered worldviews. Cultural globalization - This refers to gradual harmonization of the world's culture at the expense of local cultures. Deep ecology worldview - This says humans have no right to interfere with the richness and diversity of the ecosystem and that our needs must be reduced. One way is through a decreased population. Economic development - This shows a region's material wealth and trade. Economic globalization - This refers to easier movement of goods, production, capital, labour and resources. It can also relate to connections between global stock markets and currencies. Economic Issues - Complex problems that involve money, wealth, employment or people's access to things they need or want in life. Environmental globalization - This refers to the trend towards the world's ecosystems being viewed as connected and all countries must protect the environment together. Environmental Issues - Complex problems that involve people's interactions with the natural world, including land use, water use, energy, and climate. Environmental wisdom worldview - This says we must adapt our needs to the environment in order to secure a future on this planet. It encourages earth-sustaining economic growth. Environmental worldview - This focuses on the question of what is more important, human needs or wants, or the overall health of the environment. Expansionist worldview - A view on resource use which assumes the world's resources as there for humans to exploit. Fact - Knowledge that is certain and can be verified by experience or observation. GDP per capita - An economic indicator of wealth produced in a region as an average of the population (higher is better). GINI Index - a measure of the amount of equality if given for a region or country. Globalization - The trend toward greater interconnectedness in the world. Human Development Index - A social indicator that considers levels of wealth, education, and health (a value closest to 1 is best). Income - This refers to the money received or earned on a continuous basis as a result of work or investments. Index - Another word for indicator or way of measuring something. It often include ranking or a list. Indicator - A specific criterion or characteristic that is used to describe a region and the quality of life humans experience there. LEDCs - These countries have weaker economies, are less wealthy, and have a lower quality of life. Life expectancy - The average age people can expect to life and is related to health outcomes. Literacy Rate - the number of people who can read and write in a region or country. MEDCs - These countries generally have stronger economies, are wealthier, and have a higher quality of life. Opinion - Judgments or beliefs that are not necessarily based on certainty or proof. Perspective - An individual's or group's point of view, which can vary depending on how a person is affected by an event or interaction. Pillars of sustainability - These include social, environmental, and economic perspectives used together to protect the environment. Political development - This shows a region's access to political rights and justice. Political globalization - This refers to countries adopting more uniform policies and types of government. Political Issues - Complex problems that involve how people make decisions in groups and can involve government, laws, human rights, and safety. Quality of Life - The standard of health, comfort and happiness experienced by an individual or group. Region - A geographical area that shares similar characteristics. Scope - This refers to how widely an effect or consequence is experienced. Social development - This shows a region's level of education and healthcare. Social Issues - Complex problems that involve education, health, equality, population, and other factors that influence people's opportunities in society. Socio-economic status - A measure of a person or group's position in a community or society. Stewardship worldview - This says that humanity has an ethical responsibility to be good managers of the environment and to use government policy, planning and technology to achieve a goal of protecting the environment. Sustainability - Development that meets the needs of people today without jeopardizing the ability of future generations to meet their needs. Technological globalization - This refers to a rapid spread of communications and computer technologies, as well as equipment and machinery. Values - Principles and morals central to a person's behaviour. Wealth - This refers to money and possessions accumulated by a person over the course of their lifetime. UNIT 3 - Political Economy Aid Fatigue - A reduction in development assistance provided by globalized countries as a result of the belief that such aid is not as effective as it should be. Arbitrary borders - Territorial limits determined by human means. Arctic Ocean Sovereignty - The struggle between Canada, Russia, Denmark, and the United States over greater access to oil and natural gas reserves in the Arctic region. Autonomy - The concept of independent self-government. Borders - The limits of a nation-state's influence, laws, and sovereignty. Capitalism - An ideology based on the idea that the means of production (and therefore the majority of wealth gained from it) should be in the hands of private individuals, not the government. Civic nationalism - A concept that focuses on the bonds that exist between members of a group with a common territorial homeland. Colonialism - When one country rules another and develops trade with that country for its own benefit. Command Economy - An economic system in which the supply of goods and services are determined by government as part of a total plan. Communism - An ideology that believes equality can only be achieved through evolution and elimination of the wealthy class and this is at the expense of the rights of some. Development Assistance - Money that moves from wealthier countries to poorer countries as a form of foreign aid. Economic disparity - An inequality in which some people or