Post on 16-Jul-2020
The five themes of geography are location, place, region,movement, and human-environment interaction.
The five themes enable you todiscuss and explain people, places,and environments of the past and present.
MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW
TERMS & NAMEScontinentabsolute locationlatitudelongitude relative locationmigrate
Movement • Seven continents
were once one continent. A
continent is a landmass above
water on earth. �
The Five Themesof GeographyThe Five Themesof Geography
Scientist Alfred Wegener sent
out shock waves today when
he proposed a radical new
hypothesis. The continents
were once joined together as
one huge landmass. In time,
he suggests, pieces of this
landmass broke away and
drifted apart.
Wegener calls this super-
continent Pangaea. To sup-
port his theory, Wegener
points out that the conti-
nents seem to fit together.
He notes, for example, that
the east coast of South
America fits snugly against
the west coast of Africa.
Mountain ranges continue
across both continents as
smoothly as the lines of
print across torn pieces of
a newspaper.
Other scientists reject
Wegener’s claim. They say
that they know of no force
strong enough to cause
continents to move.
FRANKFURT, GERMANY, JANUARY 6, 1912
41 hirez
NorthAmerica
EuropeAsia
Africa
Australia
Antarctica
SouthAmerica
The Five ThemesEventually, the scientific community accepted AlfredWegener’s theory. Scientists discovered that giant slabs ofEarth’s surface, called tectonic plates, move, causing the conti-nents to drift. This creates earthquakes, volcanoes, and moun-tains. Geographers study the processes that cause changes likethese. To help you understand how geographers think aboutthe world, consider geography’s five themes—location, place,region, movement, and human-environment interaction.
The Geographer’s World 35
TAKING NOTES
The Five Themes of Geography
Use your web to takenotes about the fivethemes.
LocationOften, the first thing you want to know about aplace is where it is located in space. Geographyhelps you think about things spatially—wherethey are located and how they got there.Location allows you to discuss places in theworld in terms everyone can understand.
Absolute Location If someone asks you whereyour school is, you might say, “At the corner of Fifth Street and Second Avenue.” Ask a geographer where Melbourne, Australia, is located, and you may get the answer “38° southlatitude, 145° east longitude.” This is the ab-solute location of the city of Melbourne.Absolute location is the exact spot on Earthwhere a place can be found.
Using a system of imaginary lines drawn onits surface, geographers can locate any place onEarth. Lines that run parallel to the equator arecalled latitude lines. They show distance northand south of the equator. Lines that runbetween the North and South Poles are calledlongitude lines. They show distance east andwest of the prime meridian.
Perth
Albany
Brisbane
Broken Hill
Cairns
SydneyAdelaide
Geraldton
CarnarvonAlice Springs
Derby
Rockhampton
Darwin
Canberra
Melbourne
Hobart
Coral SeaINDIAN
OCEAN
Great Australian Bight
TasmaniaKing I.
Bathurst I.
Kangaroo I.
Flinders I.
GrooteEylandt
Mornington I.
25°S
140°E 150°E145°E135°E130°E125°E120°E115°E
30°S
35°S
40°S
45°S
20°S
15°S
National capital
Other city
Australia Today
GEOGRAPHY SKILLBUILDER:Interpreting a Map1. Location • What is the latitude of
Adelaide?2. Location • What island is almost
entirely enclosed by the lines 40˚ and 45˚ south latitude and 145˚ and 150˚ east longitude?
Sagarmatha National ParkSagarmatha National Park islocated in mountainous north-eastern Nepal. The park includesMount Everest, the highest peak inthe world. Deep gorges and glacialvalleys run through the park. Muchof the park lies 15,000 feet abovesea level. The isolated location ofthe park helps protect several rarespecies, such as the Tibetan wolf,the lesser panda, and the snowleopard, shown below.
The park is also famous for itssmall population of Sherpas. TheSherpa people moved to theregion from Tibet more than 500years ago. They regard Mt. Everestas a holy place. Many Sherpashave acted as guides for peopleclimbing Everest.
Relative Location Another way todefine the location of a place is todescribe its relation to other places.You might say your school is “near thefire station” or “two blocks west of thepet store.” If someone asks you whereCanada is, you might say, “North of the United States.”The locationof one place in relation to other places is called its relative location.
PlaceAnother useful theme of geography is place. If you go to a newplace, the first thing you want to know is what it is like. Is itcrowded or is there a lot of open space? How is the climate?What language do people speak? Every place on Earth has a dis-tinct group of physical features, such as its climate, landformsand bodies of water, and plant and animal life. Places can also have human characteristics, or features that human beings have created, such as cities and towns, governments, and culturaltraditions.
Places Change If you could go back to the days when dinosaursroamed Earth, you would see a world much different from theone you know. Much of Earth had a moist, warm climate, and thecontinents were not located where they are today. Rivers, forests,wetlands, glaciers, oceans—the physical features of Earth—con-tinue to change. Some changes are dramatic, caused by eruptingvolcanoes, earthquakes, and hurricanes. Others happen slowly,such as the movement of glaciers or the formation of a delta.
RegionGeographers group places into regions. Aregion is a group of places that have phys-ical features or human characteristics, orboth, in common. A geographer interestedin languages, for example, might dividethe world into language regions. All thecountries where Spanish is the major lan-guage would form one Spanish-speakinglanguage region. Geographers compareregions to understand the differences andsimilarities among them.
