Transcript The Five Themes of Geography

The Five Themes of
Geography
How geographers look at the world
Geography is the study of earth and its people.
Why study geography?




To understand more about the
changing world we live in
To learn more about the people and
cultures of the world so that we can
better understand each other
To evaluate the connection between
the earth and those who live on it
It is just another way to explain the
world we live in.
What are the Five Themes
of Geography?
 The concepts or ideas that geographers
use to study the world and the people
that inhabit it.
 They are all connected
 Use all five themes to truly understand
the geography of a place
Location
Asks the question: Where is it?
Here’s Madagascar!
Can be absolute location,
which uses a system to find
an exact spot on the earth.
Examples: latitude and longitude,
street address with zip codes,
GPS, map coordinates
Can be relative location, which
uses descriptions to find
places on the earth.
Example: I buy coffee at McDonalds on the same side
of the street as Desert Foothills Park.
My friend lives about two blocks south from me.
Other examples?
Place



Asks: What are the characteristics of
a location?
Describes what it is like there
For example: How would you describe
the physical and human features of
the Foothills? Any other ideas?
Can be physical features
•
•
•
•
•
•
Climate – temperature, rainfall, arid
Landforms – plateaus, plains, desert
Topography - elevation
Flora - plants
Fauna - animals
Resources – copper, gemstones
Can be human characteristics
Such as population statistics, economic activities,
religion, language, government
Movement
How do people, goods and ideas get from
one place to another?
Examples of movement
► Shipping
products or goods between
countries
► Migration of people to new areas
► Buying clothes over the internet
► Flying overseas to visit your relatives
► Coming to school on the bus this morning
► Urban sprawl
► What are some other ideas?
Human Environment Interaction
How do we use the earth? How
have we changed the earth?
Examples of HEI








Growing cotton in Arizona
Mining copper in Bisbee, Arizona
Hiking up South Mountain
Fishing on Canyon Lake
Cars consuming gasoline and polluting the air
Altadeña Middle School built out of brick
Cutting down trees in the Rain Forest so
homes can be built
What are some other ideas?
Region
How is this place similar to
other places?
Are there common
characteristics?
There are two different types of
regions:
• Physical characteristics –southwest region,
Amazon Rainforest, Valley of the Sun,
Chinatown, Middle East, Roman Empire, and
desert
• Cultural characteristics – language ex. Spanish,
religion ex. Buddhist, government ex.
democracy,
Regions can overlap!
Know these themes!
Definitions
 Examples
 Questions they answer

We will use them throughout the year as we
analyze the different areas of the world!