countries are much better off economically than other people or countries. Economic Sectors - Particular parts of the economy. Economy - Systems and procedures put in place in a country to help people satisfy people's needs and wants. Ethnic cleansing - A policy that includes violence and forced emigration to drive a group or groups from a state as a way of promoting cultural homogeneity. Ethnic nationalism - A concept that focuses on bonds that exist between members of a group related to common ancestry and culture. European Union - A group of 27 European nations, which have made free-trade agreements to encourage economic globalization of its members. Extreme Poverty - The condition that exists when people have to live on less than one dollar a day (US$). Failed state - A state in which there is little or no official government to meet the needs of citizens. Fascism - An ideology that sees democracy as weak and diversity in society as unfavourable. Free-Trade - Trade that occurs without the restrictions caused by tariffs and non-tariff barriers. GDP per capita - The total value of a country's goods and services produced in a year averaged across the population. Geopolitics - Decision making of government in terms of the geography of the area, on a national and international scale. This often includes interactions between and among groups of countries. Gini Index - An economic indicator that gives a general value of how equally wealth is distributed in a country. Global 500 - A list of the 500 largest companies in the world that is published annually. Ideology - A system of ideas that forms the basis of economic and political actions. Imperialism - An ideology used in the 1800s that involved European countries expanding their empires through colonization and imposing new systems of government upon conquered groups. Income - This refers to the money received or earned on a continuous basis as a result of work or investments. Market Economy - An economic system in which the prices of all goods and services are determined by supply and demand (free enterprise). Mercantile system - An economic system of trade in which colonies were considered to exist for the economic benefit of the mother countries, could not operate their own economy or trade with other countries, and could not compete with the mother country. Mixed Economy - An economic system that combines elements of both free enterprise and government intervention. Nationalism - A person's identification with and patriotic loyalty to his or her nation and its goals. Nation-state - The concept of an independent nation ruled by a government that controls events within clearly marked boundaries. Natural borders - Territorial limits determined by Earth's physical features. Neocolonialism - Control of one country by another based on economic dominance rather than political dominance. Neoliberalism - The belief that private individuals and businesses should have a greater role in controlling economic activity. Non-Governmental Organization - Non-profit organizations that are not linked to governments, but work to provide aid of various types to countries around the world. Non-tariff barrier - Any restriction, other than tariffs, placed on goods that allow domestic companies greater opportunity to succeed. North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) - A treaty signed in 1994 by Canada, the United States, and Mexico that phased out most trade restrictions among the countries. Official Development Assistance - Foreign aid provided by countries' governments. Political Instability Index - An indicator that uses a number of economic and political factors to measure the potential risk of social unrest that exists in a nation state (a lower value is better). Political stability - The general level of predictability associated with political environment of a nation state. Politics - Decisions about how people live and interact together in society. This often includes the administration and management of state affairs. Poverty - This refers to a minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. Primary sector - This involves the collection or extracting of raw materials (resources) from the Earth through farming, fishing, mining, and forestry. Private Development Assistance - Foreign aid provided by non-governmental organizations. Progressivism - The belief that government should step in to solve social and economic problems. Protectionism - The belief that government should protect local industries by placing heavy tariffs on similar imported goods from other countries. Quota - A limit on the number or value of goods that can be traded. Religious fundamentalism - A concept based on strict and unwavering adherence to religious values, often at the expense of others' rights. Secondary sector - This involves turning a raw material or resource into a finished product for people to buy. Also called the manufacturing or processing sector. Self-determination - A country's or nation's ability to decide their own governance and future. Socialism - An ideology that arose as a response to capitalism and involves the government placing legal limits on business to protect the working class. Sovereignty - The legal concept that the authority of a state is not subject to legal control by another state. Stages of economic development - Created by Walt Rostow to describe the pattern globalized countries have as their economies advance. Tariff - A tax on imported goods. Tertiary sector - This involves providing a range of services to people to make aspects of their lives easier or to improve the quality of their lives. Also called the service sector. Traditional Economy - An economic system based on agriculture, fishing, hunting and gathering or a combination of these, to provide for the needs of people. Transnational corporations - Large companies with many areas of business that operate in two or more countries. Wealth - This refers to money and possessions accumulated by a person over the course of their lifetime. World Trade Organization - International