Download Geography and the 5 Themes

Geography and the 5 Themes
Chapter 1
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What is Geography?
• Geography provides an effective method
for asking questions about places on the
earth and their relationships to the people
who live there.
• “Geo” is also Latin for earth.
• “Graphy” is Greek for graph or map.
• So…Geography is also the mapping of the
earth.
The Five Themes
• Location
– Position on the earth’s surface.
– Every place on the earth can be located by
either absolute or relative terms.
– The use of a network of horizontal and vertical
lines on globes and maps to find exact points
anywhere on the earth is absolute location.
The use of cardinal and intermediate
directions in giving location is the relative
location. Ex: Austin is approximately 50
miles NE of New Braunfels. Use of
landmarks is also helpful in relative
location.
Location
• Place
Every place on earth has its own physical
and human features. In the physical
feature it can be described in terms of its
land, water, weather, soil, and plant and
animal life. In terms of its human features
each place can be described in terms of
the number and kinds of people who live
there. It can also be described by the
activities that take place there.
DESCRIBE is the key word in place.
Place
• Human/Environment Interaction (HEI)
The interaction of humans with the
environment. This interaction can have both
good and bad outcomes. This is one of the
most important factors in geography.
Human Environment Interaction
• Movement
Movement has become a daily part of our
lives. Not only does man move through
migration, but information, goods, and
ideas are also moved. The earth is
constantly moving – water(oceans),
landforms, wind, etc.
Movement
• Regions
Regions make the study of geography more
manageable. The world is often divided into
regions or areas, based on certain physical
features – land-type or plant and animal life.
The world is also divided into regions based
on certain human characteristics – such as
the way people are governed or the kind of
language they speak.
Region
Location, Place, HEI, Movement, and Region
The five themes ask these questions:
• Location – Where is it?
• Place – What is it like there? (both
physical and human)
• HEI – What is the relationship between
people and their environment?
• Movement – How are people and places
connected?
• Region – How is a place similar to and
different from other places?
Other themes in geography
• History and Political Science
– We use history to help understand the way
that places looked in the past
– Political Science is used to help us see how
people in different places are governed at the
local, state, and national levels. Geographers
look at the ways political boundaries have
been formed and how they have been
changed.
• Sociology and Anthropology:
– Sociology is used to help us understand
societies in different places throughout the
world.
– Anthropology helps us gain insight into the
“culture” or way of life, of groups of people in
different places.
•Economics:
- Economics is used to help us understand how
the location of resources affects the way
people make, transport, and use goods. Also,
how locations are chosen for various
economic activities such as:
•
•
•
•
Farming
Mining
Manufacturing and
selling.
Two Branches of Geography
• Physical – The study of physical earth.
• Human – The study of Human activity on
earth.
– Physical Geography – it is the study of earth
itself, as well as things on earth NOT made by
people.
• Landforms
• Climate – climatology (the pattern of weather in a
place over a long period of time)
• Weather – Meteorology (the study of temperature,
clouds, wind, and different types of precipitation
over a short time period.
•Oceans – Oceanography
•Natural Geography or Biogeography –
(how plant and animal life are distributed
on earth’s surface)
•Plants – Plant Geography
•Zoogeography – study of animals and
birds and their habitats.
• Human Geography – the study of people and
their activities within their environment or
surroundings.
• Cultural or social - study the places people live and the
ways in which different groups live
• Historical – study of people and places over time
• Demography – study of population in terms of births,
deaths, marriages, and other data.
• Economic geography – shows where the places natural
resources are found affect the economic activities such
as manufacturing and agriculture
• Political geography – deals with the relationship between
an area’s government and physical features. The
drawing of political boundaries.
• Urban geography – centers on the growth of cities and
the areas around them. It studies how cities began and
how they affect people and the environment.
The Value of Geography
• Geography helps people learn more about
the place where they live.
• Geography helps people understand why
we are living in a smaller world (not
physically)
• Geography teaches us why we are
globally interdependent on other areas of
the world.