Download Five Themes of Geography

Do Now: Five Themes
List the five themes of geography (without looking!)
What is the purpose of these themes?
What is geography?
 The study of people, the environment, and their
resources
THE FIVE THEMES
To understand how our world is connected, some
geographers have divided the study of geography into
5 themes:
 Location
 Place
 Human-Environment Interaction
 Movement
 Region
L-P-H-M-R
Can you think of a mnemonic device?
1. Location
 Absolute location is measured in degrees latitude and
longitude
 Ex: The absolute location of St. Louis, MO is
38°43' North 90°14' West
 Relative location depends upon a point of reference
 Ex: The relative location of St. Louis, MO is eastern
Missouri along the Mississippi River southeast of St.
Charles
2. Place
A. Place is described in terms of
physical and human features
 1. physical includes climate, soil, plant life, animal
life, and bodies of water (made by nature)
 2. human means kinds of houses, language, and
transportation (made by man)
Place Activity
Describe a place to the person sitting next to you
without naming it.
Can you identify the place from the description alone?
3. Human-Environment Interaction
A. Interaction between people and
their environment. Humans:
 Adapt to the environment.
Modify the environment.
Depend on the environment.
Activity
4. Movement
Movement of
people, goods,
and ideas
Activity
 Find the origin of manufacture of as many items as you
can on your body or in your supplies. Examples: shirt,
sneakers, jewelry, backpack, folders, pens pencils, and
anything else you can find out the origin of
manufacture. Make a mental list of the item and where
it was made.
5. Region
 A region is an area of the
world that has similar,
unifying characteristics.
The characteristics may
be physical, human, or
cultural.
 Language, climate,
religion
 Regions can change over
time (i.e., natural
disasters, war)
Types of Regions
1. Formal: defined by
governmental or
administrative borders
(United States)
2. Functional: defined by
function (newspaper
service area)
3. Vernacular regions:
defined by people’s
perceptions (the South)
Activity
 What region do we live in? What type of region is
it? What are its characteristics?
 What states do you define as the South? The
Northeast? The Bible Belt? What characteristics and
perceptions go along with these regions?
Five Themes of Geography Video