Geography The Five Themes of Geography

What is Geography? Geography is the study of the Earth. Geographers study how the Earth and its people affect each other.

The two basic questions of Geographers Where are things located? Why are they there?

Five Themes of Geography Location Place Human-environment interaction Movement Regions

Why are these themes important? Geographers use these five themes to help them organize information.

1. Location Two ways to talk about location Relative Absolute

Relative Location Describing places near it. Example: Columbus School is about 1 block down from the Post Office.

Absolute Location A place’s exact position on the Earth. Geography use two imaginary lines-latitude and longitude

Absolute Location- Latitude lines Latitude lines circle the globe east- west. They are also called parallels. The Equator is a latitude line.

Absolute Location – Longitude lines Longitude line circle the earth North to South They are also called Meridians. The Prime Meridian (0 degrees) runs through Greenwich, England. All meridian lines run through the North and South poles.

The unit of measure used by geographers to measure location on maps is called? DEGREES

2. Places A location’s physical and human features. Example: Climate is hot or cold Land is hilly Might describe how many people and what work they do.

3. Human-environment Interaction How people affect their environment and how their environment affects them. Good and bad consequences of people’s interactions with their environment.

4. Movement How people, goods and ideas get from on place to another. Helps in the understanding of cultural changes.

5. Regions Geographers use the theme of regions to make comparisons. Comparing characteristics such as climate, land, populations, or history.