The 5 Themes of Geography

1. The 5 Themes of Geography

2. LocationAnswers the Question, “WHere IS it?” • 2 types of location: • Relative • A location can be relative. • Examples: next door, next to the post office, down the road a little bit, etc. • Absolute • A location can be absolute, meaning specific • Uses coordinates -- latitude and longitude -- of map

3. Place • This means more than just where a place is; a place is an area that is defined by everything in it. • Physical Characteristics vs. Human Characteristics • All places have features that give them personality and distinguish them from other places.

4. REGION • A region is an area that is defined by certain similar characteristics. Those unifying or similar characteristics can be physical, natural, human, or cultural.

5. MOvement • Movement refers to the way people, products, information and ideas move from one place to another. • This can be local, such as “How did you get to school today?”, or it can be global, such as “How did humans get to North America?”

6. HUman-Environment Interaction • Human-environment interaction looks at the relationships between people and their environment • how people adapt to the environment • how people change the environment

7. Examples of LocationRelative or Absolute? • St. Petersburg lies on the coast of the Baltic Sea, at 60º N, 30ºE. • Kansas City, Missouri is just east of Kansas City, Kansas. • The Great Barrier Reef is by Australia. • The capital of Malaysia is 3ºN, 101ºE.

8. PLACE • Let’s describe SWMS as a place.

9. Region #1 #2 #3

10. MOvement • Provide 4 examples of movement • one movement of people, • one movement of ideas • one movement of goods • The remaining example may be of your choice.

11. HUman/Environment Interaction #2 #1 #3 #5 #6 #4