THE 5 THEMES OF GEOGRAPHY
Defining Geography
What is Geography?
Geography is the study of the earth
and the way people live on it and use
it.
Geography:
Defining the Discipline
• Geographia (Greek origins)
– Geo (earth) + graphein (to describe or write)
– To write or describe the surface of the earth
• The study of the spatial arrangement and
association among elements on and/or in
contact with the earth’s surface
• Explaining the “big picture”
Geography:
Defining the Discipline
• Three defining questions…
– What is located where?
– Why are things located where they are?
– What is the significance?
The Geographic Perspective
• Understanding the ways in which humankind
perceives and interacts with the Earth’s
surface, its resources, and its people
• Geography lies at the intersection of both
social and physical sciences
• Explain the processes that give rise to spatial
distributions---it’s not all about maps!
• Geographic landscapes are social creations
The Geographer’s Perspective
• From Greek term
geographia
– “To describe the earth”
– Look at use of space
• Methods
– Maps
– Atlases, books,
electronic media
– Imagery (photos, etc)
– Five themes
Spatial variation: predominant religion
Why spatial variation exists: earthquakes
Changes over time: deforestation
Five Themes of Geography
THE FIVE THEMES OF GEOGRAPHY
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•
•
•
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Location
Place
Human-Environment Interaction
Movement
Regions
Location
Theme 1: Location
• Where is It?
• Why is It There?
Two Types of
Location
•Absolute
•Relative
Theme One: Location
1) Location: the meaning of relative and
absolute position on the earth's surface
 Sample terms: Latitude and longitude, site
and situation, direction, distance, scale
 Skills: Map reading, identification
 Questions: Where is ____? Where is ____
relative to where I am?
LOCATION
Where are we?
• Absolute Location
– A latitude and longitude
(global location) or a
street address (local
location).
– Paris France is 48o North
Latitude and 2o East
Longitude.
– The White House is
located at 1600
Pennsylvania Ave.
• Relative Location
– Described by landmarks,
time, direction or
distance. From one place
to another.
– Go 1 mile west on main
street and turn left for 1
block.
Absolute Location
•
•
•
•
A specific place on the Earth’s surface
Uses a grid system
Latitude and longitude
A global address
Location
• Absolute
– Grid system
– Imaginary lines
– Hemispheres by
• Equator
• Prime meridian
• Parallels of latitude
– Equator is zero
– Location N or S of zero
– Aka “parallels”
North Carolina
Absolute Location
• North Carolina
36° N Latitude
79° W longitude
• Chapel Hill
35° 55' N Latitude
79° 05' W Longitude
Absolute Location
• Examples:
– Rome is located at 41 N, 12 E
– Argentina is located in the southern hemisphere
– Ecuador is located in Tropic of Cancer.
– LNE is located in Lincoln, NE.
Relative Location
• Where a place is
in relation to
another place
• Uses directional
words to describe
– Cardinal and
intermediate
directions
North Carolina
• North Carolina is bordered by
Virginia on the north, South Carolina
and Georgia on the south, and
Tennessee on the west.
• The Atlantic Ocean forms North
Carolina's east coast.
• North Carolina is one of the
Southeastern States
Relative Location
• Examples:
– Rome is located near the Mediterranean Sea.
– Argentina is near Brazil.
– Ecuador is south of Mexico.
– Lincoln is 50 miles from Omaha.
Place
Theme Two: Place
2) Place: the distinctive and distinguishing
physical and human characteristics of
locales
 Sample terms: Physical and cultural
landscapes, sense of place
 Skills: Description, compare and contrast
 Questions: What does ____ look like? Why?
How is it different from ____?
PLACE
What is it like there, what kind of place is it?
• Human
• Physical
Characteristics
Characteristics
• What are the main
languages, customs, and
beliefs.
• How many people live,
work, and visit a place.
• Landforms (mountains,
rivers, etc.), climate,
vegitation, wildlife, soil, etc.
Physical Characteristics
• Specific to THAT place, not generic.
