the 5 themes of geography

A Geographers Best Friend

Geography is the study of the distribution and interaction of physical

and human features on the earth.

Geography involves the study of places: their locations, their characteristics, and how humans use and move around them.

Geographers view the world in terms of space.

They use the 5 Themes of Geography to study the world.

Historians look at events over time.

Geographers look at:- use of space on Earth- interactions that take place there- patterns and connections between people and land

Geographers use a variety of tools to study the earth, including:- maps - photographs- charts, graphs, tables- scale models- five themes of geography

Geographers study the world by looking at location, place,

region, movement, and human-environment

interaction.

Discuss the question, “How do People, Goods, and Ideas get from one place to another?”

Geographers study 3 types of movement:-Linear Distance-Time Distance-Psychological Distance

Refers to how far a person, idea, or product travels.

Measured in inches, feet, miles, etc. Jacksonville to Beverly Hills is 2,502

miles!

Amount of time it takes a for a person, idea, or product to travel.

Measured in seconds, minutes, hours, etc.

It takes 14 hrs. and 45 minutes from NYC to JAX.

Refers to the way people view travel.

The more familiar we are w/ an area, the distance seems to shrink.

Discusses question, “How are places similar or different?”

Geographers create regions to make comparisons

A region is an area of the earth’s surface with similar characteristics.

Characteristics include: physical, political, economic, or cultural things.

3 types of regions: formal, functional, and perceptual.

Defined by a limited # of related characteristics.

Regions we will study this year:

-The U.S. and Canada-Europe-Asia-Africa-Latin America

What do these regions have in common?

Organized around a set of interactions and connections between places.

Usually characterized by a hub, or central place, the various things that link to the hub.

Regions in which people see the region the same way.

People can always have differences in their perceptual regions.

Discusses question, “How do people relate to the physical world?”

Geographers study this to understand the relationships between humans and the environment in which they live.

People:-Change the environment to meet their needs and,-Learn to live with aspects of the environment they cannot control.

Can you think of any examples of these?

Discusses the question, “What is it like?”

Contains physical, cultural, and human interaction characteristics of a location including: climate, landforms, vegetation, buildings, roads, housing, etc.

Discusses the question, “Where is it?”

Absolute location is the exact place on earth where a geographic feature is found.

Relative location describes a place in comparison to the places around it.

The earth is divided into 2 equal halves called hemispheres.

There are 4 hemispheres: North, South, East, and West.

The equator divides the north and south hemispheres.

The prime meridian divides the east and west hemispheres.

The prime meridian runs through Greenwich, England.

Latitude is used to locate things north and south.

Latitude lines run parallel to the equator and are called parallels.

The equator is 0 degrees latitude. Lines north of the equator are north latitude and lines south of the equator are south latitude.

Longitude lines run through the north and south poles and are called meridians.

They mark positions east and west of the prime meridian.

The prime meridian is 0 degrees longitude.

To find the absolute location of a place, you must find where the latitude and longitude lines intersect.