5 THEMES OF GEOGRAPHY

2 DEFINITION OF GEOGRAPHY Science that deals with the: Description, distribution, and interaction of the diverse physical, biological, and cultural features of the earth's surface

3 IN PLAIN ENGLISH Geography is the study of the earth and everything on it.

4 5 THEMES OF GEOGRAPHY

5 WHERE DID THE 5 THEMES COME FROM? 5 Themes of Geography – Originated by the National Geographic Society to fulfill a need for geographers to categorize everything they learn about the world. These 5 places are easy to remember. Just say the word “PRILM”. Geographers - (people who study the earth and everything on it)

5 Themes explained Location – Where is it ? Place – What is it like ? How does it look ? Is it hot, cold, dry, wet, lots of buildings ? Region – How are places similar and different ? Does it have characteristics that unify it ? Movement – How do people, goods, and ideas move from one place to another ? Human-Environment Interaction – How do people relate to the physical world ? How do they use it ? 6

7 PLACE  It is a description of what makes that area different to others. This is divided into 2 parts:  Physical differences, or characteristics, include things that occur naturally, such as mountains, rivers, type of soil, wildlife, climate etc.  Human differences, or characteristics, are things that have changed due to people, such as roads and buildings, how people live and their traditions.

8 REGION Regions are areas that can be grouped together by a set of things special to that area.  Examples: Government, Language, Religion, Climate The three types of area are: Regions defined by a government or physical characteristics are regions that are strictly maintained, such as countries or continents. Regions defined by a function are areas served by a particular service. Take the example of the school district of McKinney ISD. If MISD closes down, then the school district will no longer exist. It will have to be named or described some other way. Loosely defined regions are regions that are grouped together in general terms. Like the  Far East and Middle East. * The S.W. region of the USA or * The N.E. part of the USA These are the sort of definitions that people will argue about.

9 HUMAN-ENVIRONMENTAL INTERACTIONS  The relationship between people and their environment, or how they work together.  What effects have the people had on their environment?  How has the environment affected them ?  Do they depend on it for anything?  What changes have they made to their environment to make it easier to live in? It can be divided into 3 parts: How people have been changed by the environment can be called adaptation. Is the way humans change to suit their environment. Examples ??? How the environment has been changed or modified is the way people alter their environment to suit themselves. Examples ??? Depending on the environment is when people rely on their environment for something. Examples ???

10 LOCATION This is divided into 2 parts: SPECIFIC + RELATIVE LOCATION Specific location is shown by an address. The address can be any type of address that gives an exact position. It is sometimes called Absolute location Here are some examples: A Street Address: 152 Silly Street, McKinney, Tx A Map Address: 15 o 20' North, 20 o 15' West Both of these examples well tell you exactly where a place is. Relative location is shown by saying where something is in relation to somewhere or something else is located. Here are some examples: - ten minutes away by train - in front of the bank - across the street from Walmart

11 MOVEMENT Movement includes movement of : People, things, such as Goods, as well as Communications  (the movement of Ideas) What type of communications are there ? What forms of transportation that takes place ? What goods are exported and imported ? These all come under the heading of Movement.