5 themes of Geography

1. 5 themes of Geography Place, Location, Region, Movement, Human/Environmental Interaction

2. PLACE All places have attributes that give them meaning and character and distinguish them from other places on earth. Geographers describe place by two specific definitions: Physical Characteristics The physical characteristics of a place make up its natural environment and are derived from geological, hydrological, atmospheric, and biological processes. They include land forms, bodies of water, climate, soils, natural vegetation, and animal life. Human Characteristics: The human characteristics of a place come from human ideas and actions. They include bridges, houses, and parks. Human characteristics of place also include land use, density of population, language patterns, religion, architecture, and political systems.

3. PLACE Physical Characteristics Those physical features about a place that make it unique

4. PLACE Physical Characteristics Where are these places??

5. PLACE Physical Characteristics Where would you find these animals??

6. PLACE Physical Characteristics What are some of the physical characteristics that make Leland unique

7. PLACE Human Characteristics Human Characteristics: The human characteristics of a place come from human ideas and actions. They include bridges, houses, and parks. Human characteristics of place also include land use, density of population, language patterns, religion, architecture, and political systems.

8. PLACE Human Characteristics political systems.

9. PLACE Human Characteristics Architecture

10. PLACE Human Characteristics

11. PLACE Human Characteristics

12. LOCATION Location is the second theme of Geography. Location describes where something is, and is broken into two areas: Absolute Location:answers the questions: Where is it? Absolute location is nothing more than a simple dot--often identified as a grid coordinate on the surface of the earth. Latitude and Longitude can be used to pinpoint a location. For example, the absolute location of New Orleans, Louisiana, is 30 degrees north, 90 degrees west. Finding absolute location is the starting point for geographic research.

13. LOCATION Location is the second theme of Geography. Location describes where something is, and is broken into two areas: Relative Location: answers the question of where a place is located in relation to other places. For example, New Orleans is located at the place where the Mississippi River empties into the Gulf of Mexico, which gives it easy access to ocean and river shipping. Your home has a relative location. Where is it located in relation to schools, stores, and convenient transportation?

14. LOCATION Absolute Location in practice

15. LOCATION Absolute Location in practice Not very accurate in the beginning

16. LOCATION Absolute Location in practice Satellite and Global Positioning Systems

17. LOCATION Relative Location in practice Near what city??

18. REGION It is defined as an area that has unifying characteristics. A region has certain characteristics that give it a measure of cohesiveness and distinctiveness that set it apart from other regions.

19. REGION Functional Region: It is organized around a node or focal point with the surrounding areas linked to that node by transportation systems, communication systems, or other economic association involving such activities as manufacturing and retail trading. A typical functional region is Silicon Valley.

20. REGION Formal Region : It is characterized by a common humanproperty, such as the presence of people who share a particular language, religion, nationality, political identity or culture, or by a common physical property, such as the presence of a particular type of climate, landform, or vegetation. Political entities such as counties, states, countries, and provinces are formal regions because they are defined by a common political identity. (See next slide for example)

21. Formal Regions within a Formal Region

22. REGION Perceptual : The third type of region is the perceptual region. It is a construct that reflects human feelings and attitudes about areas and is therefore defined by people’s shared subjective images of those areas. Southern California, Dixie, and the upper Midwest are perceptual regions that are thought of as being spatial units, although they do not have precise borders or even commonly accepted regional characteristics and names.

25. MOVEMENT The theme movement addresses this question: How and why are places connected with one another? Relationships between people in different places are shaped by the constant movement of people, ideas, materials, and physical systems such as wind, plate tectonics and volcanoes.

26. MOVEMENT Movement of People: Immigration/Emigration, Urbanization, and Population. The total people of the world is ever increasing, and they have to go somewhere. The movement of people from one place to another is also addressed, and the movement of people from farms to cities, and back again (urban sprawl) will be covered. Movement of Land: Plate tectonics, earthquakes, and volcanoes

27. MOVEMENT Movement of People: Understanding the patterns of human movement, the causes, and outcomes of that movement, and the process of that movement

28. MOVEMENT Movement of Land:

29. Human/Environmental Interaction Humans have settled in virtually every corner of the world by successfully adapting to various natural settings. For example, people who live in the northeastern United States use heating units to keep their homes warm in winter People in the southern part of the country use air conditioning much of the year to stay cool in the heat. The ways people choose to adapt to their settings reflect their economic and political circumstances and their technological abilities.

30. Human/Environmental Interaction Humans have settled in virtually every corner of the world by successfully adapting to various natural settings. For example, people who live in the northeastern United States use heating units to keep their homes warm in winter People in the southern part of the country use air conditioning much of the year to stay cool in the heat. The ways people choose to adapt to their settings reflect their economic and political circumstances and their technological abilities. The earth’s Vegetation Zones, Natural Resources, & Energy Development play a significant factor in that development.

31. Human/Environmental Interaction Desert Savanna Tropical

32. Human/Environmental Interaction Desert

33. Human/Environmental Interaction Prairie

34. Human/Environmental Interaction The earth’s Vegetation Zones, Natural Resources, & Energy Development play a significant factor in that development.

35. Human/Environmental Interaction The earth’s Vegetation Zones, Natural Resources, & Energy Development play a significant factor in that development.