Download Five Themes of Geography - Phoenix Union High School District

FIVE THEMES OF GEOGRAPHY
BELLWORK
Please
take out your
composition notebooks. You
remembered them, right?
I’m
going to come around and
initial them. You get points
for having it on time!
BELLWORK
Discuss
with your neighbor:
How have people changed the
world? Write down three
examples on your whiteboard.

LOCATION
Geographic location refers to a specific point or area on the
Earth’s surface
 Relative
Location: location described
by landmarks, time, direction or
distance from one place to another
and may associate a particular place
with another.
 Absolute Location: location is latitude
and longitude coordinates (global
location) or a street address (local)
PLACE

Geographic place often has an ambiguous boundary relying
more on human/social attributes
Human Characteristics: these
characteristics are derived from the
ideas and action of people that result in
changes to the environment, such as
buildings, roads, clothing and food
habits
 Physical Characteristics: these
characteristics include mountains,
rivers, soil, beaches, wildlife
(natural)

HUMAN-ENVIRONMENTAL INTERACTIONS

How humans adapt to the environment around
them. Think Alaska vs Hawaii.
Humans Adapt to the Environment:
humans wear clothing that is
suitable for varied weather summer
and winter; rain and shine, etc.
 Humans Modify the Environment:
humans heat and cool buildings for
comfort
 Humans Depend on the Environment:
depend on environment for water,
food, etc.

MOVEMENT

People move a lot!
People: Humans occupy places unevenly
on Earth because of environment, but we’re
also social beings. We interact with each
other through travel, trade,
information flow and political events.
 Goods: imports and exports and mass
communication have shaped the world
 Ideas: fashions and fads, technology

REGIONS

Region divides the world into manageable units for
geographic study. Regions have some sort of
characteristic that unifies the area.



Formal: those defined by governmental
or administrative boundaries (i.e. USA,
Phoenix, Arizona)
Functional: those defined by function (i.e.
school districts)
Vernacular: those loosely defined by
people’s perception (i.e. The Southwest,
The Middle East, Sunbelt, Bible Belt)