Five Themes of Geographic Science
1. Space - absolute & relative position of people, places & things on the Earth’s surface
2. Place - tangible & intangible characteristics that make each location unique
3. Region - area that displays unity & internal homogeneity of traits; includes how a region
forms, evolves & interrelates with other regions
4. Scale - relationship between the size of an object on a map & the size of the actual feature on
the Earth’s surface
5. Connections - includes the spatial analysis of settlement patterns, resource utilization &
exploitation, hazard perception & planning, impact of environmental modification
& artificial landscape creation
SPACE
Geography uses spatial analysis (examination of interactions, patterns & variations over an area
&/or space) to synthesize knowledge from many fields & to integrate it into a coherent picture of
the Earth. If a pattern exists there is a likely cause.
Distribution - arrangement of a feature in space
Properties of Distribution
1) density - frequency with which something occurs in space
2) concentration - spread of something over a given area
3) pattern - geometric arrangement of objects in space (ex: linear, rectangular, etc.)
Map - pictorial representation of the geographic location of selected surface features at a
reduced scale
- generalized view of an area, usually some portion of the Earth’s surface, as seen
from above & greatly reduced in size
PLACE
Location - the position that something occupies on the Earth’s surface
Location is Identified by:
1) place name (Toponym - name given to a place on Earth)
2) site - physical character of a place (ex: climate, topography, vegetation, altitude, etc.)
3) situation - location of a place relative to other places
4) mathematical (absolute) location - uses a geographic grid; meridians & parallels
Geographic Grid
Latitude - angular distance N or S of the equator (0° latitude) which is located midway
between the N (90° north latitude) & S (90° south latitude) Poles
Parallel - a line parallel to the equator that designates the angle of latitude
So, latitude is the name of the angle & parallel is the name of the line
Longitude - angular distance east or west of a point on the Earth’s surface to a maximum
of 180°; they are at right angles to the parallels
Meridian - a line connecting all points along the same longitude
So, longitude is the name of the angle & meridian is the name of the line; both indicate distance
east or west of the Prime Meridian (0°) which passes thru Greenwich, England
TIME
- World is divided into 24 standard time zones, each extending over 15° of longitude,
since the Earth revolves 15° per hour. The prime meridian became the center of a time zone that
extends 7½° of longitude both to the west & east (Greenwich Mean Time or Universal Time).
Over land areas, the actual eastern & western boundaries coincide with political & economic
constraints. Time is subtracted to the west & added to the east.
A.M. - ante meridiem - before noon
P.M. - post meridiem - after noon
International Date Line - 180th meridian; marks a time difference of an entire day from
one side of the line to the other. It deviates from the 180th meridian in the Bering
Sea to include all of the Aleutian Islands within the same day & again in the South
Pacific to keep islands of the same group within the same day. At the IDL, the
west side of the line is always one day ahead of the east side
REGION
A region gets its unified character through a combination of cultural features (ex: language &
religion), economic features (ex: agriculture & industry) & physical features (ex: climate &
vegetation).
Types of Regions
1) formal - common or related cultural traits or characteristics (ex: common language)
2) functional - organized around a node or focal point (ex: newspaper circulation)
3) vernacular (perceptual) - people believe it exists as part of their cultural identity (ex:
South, Midwest, etc.)
4) physiographic -based on physical features (ex: N. America, Death Valley, Rocky Mts,
Africa, Sahara Desert, etc.
SCALE
Map Scale - ratio of the distance on a map to that in the real world; expressed as:
a) fractional scale (representative fraction, RF) - expresses the ratio with a colon or slash
b) graphic scale (bar scale) - uses a line marked off with graduated distances
c) written scale - states the ratio in words
Types of Map Scales - depends on the ratio described; the greater the denominator in a
fractional scale, the smaller the scale
a) Small - 1:3,168,000 (1 in = 50 mi)
b) Medium - 1:125,000 (1 in = 2 mi)
c) Large - 1:24,000 (1 in = 2000 ft)
CONNECTIONS
Spatial Interaction - established thru the movement of people, ideas & objects between regions
Diffusion - process by which a characteristic spreads across space from one place to another
over time
Types of Diffusion
1) relocation - spread of an idea or feature by the physical movement of people from one
place to another
2) expansion - spread of an idea or feature from one area to another in a snowballing process
a) hierarchical - from persons or nodes of authority or power to other persons or places
b) contagious - rapid, widespread diffusion of a characteristic throughout the population
c) stimulus - spread of an underlying principle, even though the characteristic itself fails
to diffuse (ex: point & click came from Apple but diffused into PCs)
GLOBALIZATION
- interconnectedness of people & places thru economic, political & cultural change
- may be the most fundamental reorganization of the planet’s social & economic structure
since the Industrial Revolution
Examples of Globalization
1) communication systems
2) transportation
3) transnational corporations
4) international financial institutions
5) monetary flow (ex: World Bank – makes loans to poor countries so as to modernize,
IMF – makes short-term loans to countries in financial difficulties,
WTO – lowering of trade barriers between countries)
6) free trade agreements
7) market economies
8) international workers
9) criminal element – drug, terrorism, prostitution, money laundering)