Themes of Geography: The Definition of Geography as a Subject

The Five Themes ● Location ● - Absolute Location vs. Relative Location ● Place ● Region ● Movement ● Human-Environment Interaction

Location ● You probably know this word, but this is WHERE something is in the world ● - Relative Location: Where is it in relation to other places? ● - Ex. Anytime you look for directions online ● - Absolute Location: What are the exact coordinates in latitude and longitude? Or the exact street address?

Relative ● Where something is located IN RELATION to something else

Place ● The physical and human characteristics that make up a given location ● - Physical Characteristics: ● - What does the location look like? ● - What is the landscape ● - What are the building like?

Place - Human Characteristics: - What is it like to live there? - What are the other people there like? - How do people view the location in which they live?

Region ● The world is divided into various areas, called regions, that share characteristics ● - Some of these include: ● - Weather and Climate ● - Landscape ● - Plants and Animals ● - Type of People ● - Government ● Makes the world easier to study and talk about ●

Movement ● Humans are constantly going from one place to another ● The study of this movement is important to our theme of diffusion ● Some people travel long distances, some short ● Why do you think movement is important?

Human-Environment Interaction ● The relationship between people and the environment in which they live/move ● - The environment changes the way that people live ● - Adaptation to things like climate, availability of water, weather patterns, etc. ● - People also create changes in the environment ● - Some on purpose, some as a side effect of our presence