Spatial Concept Perspectives

We have gathered ~300 excerpts from published works about fundamental spatial concept terms. These have been cross-referenced with the concept lexicon appearing on the left. Those terms were drawn from the U.S.National Science Education Standards (NSES 1996) for topic areas B - Physical Science, C - Life Science, D - Earth and Space Science, as well as from the 1994 U.S. Geography Teaching Standards for grades 9-12. Those standards can be browsed here.

spatial concept terms

disciplinary perspectives on "connection"

complement

Two structures are complements if they fit together or 'dovetail' with each other. A key matches a lock; a glove properly fits a hand; a photographic negative produces a corresponding print. The two antiparallel strands of DNA are complements. One strand serves as a template for the synthesis of a complement. Substrates for enzymes fit into active sites. The shape of the bottom partof a foot can be reconstructed from a mold of the footprint.

Science Education

Mathewson, J. H. (2005)

The visual core of science: definition and applications to education

connection

Connectiveness. We may remove measures of distance and direction from a geographical study and speak of connection only. Some other words for this property of space are adjacency, contiguity, or simply relative position. This is best thought of as a topological property of space. The properties of connectiveness may remain invariant under transformations which change direction and distance relations. A map of the United States may be stretched and twisted, but so long as each state remains connected with its neighbors, relative position does not change.

Geography

Nystuen (1963)

Identification of some fundamental spatial concepts

connection

Connection and linkage. Using principles such as nearest neighbor, proximity, similarity, etc., one can derive a concept of join or link; thus ideas of connection or linkage can be derived. Adapting principles such as minimizing pairwise distance and using single-link assumptions, connections can be made between members of distributions. To pursue connectivity globally, precise locational information is required. With less precision, interpoint distance measurements can become equivalent (i.e., become tied), and the simple elegance of single-link designs may break down.

Geography

Golledge (1995)

Primitives of Spatial Knowledge

connection

A very important type of pattern that may be produced by line data is a branching tree of connected lines, where no closed loops are present (p. 152/see source for more).

Geography

O'Sullivan and Unwin (2002)

Geographic Information Analysis

connection

How is it linked with other places? (p. 101); Natural or human-made link with another location (p. 268); Situation: connections (transportation, routes, corporation ties, political associations) between a place and other places (p. 273)

Geography

Gersmehl (2005)

Teaching geography

connection

[A location]...holds all the connections between a particular place and other places, near and far. Those connections can be 'natural' (slope, wind, riverflow, seed dispersal, animal migration, etc.) or human-induced (trade, commuting, corporate control, family ties, political authority, etc.) (p. 183, see source for more)

Geography

Gersmehl and Gersmehl (2007)

Spatial thinking by young children. Neurologic evidence for early development and "educability"

connection

[OED]: 1. a. The action of connecting or joining together; the condition of being connected (conjoined, fastened or linked) or joined together; 3. The condition of being related to something else by a bond of interdependence, causality, logical sequence, coherence, or the like; relation between things one of which is bound up with, or involved in, another.

Linguistics

OED Online (2nd Ed.)

Oxford English Dictionary, Online Edition

connectivity

Assess type and completeness of interpoint linkages (p. 92); see connection

Geography

Golledge, et al. (2008)

Matching geospatial concepts with geographic educational needs

connectivity

At the location where one (object) touches another the property of connectivity is exhibited. (p 174)

Geography

Kaufman (2004)

Using Spatial-Temporal Primitives to Improve Geographic Skills for Preservice Teachers

connectivity

[OED]: The characteristic, or order, or degree, of being connected (in various senses).

Linguistics

OED Online (2nd Ed.)

Oxford English Dictionary, Online Edition