Five Themes of Geography Geography is the study of people, their environments, and their resources. Location- Where is it? Place-What is it like? Region-What common features bring geographical areas together? Movement-How do people in one area relate to people in other areas? Human/Environment Interactions-What is the relationship between people and their surroundings Click-Location-Where is it Click-Place-what is it like Click-Region-what common features bring geographical areas together Click-Movement-how do people in one area relate to people in other areas Click-Human/Environment Interactions-what is the relationship between people and their surroundings

Location Where is it? There are two types of location: Absolute Location-is the exact latitude and longitude coordinates on the earth’s surface Latitude-horizontal lines north and south of the equator Longitude-vertical lines measured east and west of the prime meridian Relative Location-describing a location in relation to other places. Click-Location-Where is it? Click-The first of the five themes of geography is the study of location. There are two types of location. Click-Absolute location is defined as the exact latitude and longitude coordinates on the earth’s surface. It answers the question “Where is it?”, and gives the exact address of a particular place. Latitude lines are the horizontal lines north and south of the Equator Click-Longitude lines are the vertical lines measured east and west of the Prime Meridian. Click for picture Click-Relative location is describing a location in relation to other places. For example, if you describe the location of your home to a friend, you would not need to give the latitude and longitude coordinates. You would instead describe your home’s location by identifying streets, buildings, and landmarks that are around your house.

Click-To identify the absolute location of the United States and Canada, you would need to identify the general coordinates on a globe or map. The United States and Canada span over many lines of latitude and longitude; therefore, it is necessary to determine a specific city or place. Click-For example, the absolute of Houston, Texas, is 30 degrees North latitude and 95 degrees West longitude (30°N, 95°W). Click-Quebec City, Quebec, has an absolute location of 47 degrees North latitude and 71 degrees West longitude (47°N, 71°W). The latitude is always written first, followed by the longitude. The relative location of the United States can be defined as being north of Mexico, south of Canada, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on its east coast and the Pacific Ocean on its west coast. Canada’s relative location is identified as north of the United States, bordered by the Arctic Ocean in the north, the Pacific Ocean on the west, and the Atlantic Ocean on the east.

Place What is it like? Physical Characteristics-those things that are part of the natural environment. For example, climate, plants, animals, bodies of water, and mountains Human Characteristics-the man-made features or the culture of a place. For example, the architecture of buildings, canals, and bridges; religion, language; and government. Click-Place-What is it like? Every place on earth has its own special characteristics that make it unique. To gain an understanding of each place, one must consider its physical characteristics and human characteristics. Click-Physical characteristics-those things that are part of the natural environment. For example, climate, plants, animals, bodies of water, and mountains Click-Human characteristics- the man-made features or the culture of a place. For example, the architecture of buildings, canals, and bridges; religion, language; and government

What makes a place unique? Click-Both physical and human characteristics provide answers to the question, “what makes this place unique?” If we only look at physical characteristics, you would not have an accurate picture of a specific place. Click-For example, I you identify a place as snowy, cold and mountainous, you may be thinking of skiing in Vail, Colorado or any number of places like that. Click-However, you might be thinking of ice fishing in northern Canada. Do you know which is which? In order to correctly describe Vail, Colorado, you would have to describe human characteristics such as the English language, a democratic government, Colorado’s state capital of Denver, and the local ski resorts.

It is important to note that this theme of place can change over time It is important to note that this theme of place can change over time. Physical characteristics may change due to natural disasters, weathering, and human impact. The Grand Canyon in the western part of the United States or Mount Rushmore in South Dakota has changed over the time due to the force of wind, weather, and water eroding away the rock. Furthermore, human characteristics can change as well, depending on factors such as governmental decisions, conflict, and technology. We will see later on in our geography unit how the physical and human characteristics of our town changed over the years?

Regions What common features bring geographical areas together? Click-Regions- what common features bring geographical areas together? The world is not only divided into political regions, bound by borders; it can also be divided into regions that are defined by physical and human characteristics. For example, the world could be broken up into language regions. Click-One could map all the Spanish-speaking countries in the world The world can be segmented into climate regions, such as warm and tropical areas or cold and snowy areas.

A region can be defined as an area that shares common physical or human characteristics with another place. For example, the United States and Canada share the same language, as well as sharing the Rocky Mountains and Great Lakes. Geographers can map regions by crops, products, and industry as well. Click-For example, the Puget Sound area and Newfoundland are both fishing regions.

When looking at the United States and Canada, some physical regions are the Click-Corn Belt, Click-the Cotton Belt, Click-the dairy regions, Click-and the wheat regions. Some industrial regions include Click-oil and Click-automobiles.

Movement How do people in one area relate to people in other areas? The study of how people, goods, and ideas have moved or are currently moving around our globe. Click-Movement-How do people in one area relate to people in other areas. Click-Movement is the study of how people, goods, and ideas have moved or are currently moving around our globe. Concepts such as religion, language, and government spread as people move. As our world becomes technologically advanced, information can be spread in a matter of seconds. This theme of movement has been a constant factor since the beginning of time. Click-Ancient civilizations broadened their influence through trade, migration and war. Most of the world now relies on methods such as e-mail, cell phones, the internet and faxes for movement of information.

how do people, things, and ideas move? In order to study this theme of movement, geographers use the questions: Who What When where Why how do people, things, and ideas move? In order to study this theme of movement, geographers use the questions: Who, What, When, Where, Why, and how do people, things, and ideas move? This information can be used to find patterns of movement, to determine how movement has changed over time, and to determine how it impacts humans.

Movement also plays a part in the physical and human characteristics of a place. Movement can change the human characteristics by bringing in new religions, new foods, new government practices, and even tolerance of a cultural diversity.

Movement can be impacted by the physical characteristics of a place Movement can be impacted by the physical characteristics of a place. For instance, the Rocky Mountains and the Mississippi River presented challenges for early settlers as they tried to move goods from one place to another. What are the pros and cons of these physical characteristics?

Human/Environment Interactions What is the relationship between people and their surroundings? This theme deals with how humans affect our environment and how the environment affects human life. Click-Human/Environment Interactions-what is the relationship between people and their surroundings Click-This theme deals with how humans affect our environment and how the environment affects human life.

Negative Impact Click-Example: humans have cut down forests for the lumber industry in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States (click). This has resulted in the destruction of animal habitats within the forest. On the other hand, lumber is a much-needed resource for humankind. Click-Another example of how humans negatively impacted their environment would be the oil spill from the tanker Exxon-Valdez (click). This incident resulted in the contamination of many miles of Alaskan shoreline. Oil coating the ocean water destroyed the habitats of many fish, birds and other animals.

Positive Impact Humans can also positively affect their environment. One example includes recycling, which allows people to reuse materials instead of wasting valuable resources. People also create forest preserves and natural wildlife refuges to protect precious animal and plant life.

The environment, or physical surrounds, is an important factor in the lifestyle of people. The climate where you live usually determines the way you live. For example: Click-Canadian living in the northern Rocky Mountains would be wearing a heavy winter coat. Click-Someone living on a beach in Miami, Florida, may only be wearing a swimming suit. Click-Likewise, because it is so hot and dry, and there is little water in Arizona, fishing would not be a dependable occupation Click-as it is in Nova Scotia.