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 "object"

objects and fields

Discrete objects and continuous fields are fundamental conceptualizations of space and the basis for models of process. Spatial objects are the things that occupy the geographic world, described and measured in various ways as points, lines, areas, or volumes. The discrete-objects perspective is a traditional way of characterizing spatial patterns and is embedded in the uses of geospatial tools such as cartographic mapping and GIS. Powerful insights into spatial processes often require a re-conceptualization of phenomena from objects to fields.

Social Science

Janelle and Goodchild (2011)

Concepts, Principles, Tools, and Challenges in Spatially Integrated Social Science