– The way a place looks.
• Created by nature.
–
–
–
–
Mountains
Rivers, Lakes, Seas
Climate
Vegetation
• Examples:
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–
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Andes Mountains are in South America.
Amazon River flows through Brazil.
Pampas are located in Argentina.
The isthmus of Panama connects Central & South America.
Cultural Characteristics
• Specific to THAT place, not generic.
– Peoples activities change the way a place looks or is represented.
• Man-made or invented.
–
–
–
–
Language
Unique buildings
Religious Practices
Celebrations/traditions/holidays
• Examples:
–
–
–
–
Portuguese is the official language of Brazil.
Many Mexicans are Catholic.
Mayan ruins are located in Mexico.
Cinco de Mayo is a national holiday in Mexico.
Activity: How does this song describe a place? What kind of place is
this? What are its physical and human characteristics? What other
songs do you know that describe places?
Home on the Range
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
How often at night when the heavens are
bright
With the light from the glittering stars
Have I stood there amazed and asked as I
gazed
If their glory exceeds that of ours
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 of the cities so bright
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
Oh, I love those wild flow'rs in this dear land of
ours
The curlew, I love to hear scream
And I love the white rocks and the antelope flocks
That graze on the mountaintops green
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
Human-Environment Interaction
Theme Three: Human and Environment
Interaction
3) Relationships within places: the
development and consequences of humanenvironment relationships
 Sample terms: Ecosystems, natural
resources, environmental pollution
 Skills: Evaluation, analysis
 Questions: What human-environment
relationships are occurring? How do they
affect the place and its inhabitants?
Theme 3: Human Environment
Interaction
How People Interact With Their
Environment
People . . .
• Adapt to Their Environment
• Modify Their Environment
• Depend on Their Environment
http://www.fotosearch.com/comp/corbis/DGT119/BAG0017.jpg
Human-Environment Interaction
• People use/change &
live with environment
– Live with climate
– Drain swamps
– Dig irrigation ditches
• Problems caused
– Pollution
– Habitat disappears
– Desertification
HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTION
• How do humans and the environment affect
each other?
– We depend on it.
• People depend on the Tennessee River for water and
transportation.
– We modify it.
• People modify our environment by
heating and cooling buildings for comfort.
– We adapt to it.
• We adapt to the environment by wearing
clothing suitable for summer (shorts) and
winter (coats), rain and shine.
North Carolina: Human Environment
Interaction
http://aam.wcu.edu/grant/images/Fontana%20Dam%20Shirley.jpg
http://www.dukemagazine.duke.edu/dukemag/issues/091002/images/mallc.jpg
http://www.ee.duke.edu/~sag8/Duke/02-03/PiKA/Fall%20Break/Fall_Break_02.htm
Interaction
A. Interaction between people and their environment
Activity: List ways that people affect their environment. Are
these harmful or helpful?
Movement
Theme Four: Movement
4) Movement: patterns and change in human
spatial interaction on the earth
 Sample terms: Migration, diffusion,
globalization
 Skills: Explanation, prediction
 Questions: How has this spatial pattern
developed? Will it continue to change?
What does it mean for the places involved?
MOVEMENT
• How are people, goods, ideas moved from
place to place?
– Human Movement
• Trucks, Trains, Planes
– Information Movement
• Phones, computer (email), mail
– Idea Movement
• How do fads move from place to place?
TV, Radio, Magazines
Movement
• Places do not exist in isolation.
– Interconnectedness of the world changes the way
places“look”.
• Today: “globalization”
– People, goods & ideas move from place to place.
• Examples
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Immigration from Latin America to US.
War in Iraq (troops, supplies, ideas, people)
UNL (people, ideas)
Myspace, Facebook (ideas)
North Carolina: Movement
http://www.marad.dot.gov/Gallery/MoreheadCity/pages/Ming%20Europe.htm
http://www.evertize.com/land/images/I-40-64%20interchange.JPG
Movement: Activity: Find the origin of manufacture
of as many items as you can on your body or in your
bookbag. Examples: shirt, sneakers, jewelry,
backpack, folders, pens pencils, and anything else
you can find out the origin of manufacture.
