Download The 5 Themes of Geography

The Basics
Unit One
Weather, Climate, 5 Themes
The Nitty Gritty: Need to Know Terms
• Geography: The study of how humans
interact with the physical features of the
earth.
Tropic of
Cancer
Latitude
Prime
Meridian
Longitude
Tropic of
Capricorn
Latitude
Equator
Latitude
The 5 Themes of Geography
• Location
– Where is it?
• Absolute Location: Exactly where it is
on earth – latitude and longitude
cordintates.
• Relative Location: Describes a place in
comparison to places around it…next
to the big red barn
The 5 Themes of Geography
• Place
– What is it like?
• Physical features, cultural
characteristics, climate, landforms,
vegetation…all that make them unique
from other places.
The 5 Themes of Geography
• Region
– How are places similar or different?
• Characteristics that unify areas
together
–
–
–
–
Physical
Political
Economic
Cultural
» Example: Midwest in the United
States
The 5 Themes of Geography
• Human-Envrionmental Interaction
– How do people relate to the
physical world?
• How do your activities change with
each season?
The 5 Themes of Geography
• Movement
- How Do People, Goods, and Ideas Get
from One Place to Another?
• Geographers use three types of distance to analyze
movement:
- linear distance
- time distance
- psychological distance
Natural Disasters
The Earth Trembles
• An earthquake occurs when plates grind or slip at a fault line
• A seismograph detects earthquakes and measures the waves they create
Earthquake Locations
• Location in the earth where an earthquake begins is called the focus
• Epicenter—the point directly above focus on the earth’s surface
• Nearly 95% of earthquakes occur at tectonic plate boundaries
Natural Disasters
The Explosive Earth
• Volcano—underground materials pour from crack in
the earth’s surface
• Most volcanoes occur at tectonic plate boundaries
Volcanic Action
• Eruption—lava, gases, ash, dust, explode from vent
in Earth’s crust
• Lava—magma that has reached the earth’s surface;
may create landform
Natural Disasters
Hurricanes
• Huge storms called hurricanes, or typhoons in Asia:
- form over warm, tropical ocean waters
- hit land with heavy rain, high winds, storm surge
Tornadoes
• Tornado—a powerful, funnel-shaped column of
spiraling air:
- born from strong thunderstorms
- capable of immense damage
Natural Disasters
Blizzards
• Blizzard—heavy snowstorm with strong winds, reduced visibility
Droughts
• Drought: long period of time with either no or minimal rainfall
Floods
• Water spreads out over normally dry land
How do we “map” the Earth??
• Two or Three Dimensions
• Globe—a three-dimensional representation (a sphere) of Earth
• Map—a two-dimensional graphic representation of Earth’s
surface
• Cartographer (mapmaker) tries to accurately reflect earth’s
surface
• Map projection—way of showing Earth’s curved surface on a flat
map
• Surveying
– Surveyors observe, measure, record what they see in a
specific area
– Remote sensing, gathering geographic data from a distance,
includes:
– aerial photography
– satellite imaging
How does Weather occur??
Ocean Motion
• The ocean circulates through currents, waves, tides
• Currents act like rivers flowing through the ocean
• Waves are swells or ridges produced by winds
• Tides are the regular rising and falling of the ocean
– created by gravitational pull of the moon or sun
• Motion of ocean helps distribute heat on the planet
– winds are heated and cooled by ocean water
Water, it’s EVERYWHERE!
Lakes hold more than 95% of the earth’s fresh water
• Ground water—water held in the pores of rock
• Water table—level at which the rock is saturated
Onto the Dry Part of the Planet…
Landforms
• Landforms are naturally formed features on Earth’s surface
• Tectonic plates are massive, moving pieces of Earth’s lithosphere
Plate Movement
• Plates move in a few ways:
• by spreading, or moving apart
– subduction, or diving under another plate
– collision, or crashing together
– sliding past each other in a shearing motion
How Does Earth Change??
Altering the Landscape
• Weathering—processes that alter rock on or near the
earth’s surface
• Mechanical weathering—processes that break rock
into smaller pieces
– Does not change rock’s composition, only size
– Examples: frost, plant roots, road construction,
mining
• Chemical weathering—interaction of elements creates
new substance
– Example: when iron rusts it reacts to oxygen in air
and crumbles
• Erosion—when weathered material moves by winds,