Transcript The Five Themes of Geography

Geography
What is Geography?
• Geography is the study of the Earth’s:
– Surface
– Climate
– Continents
– Countries
– People
5 Themes of Geography
• Location
• Place
• Human/Environment Interaction
• Movement
• Regions
1. Location
• A. Absolute Location- Every point on Earth has a
specific location that is determined by an
imaginary grid of lines denoting latitude and
longitude.
Latitude vs. Longitude
• Latitude- distance in
•
degrees north or south
of the Equator (0˚).
Latitude lines are
horizontal lines on a
map; also called
“parallels.”
Latitude vs. Longitude
• Longitude- distance in
•
degrees east or west of
the Prime Meridian
(0˚)
Longitudinal lines are
the vertical lines on a
map.
Relative Location
• B. Relative Locationis described by
landmarks, time,
direction or distance
from one place to
another & may
associate one place
with another.
--The Grand Canyon is
located 3 hours
north/northwest of the
Phoenix valley.
2. Place
• Place is characteristics that distinguish one
place on the globe from another.
• There are 1) Physical & 2) Human Place
Physical & Human Characteristics
of Place
• Physical- These
characteristics
include; mountains,
rivers, soil, beaches,
wildlife, weather,
temperature, etc.
• Human- Explain the
culture, houses,
lifestyles, traditions,
buildings, religion,
language, etc.
3. Human/Environment Interaction
(HEI)
• A. Humans adapt to the environment.
– Wearing shorts in summer & coats in winter.
• B. Humans modify the environment.
– Dig a hole for a house or cut down trees for farms
• C. Humans depend on the environment.
– Fresh water to drink or oil for fuel and thousands of
other products
Hoover Dam
4. Movement
• Movement is migration or transportation of
people, resources, products, plants, animals,
& information/ideas from one location to
another location.
5. Region
• Region is an area of the earth’s surface
defined by similar characteristics.
Region continued
• It is easier to study a larger place with common human
or physical characteristics.
– Easier to look at 7 cultural regions rather then the 50 states
– Easier to look at 7 continents rather than 210+ countries
Maps
Political Maps
Shows political boundaries such as
countries & states
Gives locations of major cities
Includes significant bodies of
water
Black lines are used to help define
borders
Political Map
Physical Maps
Shows country borders, major
cities and significant bodies of
water
Indicate the location of landforms
like:
Deserts
Mountains
Plains
Physical Map
Reference/Theme Maps

Shows collected data on a map
such as:
Population
 Economics
 Oil
 Politics

Reference Maps
Map components

Every map must
have:
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Scale
Title
Compass Rose
Legend/Key
Clear labels
Color
Clean
Latitude & longitude
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