Source-Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary

 The 5 Themes of Geography were developed by the National Geographic Society as a method for studying geography.
 The themes help us categorize geographic information

 Question investigated: Where is it?
Two categories of location:
 Absolute location
 Relative location

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A specific place on the Earth ’ s surface
Uses a grid system
Latitude and longitude
A global address

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Where a place is in relation to another place
Uses directional words to describe

Question investigated: What is it like?
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Physical characteristics of the environment
Eg. Resources, climate, landforms, water features, natural vegetation, wildlife…
Note: anything distinctive and comes from nature!

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Human elements of a place
Eg. Occupations, recreation, settlement types and patterns, political, economic, religious beliefs, ideas, language…etc
Note: features must be distinctive and a product of human efforts!

 Question investigated:
 How does the physical place influence human activities?
 How do human activities alter the physical place?
Two Categories of interaction. . .
 Human adaptation
 Human alteration http://www.fotosearch.com/comp/corbis/DGT119/BAG0017.jpg

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Humans adapt to their environment
Examples: adapt to climate (shelter, clothes, work hours…)

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Humans alter their natural environment using technology
Examples:

Question investigated: How do people, goods and ideas move from place to place?
Two categories of interaction. . .
• Material movement
• Non-material movement

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This involves obvious movement using some type of land, water, or air vehicle
Example: Moving people, animals, or other material things

 This involves less obvious forms of movement
Examples:
 movement of energy and information through electric wires/fiber optics (this technology has
 an impact on human-environment interaction!)
Movement of ideas/beliefs from one place/culture to another

 Question investigated: What areas have unifying/common features?
 We identify ‘areas’/’regions’ according to the existence of /unifying common features
Three categories of region. . .
• Formal region
• Functional region
• Vernacular region

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Many features can be used to define regions ‘formal regions’
Formal regions share one or a number of unifying/common features.
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Eg. Landform, climate, language, politics, religion, culture…etc
Formal regions include…
Landform regions, climate regions, language regions, political regions, religious regions, cultural regions…etc.
Example: provinces, countries, cities (defined by boundaries)
Example: cultural enclaves of T.O. (Chinatown, Little
India)
Example: One region may various common features…
 80% speak French as their first language
 85% are practicing Roman Catholic Christians

Functional regions are defined by a function (an interactive system).
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The defining characteristics are the interconnected parts.
Example: newspaper service area, cell phone coverage area, urban area (CBD), ecosystems (natural functional region)

Vernacular regions are defined by ordinary people’s
(subjective) perceptions.
These perceptions reflect their feelings and images about
 places.
Eg . ‘the south’, ‘the west’…

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M Movement
R Region
HE Human Environment Interaction
L Location
P Place

TOPIC : Describe a place you love by addressing all 5 themes of geography.