Geography Chapter 1 The World of Geography

Five Themes of Geography I. Location –A. Definition - a place’s position 1. Absolute location - a place’s exact position on the Earth; a geographic address –The continent of Australia is located at 20 S, 140 E

Five Themes of Geography 2. Relative Location – a place’s position in relation to other places; where a place is by describing places near it. – Ocean City is 150 miles southeast of Baltimore.

Five Themes of Geography II. Place –A. Definition – a location’s physical and human features 1. Climate – What are the weather patterns? –Antarctica is extremely cold and icy while the Amazon rainforest is hot and rainy.

Five Themes of Geography 2. Landforms – How would you describe the land of a particular place? –The western part of the U.S. is more mountainous than the eastern part.

Five Themes of Geography 3. People – How would you describe the population of a particular place? –More people make their living by fishing along coastal lowlands than in the interior plains.

Five Themes of Geography III. Human – Environment Interaction –A. Definition – the way in which people affect their environment (the physical characteristics of their natural surroundings) and how their environment affects them. Farms in Turkey – little rain – use irrigation which creates salt that builds up.

Five Themes of Geography IV. Movement –A. Definition – the way in which people, goods, and ideas get from one place to another. 1. American colonists – looking for religious freedom 2. Immigration to U.S. – brings new traditions, ideas, food, and celebrations.

Five Themes of Geography V. Regions –A. Definition – an area that has a unifying characteristic such as climate, land, population, or history 1. Nile Valley region – region along Nile River – runs through several countries. 2. Plains Region of U.S. – united by flat land – covers several states – not whole country

The Geographer’s Tools I. Globe –A. Shows the continents and oceans as they really are. –B. Presents information accurately –C. Hard to transport –D. Not complete enough to show details of a small area i.e. states or towns

The Geographer’s Tools II. Flat Maps –A. Can be carried easily –B. Are good for showing detail in large and small areas –C. Doesn’t have as much accuracy for large areas.

The Geographer’s Tools III Mercator Projection (conformal map) –A. Created to help sailors navigate –B. Shapes of landmasses and ocean areas similar to shapes on a globe

The Geographer’s Tools –C. Stretched space between lines of longitude 1. Distorted some land sizes 2. Size of land near the Equator is right 3. Size of land near poles is larger than it should be 4. Map on page 16

The Geographer’s Tools IV Interrupted Projection –A. Similar to ripped peal of an orange –B. Shows real sizes and shapes of land –C. Gaps in the map make it difficult to figure distances –D. Map on page 17

The Geographer’s Tools V. Robinson Project –A. Considered the world’s best map –B. Accurate sizes and shapes of land –C. Accurate sizes of oceans and distances –D. Still has some distortion –E. Map on page 17

The Geographer’s Tools VI. Parts of a Map –Compass rose to tell directions –Scales to set distances –Keys to explain symbols –Grids to locate places