Make a list of the item and where it was made. How
many of the items in the classroom can you name
that have been manufactured in another country?
What are the raw materials needed to make these
items, the most likely place of production or
manufacture, and the most likely form of
transportation from the place of manufacture to
the classroom?
Regions
Theme Five: Regions
5) Regions: how they form and change
 Sample terms: Formal vs. functional regions
 Skills: Synthesis, application
 Questions: How has this spatial pattern
developed? Will it continue to change?
What does it mean for the places involved?
Region
• Similar or different?
– Similar characteristics
– Usually more than one
• Formal regions
– Related characteristics
– Continent & culture
• Functional regions
– Set of connections (greater
DC)
• Perceptual regions
– People see characteristics
same way – e.g., Midwest
Formal Region
• Most common/familiar.
• Determined by the distribution of a uniform
characteristic (physical or cultural)
– Location
– Climate
– Religion
• Examples
– Central America (Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama)
– Latin America (spanish-speaking nations)
– Tropics (countries located near equator)
Functional Region
• Serves a purpose that affects places around it.
– Distributes goods/people
– Serves specific purpose
• Examples:
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Panama Canal
Amazon River Basin
Hollywood
Havana, Cuba
Perceptual Region
• Groups of areas that provoke a certain
stereotype or feeling.
• Examples:
– The Bronx
– The “ghetto”
– China town
5 Physical Regions of the U.S
1. Pacific Coast and Intermountain Region
a) includes mountains along coast
2. Rocky Mountains
a) highest peaks in the U.S, above tree level
3. Great Plains
a) flat grassland with little trees
4. Appalachian Mountains
a) lower and less rugged than the Rockies
5. Atlantic Coastal Plain
a) flat lowlands along the coast
Remembering the 5 themes
• If you can’t remembering what
they are just ask MR. HELP!!!
• M – Movement
• R – Regions
• HE – Human Environment Interaction
• L – Location
• P - Place
Use the five themes of geography and answer the following
questions THREE of the following questions:
1. What is geography?
2. Choose one of the five themes of geography and tell how
it has affected your life.
3. If you described the means of transportation available to
and from school, what theme would you be using?
4. Why might two places be identified as part of the same
region?
5. What sports are examples of human-environment
interaction?
6. Which theme would you be using if you wrote a letter
describing your town?
Key Geography Terms and Skills
The Geographer’s Tools
• Globes
– Three dimensions
– Accurate not portable
• Maps & charts
– Two dimensional
– Drawn to any scale
– Different projections
• Scale models
• Types of maps
– General reference, thematic,
navigational
• Five Themes
Key Terms & Places
• Globe – A three-dimensional representation of
the earth.
• Map – Two-dimensional graphic
representations of selected parts of the
earth’s surface.
• Cartographer – A person who makes maps or
charts.
Understanding the Globe
• Earth is a huge sphere, like a ball. Most maps
show the earth’s surface as flat. A globe is a sphere.
Because of this, it provides an accurate map of our
planet.
• Compass: An instrument for finding directions.
• Cardinal Points: the four main
points on a compass – north, east,
south, and west.
• Intermediate Points: points in
between cardinal points –
northeast, northwest, northwest,
southeast, and southwest.
Understanding the Globe
• Equator: An imaginary line circles Earth halfway between
the north and south pole and divides the Earth into two half
spheres, called hemispheres.
•Prime Meridian: Another imaginary line that cuts the
Earth in half from the North Pole to the South Pole.
Western
Eastern
Equator
Prime
Meridian
Understanding the Globe
• Over 70% of our planet is covered in water, mainly
oceans.
• Oceans are the largest bodies of water. There four
oceans. From largest to smallest, they are
– Pacific Ocean
– Atlantic Ocean
– Indian Ocean
– Arctic Ocean
Understanding the Globe
• Oceans surround large landmasses called continents
• The seven continents on Earth, from largest to
smallest, are Asia, Africa, North America, South
America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia.
