5 THEMES OF GEOGRAPHY

2 DEFINITION OF GEOGRAPHY ge·og·ra·phy 1 : a science that deals with the description, distribution, and interaction of the diverse physical, biological, and cultural features of the earth's surface Source-Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary

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

4 5 THEMES OF GEOGRAPHY Visit each of the following sites. Follow all buttons on each page. Save the BACK ARROW button until you are done with each page. The BACK ARROW button will bring you back to this page. When you have visited all 5 Themes, click on the RIGHT arrow button below.

5 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY  By clicking on this site, you will visit the National Geographic Society 5 Themes of Geography web page. After reviewing the web page, click the back arrow on your browser to come back here.  NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY ces/ngo/education/themes.html ces/ngo/education/themes.html

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

7 WHAT IS “PRILM”? PRILM is a mnemonic device that can be used to help remember what the 5 Themes of Geography are. Simply put, take the first letter of each Theme to create the word PRILM. They are:  Place Place  Region Region  Interaction (Human-Environment) Interaction (Human-Environment)  Location Location  Movement Movement

8 PLACE  It is a description of what makes that place different to others.  This is divided into 2 parts:  Physical Differences and Human Differences  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.  This is where you can really go to town in your description. You can discuss the cities, lifestyle, culture and all sorts of other interesting facts that make the place you are talking about different and special.

9 PLACE Things to think about  Place -- What makes a place different from other places?  Differences might be defined in terms of climate, physical features, or the people who live there and their traditions.

10 PLACE ~more~  What physical characteristics exist in this city such as plant and animal life? What cultural (human) characteristics are typical of this city? Which ethnic, religious, or political groups live here?

11 REGION  Regions are areas that can be grouped together by a set of things special to that region. We have countries, ruled by governments, areas speaking the same language, or having the same religion, and we have areas served by a particular service, such as a school district. The three types of area are:  Defined by a government or physical characteristics Defined by a function Loosely defined

12 REGION  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. Loosely defined regions are regions that are grouped together in general terms.  These are things such as the North, or the Midlands or the Buddhist World, or even the Far East and Middle East. They are the sort of definitions that people will argue about, and say that a certain place should or shouldn't be included in the definition of that region.

13 REGION-Things to think about.  Regions -- How can Earth be divided into regions for study?  Regions can be defined by a number of characteristics including area, language, political divisions, religions, and vegetation (for example, grassland, marshland, desert, rain forest).

14 REGION ~more~  THE STUDY OF REGIONS What other regions are there in the United States besides this one? (Descriptions of regions can include information about the physical or cultural characteristics. Physical refers to mountains, deserts, climates, etc. Cultural refers to history, religion, and language.)

15 HUMAN-ENVIRONMENTAL INTERACTIONS  It can be divided into 3 parts:  How people have been changed  How people have been changed by the environment.  How the environment has been changed by people.

16 HUMAN-ENVIRONMENTAL INTERACTIONS  How people have been changed by the environment can be called adaptation. It is the way humans change to suit their environment. An example of this is people who live in very cold climates wearing well-insulated clothes to keep warm. It can also include the way people transport things, in a desert the best way to transport some things is by camel.  How the environment has been changed or modification is the way people change their environment to suit themselves. Artificially watering your lawn, if you live in a dry area is one example. Another good example is clearing forests to make room for growing crops.  How people depend on the environment. Depending on the environment is when people depend on their environment for something. Examples of this are using trees for firewood, or coal to warm us in winter, rivers to transport goods and natural resources like oil and coal, to sell or exchange for other needed items that are not available.

17 Human-Environmental Interaction Things to think about  Human-environment interaction -- What are the relationships among people and places?  How have people changed the environment to better suit their needs?

18 LOCATION  This is divided into 2 parts: Specific location and General 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: 1, Silly Street, Anywhere Town, Nowhere Place A Map Address: 15 o 20' North, 20 o 15' West  Both of these examples well tell you exactly where a place is.  General location is shown by saying where something is in relation to somewhere or something else. It is also known as relative location. Here are some examples:  ten minutes away by train or in front of the bank – the Valley

19 LOCATION Things to think about.  Location -- Where are things located?  A location can be specific (for example, it can be stated as coordinates of longitude and latitude or as a distance from another place) or general (it's in the Northeast).

20 LOCATION ~more~ LOCATION What is Sayre’s exact latitude and longitude? What is the town’s location in relation to other major cities? What geographic factors caused Philadelphia to be located where it is? (e.g. land, water)

21 MOVEMENT Movement includes the movement of people, things, such as goods, as well as communications (the movement of ideas). We can describe the type of communications a place has and the main forms of transportation, as well as what goods are exported and imported. These all come under the heading of movement.

22 MOVEMENT Things to think about.  Movement -- A study of movement includes learning about major modes of transportation used by people, an area's major exports and imports, and ways in which people communicate (move ideas).

23 MOVEMENT ~more~ THE MOVEMENT OF PEOPLE, GOODS, AND IDEAS How are people transported in this town? How are goods transported in this town? What are they? Who depends on them? How are ideas transported in this town? (e.g. communication)

24 SUMMARY  Making Sense of it All  Now that you have found out a little about the five themes, how can you use them?  Imagine for a minute that you are a newspaper reporter. An important discovery of a lost land has been made, and you have the chance to be the first person to interview the returning explorers. Make a list of the questions that you might ask. Remember, the five themes and ask the most important questions from each.  Here are some questions to get you started:  Where is it?  Where exactly is that?  What does it look like?  How many people live there and where?  What settlements (cities, villages) does it have?  What sort of climate does it have?  Does it have any extremes of weather?  Is it prone to any type of natural disaster?  What are the natural resources and how are they used?  What type of agriculture is there?  What are the main types of transportation and communication?  What makes the people there different to people in other places?  What sort of government does it have?  Is it associated with any other place?.

25 INTERNET REFERENCES Click on the links below to view additional information.  esources/ngo/education/themes.html esources/ngo/education/themes.html  6_9/lessons/geo1/5themes2.htm 6_9/lessons/geo1/5themes2.htm

26 REFERENCES  aven.com/articles/fivethemes.htm aven.com/articles/fivethemes.htm  world.com/a_lesson/lesson071.shtml world.com/a_lesson/lesson071.shtml  publish/article_34.shtml publish/article_34.shtml