Download the five themes of geography

LOCATION
– WHERE IS IT?
Every place on Earth has a location. There are two types of
location: absolute location and relative location.
Absolute location is the exact spot on Earth where something is
found. Lines of latitude and longitude are used to measure a
global address of a particular place.
Example: Paris, the capital of France, is located at 49 N 2 E.
A street address is also an example of absolute location.
Example: 12 Scott Circle, Hanscom AFB, MA 01731
Relative location is the position of a place in relation to other
places. It explains the approximate location of a place.
Example: HMS is located next to the Youth Center and across
the street from the Base Pool.
Example: Hanscom AFB is located west of Boston off Routes 2A
and 128 and borders Lincoln, Bedford, Concord and Lexington.
PLACE
– WHAT PHYSICAL OR HUMAN CHARACTERISTICS
SET ONE PLACE APART FROM ANOTHER PLACE?
Every place on Earth has special physical and human
characteristics or features that make it different from every
other place on Earth.
Physical Characteristics or Features include climate, vegetation,
landforms, bodies of water, and wildlife.
Human Characteristics or Features include language, religion,
culture and customs, politics and government, skin tone, facial
features, music, food, architecture and landmarks.
REGION
– WHAT COMMON PHYSICAL AND HUMAN
FEATURES UNIFY A GROUP OF PLACES?
A region is a group of places that share a common physical or
human characteristic or feature. Regions may be large areas of
land united by a common land feature such as the Rocky Mountain
region of the United States. Other regions may be much smaller
in size, such as Chinatown in NYC which is united by a common
human characteristic – culture. The same physical and human
characteristics or features used to describe place are also used
to identify region. The same place may be found in more than one
region. For example, Hawaii is in the political region of the US,
but it is also located in a tropical climatic region.
HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTION
–
HOW DO PEOPLE ADAPT/CHANGE/DEPEND ON THE
ENVIRONMENT?
Human-Environment Interaction focuses upon the relationship
between people and their environment. Environment affects
how people live, work, dress, travel, eat and communicate. People
adapt to their environment by wearing light weight clothing
during hot summer months. People change their environment by
cutting down trees to build roads. People depend upon their
environment by using water from lakes and rivers to irrigate their
farms. Interdependence is the dependence of countries on goods
and resources from other parts of the world.
MOVEMENT
– HOW AND WHY DO PEOPLE, GOODS AND
IDEAS MOVE FROM PLACE TO PLACE?
Movement helps to trace the movement of people, goods, and
ideas from one location to the next.
Migration, commuting to work and school, and traveling on
vacation are examples of human movement.
Trade which involves the exporting and importing of products,
food, and raw materials are examples of movement of goods.
Cell phones, internet, newspaper, books, television, fax and radio
are some examples of how ideas are “moved” or communicated
around the world.