Download The 5 Themes of Geography - Effingham County Schools

Geography
Geography is: The study of Earth’s surface and the
people, environments and resources that shape it.
Geography helps us understand why the earth
looks the way it does and what causes it to change.
Geography includes things like climate (weather),
pollution, naturally made things like mountains and
rivers, and even human made things like roads and
bridges.
The 5 Themes of Geography
Theme
What it tells us about Geography
Location
Where are we?
Place
What’s it like there?
Interaction
How do HUMANS and the ENVIRONMENT affect each other?
Movement
How do HUMANS and other HUMANS interact together?
Region
What links where we are to the places around us?
Location – Where are we?
Exact Location – Like a grid system
Relative Location – not specific
•Latitude and Longitude Lines
(Macungie = 40°N, 75°W)
•Relative Location is location in
relation to some other place
•Latitude is distance north or south
from the equator
•“I’m near…” or “I’m about 2 hours
from…”
•Longitude is distance east or west
from the prime meridian
•Usually how we describe where we
are in every day conversation
•Most famous latitude and longitude
lines are: the equator and prime
meridian
•How would you describe where
LMMS is to someone from around
here?
•We don’t usually use them in every
day conversation.
•How would you describe where
Allentown is to someone from CA?
Place – What’s it like there?
Describes an area’s physical and human features.
Physical features: Landforms and Climates.
o Ex: Rocky Mountains, The Grand Canyon, Tropical Climate
Human features: What people do to change a place.
o Ex: Global Warming, building roads and buildings
Interaction –
How do HUMANS and the ENVIRONMENT affect each other?
Humans greatly change their environments as they adapt to
living. Over long periods of time, humans have really changed
the way our planet looks and acts.
Example: Humans have cut down so many trees to build houses
and make every day supplies that we have actually greatly
reduced the amount of oxygen in the air for us to breathe.
The environment also changes humans. Humans have evolved
through a long process of learning to adapt to the challenges of
their environments.
o Example: People who live in warmer places where the sun is
strong need darker skin to protect them from the sun rays. This is
why people who live in Africa (or their ancestors) have dark skin.
Movement –
How do HUMANS interact with other HUMANS?
People move around the globe often because
resources are scattered unevenly around the
globe. People often go where it is easiest for them
to live a good life.
o Examples: People migrate (move) all around the globe
to get closer to resources and share ideas. People
trade with each other, countries import (bring goods
in) and export (send goods out).
Regions –
What links where we are to the places around us?
The area where we are and the areas around us have
similar physical characteristics (like climates and
landforms).
o Humans have drawn lines on maps and called different
places by different names, but our world doesn’t know that!
o Pennsylvania and New Jersey are not physically very
different. We are part of the same “region” even though we
are called by two different names. We have similar climates
(weather) and similar types of land. We even share some
important landforms like the Appalachian Mountains.
Understanding Globes
Lines of Latitude – Imaginary
horizontal lines around the globe.
Lines of Longitude –
Imaginary vertical lines around the globe.
*Also called Parallels
*Also called Meridians
Together, these lines form the global grid. Every place on the earth has its own
set of coordinates on the global grid.
Earth’s Hemisphere’s
• To help us find our location on the earth easier, we break our earth down into
parts, or hemisphere’s. We divide our planet into North and South halves, OR
into East and West halves.
• Which 2 hemisphere’s do we live in?
Types of Maps:
Map Projections
Maps are drawings that show
regions on flat surfaces. Maps are
easier to use and carry than
globes, but they cannot show the
correct size and shape of every
feature on Earth’s curved surface.
They must shrink some places and
stretch others. To make up for this
distortion, map makers use
different map projections. No one
projection can accurately show the
correct area, shape, distance, and
direction for all of Earth’s surface.
• Same-Shape Maps
(Mercator Projection):
Accurately show the
shapes of landmasses,
but distort the size of
landmasses and
distances between them.
• Equal Area Maps: Show
the correct size of
landmasses, but distort
their shapes, especially at
the edges of the map.
• Robinson Maps: Gives a
full overall picture of the
world. Keeps the size and
shape correct for most
continents and oceans,
but distorts the size of the
polar regions.
Comparing Types of Maps
By looking at the country of
Greenland on each map, we can
see how different objects appear
in different ways on each map.
Mercator Projection
Robinson Projection
Equal Area Projection
Parts of a Map
How to use a map
Mapmakers provide several
clues to help you understand the
information on a map. Maps
provide different clues,
depending on their purpose or
scale. However, most maps have
several clues in common.
• Locator Globe: Shows
you where on the globe
the area of the map is
located
• Compass Rose: Shows
you direction. (North,
South, East, West)
• Key: Shows you the
symbols and colors used
on the map, and what
each one means.
• Scale Bar: Helps you
find the actual distances
between points shown
on the map.
Political and Physical Maps
Political Maps
Political maps show political
borders: continents and
countries.
The colors on political maps do
not have any special meaning,
but they make the map easier to
read.
Political maps also include
symbols and labels for capitals,
cities and towns.
Physical Maps
Physical maps represent what a
region looks like by showing its
major physical features, such as
hills and plains.
Physical maps also often show
elevation and relief.
Elevation is the height of the land
above sea level. Relief shows
how sharply the land rises and
falls.
Comparing Political and Physical Maps
Political Map
Physical Map
• On which map would it be easier to find
Los Angeles, California? Why?
• On which map would it be easier to find
the highest peak in North America? Why?