Transcript Geographer`s Toolbox

Spatial Thinking

Geography is more than memorizing
names and places. Geographers
organize space in much the same way
that historians organize time. To help
organize space, geographers are
concerned with asking three important
questions about things in the world:

• Where is it?

• Why is it there?

• What are the consequences of its being
there?
The Five Themes of Geography
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The five themes of geography help
answer these questions:
• Location: Where is it located?
• Place: What's it like there?
• Human/Environment Interaction: What
is the relationship between humans and
their environment?
• Movement: How and why are places
connected with one another?
• Regions: How and why is one area
similar to another?
Theme 1: Location

Absolute location—is the exact point
where a place is located.

The Eiffel Tower is located at 48.858093˚N,
2.294694˚W.

Relative location—where a place is in
relation to another place.
 Suzie’s
house is North of Starbucks.
Globe—scale model of
Earth
Degree, Minutes and
Seconds
 Units
used to
measure
distances
between
parallels and
between
meridians.
Lines of Latitude (parallels)—
run parallel to equator.
•Circle the Earth in an east-west
direction
Lines of Longitude
(meridians)—measure
distance east and west of
the prime meridian.

Circle the globe in a north-south direction
Prime Meridian—0 degrees
longitude—from North to
South Pole and through
Greenwich, England.
Intersection of Lines—find
absolute location of places.
Equator—0 degrees latitude–
circles the globe halfway
between the North & South Poles
International Dateline—180
degrees longitude—opposite
the prime meridian.
Theme 2: Place

Place includes the characteristics of a location.

Ex. The Grand Canyon has steep rock walls that
were carved over centuries by the Colorado
River.

This theme considers the characteristics that
make one place different from all other places on
earth. Geographers describe a place by two
kinds of characteristics: physical and human.

The physical characteristics of a place make up
its natural environment.

The human characteristics of a place come from
human ideas and inventions. They include
Schools, Roads, and Bridges.
Theme 3: HumanEnvironment Interaction

Explains how people affect the
environment and how the
environment affects people.

Ex. People build dams to change
the flow of rivers.

Deforestation has led to the
extinction or endangerment of
many species of plants and
animals.
Theme 4: Movement

How people, ideas and animals
move from one place to another.

Ex. The spread of different religions
around the world.

Relationships between people in
different places are shaped by the
constant movement of people,
ideas, materials, and physical
systems.
Theme 5: Region
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Involves a group of places that have common
characteristics.
Ex. North America is a region that includes the
United States, Mexico and Canada.
South East Louisiana is a region that includes
Louisiana.
Some regions are distinguished by physical
characteristics. Physical characteristics include
land forms, climate, soil, and natural vegetation.
For example, the peaks and valleys of the Rocky
Mountains form a physical region.
Some regions are distinguished by human
characteristics. These may include economic,
social, political, and cultural characteristics.
Great Wall of
China
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Location: 40° 46' 6" N
117° 5' 26" E
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Place: Hilly, dense
vegetation
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Human-Environment
Interaction: Wall
constructed by people for
protection.