Transcript 5 Themes of Geography - Liberty Union High School District

World Cultures
Geography
Exploring the World Around Us
Geography: the study of the Earth
• Geography comes
from the Greek word
geo meaning “earth”
and graphy meaning
“science of”
• Study of people,
environment, and
resources
• maps, globes, charts,
and graphs
5 Themes of Geography
Location
Place
Interaction between
People and their
environment
Movement
Region
Location
• Position on the Earth’s surface
• Two ways to determine location: Absolute
and Relative
– Absolute Location: A place’s exact location on
the Earth
• Latitude or parallels - are east-west circles around
the globe; these lines measure distances north and
south of the equator
• Longitude or meridians - are lines that circle the
globe from north to south; these lines measure
distances east and west of the Prime Meridian
Location (continued)
• Relative location: This term explains
where a place is by describing places
near it
– Oakley/Brentwood area is about 60 miles
southeast of San Francisco
Place
• Physical and human characteristics or
features
– physical features
• water
• climate (hot or cold)
• land (hilly, flat, etc.)
– human characteristics
• reasons why people live in a certain area
• how many people live in a certain place
• what kind of work people do
Human-Environment Interaction
• The theme of interaction stresses how people
affect their environment, the physical
characteristics of their natural surroundings, and
how their environment affects them
• People change their environment
– clear forests
– dam rivers
– dig tunnels
• Consequences of people’s actions:
– environmental impact such as erosion, pollution, and
fertile land
Human-Environment Interaction (continued)
• People adapt
– People change to suit environment
• Eskimo’s
• Chinese stir fry
– People change environment
• deserts to fertile land
• valleys flooded for lakes, dams, etc.
Movement
• Movement helps explain how people, goods, and
ideas get from one place to another
• Migration: the movement of people from one
country or region to another in order to make a
home
– Why migrate?
• food, work, trade (imports and exports)
– Ideas spread
– Cultural changes and Mix of cultures
– Interdependence
• globalization and trade
Regions
• Area with its own unifying Characteristics
–
–
–
–
geographical or land
culture or history
political or economic
religion or beliefs
• Geographers use the theme of regions to make
comparisons
– On maps, geographers use color and shape or special
symbols to show regions
– A place can be part of several regions at the same time
• Houston, Texas is both a plains region and an oil producing
region