Social Studies Grade 5:
Using Geography Themes
September 9, 2015
Geography

Geography is the study of the earth in all of its variety.

Geographers study the earth as the home of people.

There are Five Geographic Themes.
The Five Geographic Themes

Location

Place

Human/Environment Interaction

Movement

Region
LOCATION

Location means knowing where you are.

Every place on earth can be given an exact position on the globe, which is
called Absolute Location.

The Equator is an imaginary line that circles the earth midway between the
North Pole and South Pole. The Equator divides the earth into the Northern
and Southern Hemispheres.

The Prime Meridian divides the earth into the Eastern and Western
Hemispheres.
LOCATION

Lines of Latitude and Longitude cross one another in the form of a Grid
System.

A Grid System is a network of imaginary lines on the earth’s surface, formed
by the crisscrossing patterns of the lines of latitude and longitude.

Relative Location is the position of a place on the earth’s surface in relation
to another place.
PLACE

Place has a special meaning in geography.

Place describes the typical characteristics that distinguish one place from
another.

What features make this location similar to or different from another
place?

Features that describe a place may be physical characteristics: land shape,
plants, animal life or climate. They may also be characteristics of people
and culture: language, clothing, buildings, music or ways of making a living.
Human/Environment Interaction

Throughout the history of the world, humans have changed their
environments or natural surroundings.

People have blasted through mountains and cut down forests to build roads,
homes and communities.

Some human interaction has damaged the natural environment.

Our environment influences the way people live.

People adapt their lives to their environmental conditions. (Cold climate, hot
or dry climate)
Movement

Movement describes how people in one place make contact with people
from another place.

The theme of movement helps us understand the relationship among
places.

People, ideas, information, products and technology are constantly moving
around the world by internet, phone, satellite or by transportation and in
person.

When people want something not in their area, they can trade with people
in areas that have what they want. (Food, technology, etc.)
Region

Geographers often think about the world in Regions.

Regions are areas that share some common characteristics.

Regions can be small (neighborhood, city, county,)

Regions can be large (States or Countries)

An area can be called a region because of its physical features – landscape
or climate.

A region can be determined by human traits- language, politics, religion.
Section 1 Review

What is the starting line for determining longitude?

What is the starting line for determining latitude?

What are the five themes of geography?

What is relative location?

What two kinds of features are used to describe a place?

What are some characteristics of Demarest: landscape, climate, etc.