organization responsible for coordinating and promoting trade in the world. UNIT 4 - Population Agricultural Revolution - Refers to the changes food production in the Neolithic Era, when humans developed farming for the first time. Birth dearth - When a country's fertility rate is low enough to cause a natural population decline. Birth rate - The number of births for every 1,000 people in the population. Brain drain - The loss of highly educated people from a country because of emigration. Brain gain - The increase of highly educated people in a country because of immigration. Brawn gain - The increase in labour jobs in a country because of immigration. Carrying capacity - The maximum number of people that can be sustained by the earth's resources. Change by diffusion model - When the spread of new ideas and social norms occurs through various forms of social interaction and the influence of mass media. Contracting population - A population pyramid for this kind of population shows a base that is relatively narrow compared to the middle and top, reflecting a declining population. Death rate - The number of deaths for every 1,000 people in the population. Demographers - Scientists who study population. Demographic Transition - The theory that describes how countries experience a decrease in birth and death rates as they gain access to greater technology and become more globalized. Demographic trap - The situation that occurs when a country remains in the Early Transition Stage with a high birth rate and a low death rate. Early Transition Stage - The stage of demographic transition in which a high birth rate and a falling death rate results in a high population growth rate. Edward Jenner - An English doctor who was responsible for the creation of the first vaccine, which was used to protect people from smallpox. Emigrants - People who move from a country. Expanding population - A population pyramid for this kind of population shows a wide base and a relatively narrow middle, reflecting a high population growth rate. Feedback loop - A system that causes output from one point to eventually influence input back to that same point. Germ Theory - The idea that some diseases are caused by organisms that are too small to be seen. This idea was new during the Industrial Revolution. Green Revolution - The increase food production in the 20th century that introduced chemical fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, improved machinery and techniques, and the development of new high yield crops. High Stationary - The stage of demographic transition in which both birth and death rates are high, resulting in a stable population. Hunting and Gathering - The activities of early human societies in the Paleolithic Era that involved the use of lithic tools to provide a limited food supply. Ignaz Semmelweis - A doctor working in Austria during the Industrial Revolution who was the first to pioneer personal sanitation procedures in medicine. Immigrants - People who move into a country. Industrial Revolution - The process by which the production of food and goods shifted from simple hand tools to complex machinery. This occurred during the 1700-1800s. Late Expanding - The stage of demographic transition in which a declining birth rate and a relatively low death rate lead to a slowing of population growth Low Stationary - The stage of demographic transition in which a low birth rate and a low death rate lead to a more or less stable population. Natural decrease - A decrease in population that occurs when the death rate is higher than the birth rate. Natural increase - An increase in population that occurs when the birth rate is higher than the death rate. Net migration - This refers to the total population change as a result of migration and can be positive or negative. Overpopulation - When the demands of a growing population exceeds the country's carrying capacity. Pension plans - Private or government strategies to provide income for people during their retirement years. Population Control - Limitation of population growth through such measures as contraception, sterilization, and abortion. Population growth rate - The rate at which a country's population is changing. Population implosion - When a country's population decreases. Population pyramid - A graph that shows the structure of a population by age and gender at one point in time. It breaks down the makeup of a population by male-female balance and the number of people at different age groups. Pronatalist strategies - Ideas or approaches by government or other groups that encourage people to have more children. Pull factors - Conditions that attract people to move to new places. Push factors - Conditions that cause a person to leave the place where they live. Remittances - An amount of money sent by a migrant to family members living in the migrant's homeland. Replacement migration - Increased number of people encouraged to move into a country to make up for an aging and potentially declining population. Stationary population - A population pyramid for this kind of population shows a base and middle that are roughly the same width, reflecting a population growth rate of around zero. Structural change model - When governments adopt measures to force, or strongly encourage people to change their behaviours. Surplus - When humans produce more of something that is needed to meet their needs. Total fertility rate - This refers to the average number of children a woman will have in her life time. Urbanization - The trend towards greater migration from rural areas to cities. UNIT 5 - Human-Environmental Interactions Abiotic resource - Resources that are sourced from the non-organic and non-living parts of the Earth. Acidification - This involves the acid content of soil increasing as a result of overuse of fertilizers or due to poor drainage. Agricultural waste - This refers to waste that is produced as a by-product of modern farming techniques. Alternative energy sources - This refers to other energy options that are meant to avoid or lessen the