The 5 Themes of
Geography
Mrs. Isaacson
9th Grade World History
Warm up
► Why
do you feel geography is important to
study? 4-6 sentences
► TRY
TO AVOID FORBIDDEN WORDS: YOU
MAY USE I BECAUSE YOU ARE STATING
YOUR OPINION
► Hours 1,3,4,6 Page 3 in notebooks
► Hours 2,7 Page 4 in notebooks
Why do We study Geography?
► To
understand how:
 Civilizations develop in certain
areas.
 Why and how different cultures
interact.
 How the physical world can
cause good and bad
relationships between cultures.
The 5 Themes of Geography
►1.
Location: Where is it?
►2. Place: What is it like there?
►3. Regions: What’s around there?
►4. Movement: What moves there?
►5. Human-Environmental
Interactions: What do people do
there?
Location (Where is it, Where am I?)
► Location
is measured in 2 Ways:
► Absolute:
THAT”S WHERE IT IS, NO
QUESTION!
► Relative:
Where am I in relation to……
Absolute Location
►Very
specific, uses degrees
through
Latitude: Equator, North Pole,
South Pole.
Longitude: Prime Meridian
Fun Fact: St. Louis Absolute Location
38° 45’ N Latitude
90° 23’ W Longitude
Relative Location: It’s All Relative….
►Where
a place is in Relation
to……
►What is nearby?
►What can be used as a marker
to show relative location?
Where is St. Louis in Relation to….
►The
Arch??
►Illinois?
►Canada?
►The
Mississippi?
►The World
Series? 
Theme #2: Place
►What
is it like there?
►What makes it stand out as a location
in the world?
►Every
place has Human and Physical
Characteristics. These help define its
place in the world.
What do you think of??
► What
do you imagine when you think of…..
► France?
► China?
► Egypt?
► Florida?
► Iraq?
► Las Vegas?
Theme #3: Regions
► What
is around this place?
► What
areas make up the St. Louis
region?
Having things in common make several
places a region. Regions can be
mapped out and traced.
Types of Regions
► Formal
regions: Figured out by
governments for reasons like taxes or
economics.
► Functional regions: Perform a certain
kind of job or task. Example: The
Farming region.
► Vernacular: (This means everyday,
common language). This is based on
how people view the world, like the
Middle East or Deep South.
Examples of Regions: Political
Regions
Map of Economic Regions
Theme #4: Movement
►This
is how people, goods and
culture move within and between
regions.
►Cultures become Interdependent
(Depending on one another).
►Movement leads to the idea of
CULTURAL DIFFUSION: The
spreading of ideas and influence
from one culture to another.
Theme #5: Human/ Environment
Interaction
Humans affect their environment
and the environment affects
humans.
How does the environment affect
where people live? What would be
your number 1 location? Why?
Which Theme are These Song Lyrics Covering
►
Oh, give me a home, where the buffalo roam,
Where the deer and the antelope play,
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word,
And the skies are not cloudy all day.
Home, home on the range,
Where the deer and the antelope play,
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word,
And the skies are not cloudy all day.
Where the air is so pure, the zephyrs so free,
The breezes so balmy and light,
That I would not exchange my home on the range
For all the cities so bright.
Oh, give me a land where the bright diamond sand
Flows leisurely down the stream;
Where the graceful white swan goes gliding along
Like a maid in a heavenly dream.