Types of Maps
• General reference
– AKA topographic
– Natural & man-made
features of earth
• Thematic
– Specific information
– Climate, population
• Navigational
– AKA charts
– Pilots’ & sailors’ use
Nautical Chart (detail)
Geographic Skills
• Finding a location
– Use of maps, charts,
GPS, compass, etc
• Reading a map
– Title, compass rose,
labels, legend (key),
parallels of latitude,
meridians of longitude,
scale, symbols, colors
The Parts of a Map
Compass Rose
• A compass rose is a model of a compass. It tells the
cardinal directions, which are north, south, east, and
west.
Scale
• The scale on a map tells you the relative distance on
the map to the real world. For example, a map’s scale
may tell you that one inch on the map equals one
mile in the real world.
OwlTeacher.com
Key
• The key, or legend, on a map explains what the
symbols on a map represent, such as triangles
representing trees.
Grids
• Some maps use a grid of parallels and meridians.
On a map of a small area, letters and numbers are
often used to help you find your location.
OwlTeacher.com
Understanding Latitude and Longitude
• latitude and longitude – types of measurement that
can pinpoint any spot on Earth
• Latitude lines – run west to east (p.14)
– Always have the same distance in between them.
– Are measured starting at the equator.
– Equator – 0 ° latitude
– North Pole - 90° latitude
– South Pole - 90° latitude
Understanding Latitude and Longitude
• Longitude lines – lines that run from the North Pole to
the South Pole.
– Not always the same distance apart
– Starting place for measuring them is the Prime
Meridian
– Prime Meridian is at 0 degrees longitude
Understanding Latitude and
Longitude
• To note a place on Earth, first name its
latitude, then its longitude.
• For example, one location on Earth’s surface is
at 30 degrees N, 90 degrees W. Can you find
this location on the map on page 15?
How Latitude and Longitude Form the
Global Grid
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The Hemispheres
OwlTeacher.com
Geographic Skills – 2
Reading a Map
Geographic Skills – 3
Scale
• Scale
– How much detail
– Ratio scale
– Bar scale
• How to remember:
– “Small” = small amount
of detail
– “Large” = large amount
of detail
Geographic Skills -4
Using the Grid
• Parallels of latitude
– 90° North latitude
– 90° South latitude
• Longitude
– 180° W longitude
– 180° E longitude
– International date line
• Degrees, minutes,
seconds
• Locate any point on earth
– Dakar: 14°43’N
17°28”W
Getting It All On the Map
The World: Mercator Projection
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• In 1569, a geographer
named Gerardus Mercator
created a flat map to help
sailors navigate long
journeys across the globe.
• The Mercator projection, or
method of putting a map of
the Earth onto a flat piece of
paper, is used by nearly all
deep-sea navigators.
• The Mercator projection is a
conformal map, meaning
that it shows correct
shapes, but not true
distances or sizes.
• There are many types of
other projections of the
globe.
The World: Three Projections
Interrupted Projection
There are many ways to show a globe
on a flat map. The interrupted
projection map, on the left, shows
real sizes and shapes of continents.
The equal area map , below left,
shows size accurately. The Peters
projection, below, shows land and
oceans areas and correct directions
accurately
Peters Projection
Equal-Area Projection
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Geographic Skills – 5
Projections
• How to show
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Curved surface
Flat mat
Distortion inevitable
“Choose your poison”
• Mercator (cylindrical)
projection
• Conical projection
Geographic Skills – 6
Robinson Projection
The World: A Robinson Projection
ARCTIC OCEAN
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Geographic Skills – 7
Different Types of Maps
Italy; physical
Italy; political
Geographic Skills - 8
Thematic Map
The idea of a united Europe stretches back thousands of years.
The early enthusiasts were seldom as high-minded as their
modern successors (www.economist.com)
Geographic Skills – 9
Cartograms