Download Five Themes of Geography Notes

The Five Themes of Geography
1. Location: position on the Earth’s surface
a. Absolute location – precise points on the earth’s surface
Example: absolute location of Philadelphia lies about 40 N and 75 W
b. Relative location – the position of one place with respect to other important places
- not as exact as absolute
- tells where a place is in relation to other places
Example: Philadelphia lies between the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers
2. Place: Physical and Human Characteristics
a. Physical characteristics – occur naturally
- land and water forms
- plant and animal life
- soil conditions
- climate
b. Human (cultural) characteristics – created by human beings who live there
- People, their ideas, languages, and religions
3. Human and Environmental Interaction: Relationships within places
- Wherever humans have lived or traveled, they have changed the natural features of the earth or the
environment.
- Human interaction with the land, natural resources, and other natural features of the United States
has affected its history a great deal.
Example: Cutting down forests to build homes, to build towns they dammed up rivers
4. Movement: Human interacting on the Earth
- Out of all the geographical themes, movement has affected our nation’s history most.
- Their movements shaped the country, just as people moving to the United States today continue to
contribute new skills and ideas.
Example: Immigrants traveling to this land.
5. Regions: How they form and change
- Geographers divide the world into large regions, or areas that have something in common.
- It helps us see what relationships exist among different parts of the world.
- To describe a region, geographers look at physical and cultural characteristics.
I.
Cartographer –
A. Two ways of mapping
1. Globe – 3D; has height, depth, and width
2. Map – 2D
B. Which is most accurate? Why?
Globe, because it is shaped like the earth…..the only accurate way to draw earth is a sphere.
C. Which one is better?
Map, because they show more about the world’s people
II.
Three categories of Maps
A. General Purpose
1. Political/borderlines
2. Physical – lakes, rivers, mountains
B. Special Purpose – special maps for specific reasons
III.
Types of Maps
A. Mercator Map
shows accurate land shapes but not accurate size and distance
Most popular; Most incorrect; distorted; Greenland and Alaska are huge on the map.
B. Interrupted Map
Mercator’s as a cut-up sphere; shows size more accurate but difficult to calculate distances
C. Robinson Map
gives fairly accurate view of most sizes, shapes, and directions; shows a fairly accurate picture of
the relationship between land masses and water; used more than the interrupted
IV.
Landforms and Water
A. Plateaus – steep sides and flat on top
B. Mesa – small plateau
C. Foothills – small hills at base of mountain
D. Tributaries – small water that feed into larger waters (i.e. creeks into rivers)
V.
Topography – study the surface; “top” of the earth
A. Elevation – sea level
B. Relief – difference in height
VI.
Climate
A. Climate – weather patterns over a long period of time
B. Current –constant air flow
C. Weather – weather patterns over a short period of time
D. Precipitation –any moisture that falls from the sky (snow, sleet, or rain)
VII.
Midwest -“Breadbasket of the World” – South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, etc.
- grow a lot of wheat in that area
- 60% -70% of wheat is produced in that area fro the entire world