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Political Geography: Five Themes. Ohio Northern University Spring 2014. Five themes in geography *. Location Place Human-Environment Interaction Movement Region.
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Political Geography:Five Themes Ohio Northern University Spring 2014
Five themes in geography * • Location • Place • Human-Environment Interaction • Movement • Region *The Geography Education National Implementation Project (GENIP) - a consortium of the Association of American Geographers (AAG), the American Geographical Society (AGS), the National Council for Geographic Education (NCGE), the National Geographic Society (NGS) - Geography for Life: National Geography Standards, Second Edition
Five themes in geography • Location • Most geographic study begins with learning the location of places. • Location can be (1) absolute or (2) relative. • Absolutelocation provides a definite reference to locate a place. • Relative location describes a place with respect to its environment and its connection to other places.
Five themes in geography 2. Place • describes the human/physical characteristics of a location. • Physical characteristics include a description such things as the mountains, rivers, beaches, topography, and animal and plant life of a place. • Human characteristics include the human-designed cultural features of a place, from • land use and architecture to • forms of livelihood and religion to • food and folk ways to • transportation and communication networks.
Five themes in geography 3. Human-Environment Interaction • This theme considers how humans adapt to and modify the environment. • Humans shape the landscape through their interaction with the land; this has both positive and negative effects on the environment. (determinism)
Five themes in geography 4. Movement Humans move, a lot! In addition, - ideas, - fads, - goods, - resources, and - communication… all travel distances. • This theme studies movement & migration across the planet.
Five themes in geography 5. Region • divides world into manageable units for geographic study. • Regions can be (1) formal, (2) functional, or (3) vernacular. • Formalregions • Homogeneity (sameness) prominent • Boundariesnot always clear • Functional regions / spatial systems system: set of objects & their mutual interaction • core / periphery relationships • Vernacular regions are perceived regions, such as "The South," "The Midwest," or the "Middle East;" they have no formal boundaries but are understood in our mental maps of the world