impact of fossil fuel use. Arable land - Also known as fertile soil, this contains a thick humus layer and produced better conditions for plant growth. Biofuels - A fuel that is produced from plant materials. Biotechnology - The application of biological processes for agricultural purposes, which can improve output. Biotic resource - Resources that are sourced from the biosphere - organic and living parts of the Earth. Cap and trade system - A proposed method of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Companies and other greenhouse gas producers would be assigned an emissions limit. It they come in below this quota they can sell the remainder in the free market. If they exceed the limit they will need to buy additional quote in the free market. Carbon cycle - The natural cycle through which carbon moves moves in the environment. It includes the hydrosphere, atmosphere, biosphere, and lithosphere. Carbon source - Any activity, natural or human, that adds carbon to the atmosphere (principally as carbon dioxide and methane). Carbon tax - A proposed method for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in which all products and services that are sold would have a tax added based on the emissions that were generated to provide that product or service. Cash cropping - Agricultural activities that aim to produce food for the purpose of selling it to others. Chemical deterioration - This refers to the breakdown of soil as a result of leaching, salinization, acidification, or pollution. Climate change - The scientific theory that Earth's climate is being altered by human activities. More generally, any change in global climates, whether caused by natural fluctuations or human activities. Coal - This fossil fuel has been widely used for home heating and is often cheaper to mine and transport than other sources. China has relied heavily on this source of energy in recent years. Corporate Farming - Large scale food production industry that is owned and operated by large businesses. Crude oil - A traditional energy source and fossil fuel that accounts for the largest percentage of global fuel use. Desertification - This occurs when human activities reduce the productivity of an arid or semi-arid areas to the point where it resembles a desert. Erosion - This refers to the removal of the nutrient-rich layer of topsoil by either wind or water. Extensive farming - Low yield farming that occurs on relatively large amounts of land. Fixed carbon - Carbon that has been removed from the atmosphere for a very long time; e.g., carbon in limestone or coal has been out of the atmosphere for millions of years. Flow resource - Resources that are neither renewable or non-renewable and are not exhausted by human use. Geo-engineering - A range of proposals that have been made to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by using various technological methods to capture or eliminate the gases before their release into the atmosphere. E.g., carbon sequestration would pump carbon dioxide into sealed rock layers in the earth. Greenhouse effect - The warming of the atmosphere as some as some of its gases absorb heat given off by the Earth's surface. This is a natural phenomenon that maintains Earth's temperature at a level that supports life. Greenhouse gases - Greenhouse gases (e.g., carbon dioxide) that are produced in great quantities by human activities. Groundwater - This refers to water within the earth that supplies wells and springs. Hydricity - An energy system in which all forms of energy would be converted to either hydrogen or electricity for storage and use. Hydro-electric power - This form of energy harnesses the power of moving water to generate electricity and has fewer environmental concerns than other traditional sources. Industrial waste - Also known as chemical waste, this refers to by-products of manufacturing operations that pose a threat to health and the environment. Intensive farming - High yield farming that occurs on relatively small amounts of land. Kyoto Protocol - An international agreement, signed in 1997, intended to begin the fight against climate change by limiting greenhouse gas emissions from industrialized countries. Land degradation - This refers to the deterioration of the productive capacity of soil for either present or future use. Leaching - This involves nutrients in soil being washed away or dissolved as a result of too much run-off. It is most common in tropical regions. Monoculture - Agriculture in which a single crop is planted in a large area. Natural gas - This refers to a form of energy that is transported by pipeline, often in a liquefied form and is the third most used traditional form of energy in the world. Non-renewable resource - Resources that do not replenish naturally after human use. Nuclear power - This source of energy is most common in Old Core countries due to its high cost. It also has the risk of high levels of radioactivity, which can have significant environmental concerns. Paris Conference - This was a meeting in 2015 in which countries set out the goal to reduce global temperature rise from global warming by 2 degrees C. Physical deterioration - This refers to land that is degraded due to compaction, water logging, or subsidence. Pollution - This involves industrial emissions, or liquid or solid waste that can damage soil, or seep into water sources. Renewable resource - Resources that can replenish naturally after human use. Salinization - This involves an increase in the salt content of soil to the point where soil becomes toxic and unable to support plant growth. Sewage waste - This refers to human and animal waste that contains bacteria that can spread diseases such as cholera, diarrhea, typhoid, polio, and intestinal parasites. Solar energy - This refers to energy from the sun that can be used in a variety of ways. Subsistence farming - Small scale production of crops and the raising of livestock to meet the immediate needs of families. Most common in LEDCs. Wind power - Production of energy from windmills of various sorts.