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 "pattern"

arrangement

To recognize a pattern embedded in a background (p. 95);

Geography

Golledge, et al. (2008)

Matching geospatial concepts with geographic educational needs

association

Pattern comparison: are the spatial patterns similar? (p. 108); Correlation: statistical measure of the relationship between variables; a high correlation means a place with a high value on one measure will probably also have a high value on the other measure (p. 268)

Geography

Gersmehl (2005)

Teaching geography

pattern

What distinctive arrangements can you see on a map? (p. 107); Pattern comparison: are the spatial patterns similar? (p. 108); Pattern change: spread or contraction of a process through time (p. 110)

Geography

Gersmehl (2005)

Teaching geography

pattern

...image displays allow the data interpreter's eye and brain to tap into a powerful ability to recognize significant patterns amid noise. The eye can 'see' erosional or faulted fabric in the shaded-relief display more easily than in a contour map or other numerical display. This ability to detect geologically significant patterns improves through training and practice. An experienced interpreter of seismic-reflection data can confidently and reproducibly trace seismic reflectors across a profile that looks like uniform gray noise to the untrained eye.

Earth Science

Kastens and Ishikawa (2006)

Spatial thinking in the geosciences and cognitive sciences: A cross-disciplinary look at the intersection of two fields

pattern

A spatial pattern is an arrangement of things that is not random-an imbalance, alignment, cluster, wave, string, ring, etc. that can be seen and described. The ability to see patterns depends in part on prior knowledge of forces that might bias a spatial pattern away from random (p. 187, see source for more).

Geography

Gersmehl and Gersmehl (2007)

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

pattern

Another manner of analysis is to look at [a] distribution as being itself a pattern in space... (p 356) The most common mode is to prepare a map which is a patchwork of areas (a mosaic), or has an outline with a shape, or which is based on a zonal organization that approximates some familiar repetitive pattern, such as rings, checkerboards, or sectors (p 356).

Design (urban, architecture)
Architecture

Lynch (1984)

Good City Form

pattern

...arrangements of (objects) might also create observable patterns. Patterns ordered or sequenced by size can create a hierarchy, or, if the objects exist within certain distances, different clusters and densities may arise. Although pattern is an example of a composite construct - dependent in various degrees on place, size, and distance - it is included as a primitive within this framework because it is observable and measurable, and forms the basis for other observable spatial properties. (p 174)

Geography

Kaufman (2004)

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