Download Chapter 1 Looking at the Earth

Looking at the Earth
What is geography?

the study of the distribution
and interaction of physical
and human features on the
earth
OR…the way the earth looks, how
it is made, and how people react
to it.
The Five Themes of Geography
Location
 Place
 Region
 Movement
 Human-Environment
Interaction

Location
Where is it?

Absolute Location
•Exact place on earth where
a geographic feature is
found
•Hemispheres: North, South,
East, West
•Equator
•Prime Meridian
Absolute Location
Latitude Lines
•Run parallel to equator
•North latitude or South
latitude
 Longitude Lines
•Run perpendicular to
equator
•Mark East or West

Location

Relative Location
•Describes how a
place is related to
its surrounding
environment
Place
What is it like?
Includes physical
features and cultural
characteristics
 Description of a place
may change over time

Region
How are places similar or different?

Formal Regions
•Defined by limited
number of related
characteristics
U.S.A and Canada,
Latin America, South
Asia
Region

Functional Regions
•Organized around set of
interactions and
connections between
places
City and its suburbs
Region
How are places similar or different?
Perceptual Regions
•People perceive the
characteristics of
region in the same way
-American Midwest
Human-Environment
Interaction
How do people relate to physical world?
Learn to use what
environment offers
them
 Change environment to
meet their needs

Human-Environment Interaction
Learn to live with
certain aspects of
environment
 People respond to same
environment in
different ways

Movement
How do people, goods and
ideas move from one
location to the other?
 Linear Distance
•How far across the earth
something travels
Movement
Time Distance
•Amount of time it takes
to travel
 Psychological Distance
•Way people view
distance

The Geographer’s Tools
Maps, globes, and data
 3 kinds of maps
•General reference map
•Thematic map
•Navigation map
