1. WORLD GEOGRAPHY Unit 1 5 Themes of Geography Notes

2. 5 Themes of Geography Notes
The world ‘geography’ comes from a Greek work that means, “to describe the earth.”
Geographers look at the use of space on the earth and the interactions that take place there.
They look for patterns and connections between people and the land on which they live.
So GEOGRAPHY is the study of the distribution and interaction of physical and human features on earth.

3. MAPS, GRAPHS & CHARTS
Geographers use many methods to study the use of space on earth. The most common one is a map. Maps are representations of portions of earth.
Geographers also use photographs to gain visual evidence about a place. They organize information into charts, graphs, or tables. This helps them to learn about geographic patterns and to understand changes over time.
Another basic tool used by geographers is the five themes of geography. These themes organize information about geography into five categories.

4. LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
Location: Where are things located? A location can be absolute (for example, latitude and longitude) or relative (for example, explained by identifying landmarks, direction, or distance between places).
RECAP
Absolute Location uses Latitude and Longitude.
Relative Location uses surrounding land marks to describe it’s location.

5. PLACE
Place: Characteristics that define a place and explains what makes it different from other places. These differences can take many forms including physical or cultural differences.
Living on an island will have physical cultural differences, than living in the mountains.

6. REGION United States is considered a region.
Geographers divide the earth into regions making it easier to study.
Regions are defined in many ways including area, vegetation, political divisions, etc.
A region is an area of the earth’s surface that is defined by shared characteristics.
Regions usually have more than one element that unifies them.
United States
is considered
a region.

7. MOVEMENT
Movement: People, items, and ideas (mass communication) move and help to shape the world.
Geographers study movement by looking at three types of distance: Linear, time, and psychological.
Linear distance means how far across the earth an idea, a person, or a product travels.
Physical geography can change linear distance by forcing a route to shift because of land or water barriers.
Time distance is how long it takes a person, product, or idea to travel.
Psychological distance is a term used to describe the way people view distance. Studies show that as we become familiar with a place, we think it is closer than it actually is.

8. HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTION
Human Environment Interaction: This theme explains how humans and the environment interact with each other. Humans adapt and change the environment while depending upon it.
Dressing for the weather