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The Five Themes of Geography
Geography is the study of Earth and the ways people use Earth to live and work.
There are five themes, or topics, to help people organize ideas as they study
geography.
Location describes where something can be found. One way to describe a location
is to name what something is near. This is called relative location. You can also
describe a location by giving an absolute location. One way to describe the
absolute location of something is to use an address. Another way to describe the
absolute location is by using a grid system made up of lines of latitude and
longitude. Lines of latitude run east to west, but measure distances north to south.
While lines of Longitude run north to south, but measure distances east to west.
Place describes the physical features, natural resources, human features of a
location. The physical features of a location are natural features that include the
climate, landforms, soil, bodies of water, and plants and animals. The natural
resources of a location are the things that occur naturally in the environment
undisturbed by humans, such as water, fish, oil, and trees. The human features are
those made by people such as population, jobs, language, customs, religion and
government.
Human/Environment Interaction describes how the environment affects people
and how people affect the environment. This theme also describes how people
depend upon the environment. For example some people depend on lakes to
provide them with drinking water. Human/Environment interaction describes how
people adapt to their environment. It also describes how people change the
environment to meet their needs and wants. Some changes may be harmful to the
environment, for example, clearing land of all trees my cause soil erosion. Other
changes people make can be beneficial.
Movement describes how and why people, goods, information and ideas move from
place to place. Movement is often described in terms of transportation and
communication. Highways, railroads, and rivers are examples of transportation
networks that move people and goods from place to place. Television, newspapers,
and computers are examples of communication tools that move information and
ideas from place to place.
Regions describe places on Earth with similar features. Physical features, such as
landforms, natural resources, or climate can describe a region. The Amazon River
basin is a region defined by its physical feature- the Amazon River. Human features
such as politics, religion, customs, or language, can also describe a region. Canada is
a region described by political divisions called provinces. Regions can be large, such
as the Eastern Hemisphere, or small, such as a neighborhood.
Adapted from Maps-Globes-Graphs By Steck-Vaughn