Place • Thousandsof years ago, thispart of SouthwestAsia, then calledMesopotamia, wasgreen and fertile.Today, as you cansee, this area ismostly desert. �
A. ContrastingContrast absolutelocation with relative location.
Place • Thissatellite photoshows theGanges Riverdelta. It wasformed fromsediment andmud carried bythe river to itsmouth. �
The Geographer’s World 37
Natural Regions The world canbe divided into ten natural regions.A natural region has its ownunique combination of plant andanimal life and climate. Tropicalrain forest regions are in Centraland South America, Africa southof the Sahara, Southeast Asia,Australia, and the Pacific Islands.Where are desert regions located?
MovementPeople, goods, and ideas movefrom one place to another. So doanimals, plants, and other physi-cal features of Earth. Movementis the fourth geographic theme.The Internet is a good tool for themovement of ideas. Sometimes
people move within a country. For example, vast numbers of peo-ple have migrated from farms to cities. Migrate means to movefrom one area to settle in another. You may have ancestors whoimmigrated to the United States—perhaps from Africa, Europe,Latin America, or Asia. When people emigrate, they take theirideas and customs with them. They may also adopt new ideas fromtheir new home.
Reasons for Moving Migration is a result of push and pull factors.Problems in one place push people out. Advantages in anotherplace pull people in. Poverty, overcrowding, lack of jobs and school-ing, prejudice, war, and political oppression are push factors. Pullfactors include a higher standard of living, employment and educa-tional opportunities, rights, freedom, peace, and safety.
38 CHAPTER 2
B. SynthesizingHow do push andpull factors worktogether?
Region • Thetundra is one ofthe ten naturalregions of theworld. �
Vocabulary
immigrate:to move to an area
emigrate:to move away froman area
Tropical Rain Forest
Hot and wet all year
Hot all yearWet and dry seasons
Hot, dry summersCool-to-mild winters
Warm summersCold-to-cool winters
Cool-to-mild summersLong, cold winters
Warm summersCool wintersDrier than forest regions
Hot all yearVery little rain
Short, cool summersLong, cold wintersLittle rain or snow
Prairies: Tall, thick grassHigher lands: Shorter grass
Sand or bare soil, few plantsMay have cactus, somegrass and bushes
Rolling plains: No treesSome patches of moss,short grass, flowering plants
None
Thick trees, broad leavesTrees stay green all year
Tall grassesSome trees
Open forestsSome clumps of treesMany shrubs, herbs, grasses
Mixed forests; some treeslose leaves in winter, othersstay green all year
Mostly trees with needles;stay green all year; sometrees lose leaves in winter
Very coldCovered in ice all year
Varies, depending onaltitude
Varies, depending onaltitude
TropicalGrassland
Mediterranean
TemperateForest
CoolForest
CoolGrassland
Desert
Tundra
Arctic
HighMountain
Region Climate Plant Life
Natural Regions of the World
SKILLBUILDER: Interpreting a Chart1. Region • How are desert regions and tropical
grasslands alike and how are they different?2. Region • In which type of climate are trees
most likely to stay green all year?
Barriers to Movement Natural barriers, such as mountain ranges,canyons, and raging rivers, can make migration difficult. Oceans,lakes, navigable rivers, and flat land can make it easier. Modernforms of transportation have made it easier than ever for people tomove back and forth between countries.
Human-Environment InteractionInteraction between human beings and their environment is thefifth theme of geography. Human-environment interaction occursbecause humans depend on, adapt to, and modify the world aroundthem. Human society and the environment cannot be separated.Each shapes and is shaped by the other. Earth is a unified system.
Some places are the way they are because people have changedthem. For example, if an area has a lot of open meadows, this may be because early settlers cleared the land for farming.
about 50,000years ago
Africa
Europe
NorthAmerica
SouthAmerica
Asia
Australia
about 80,000years ago
Human Migration
about 90,000years ago
about 33,000years ago
about 40,000years ago
about 60,000years ago
about 14,000years ago
Saving Special Places Many of the most wonderful and special placeson Earth may be destroyed or ruined over time unless they are protected.To prevent this, UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific, andCultural Organization) set up the World Heritage Committee in 1972. Thisgroup identifies human-made and natural wonders all over the world andlooks for ways to protect them for the benefit of the world community. Sofar, the list of World Heritage Sites numbers more than 690. The ancientcity of Petra, Jordan (see photograph at right), the Galápagos Islands, theRoman Colosseum, and the Pyramids of Giza are just a few of the placesprotected for future generations.
The Geographer’s World 39
Movement •As you cansee, peoplehave been onthe move forat least 90,000years. �
Vocabulary
navigable:deep and wideenough for boatsto travel on
Human changes may help or hurt the environment. Pollutionis an example of a harmful effect. The environment can also harmpeople. For example, hurricanes wash away beaches and housesalong the shore; earthquakes cause fire and destruction.
Adaptation Humans have often adapted their way of life to thenatural resources that their local environment provided. In thepast, people who lived near teeming oceans learned to fish. Thosewho lived near rich soil learned to farm. People built their homesout of local materials and ate the food easily grown in their sur-roundings. Cultural choices, such as what clothes to wear orwhich sports to participate in, often reflected the environment.
Because of technology, this close adaptation to the environ-ment is not as common as it once was. Airplanes, for example, canquickly fly frozen fish from the coast to towns far inland. Evenso, there are many more ice skaters in Canada and surfers inCalifornia than the other way around.
Interaction People and the environment continually interact. Forexample, when thousands of people in a city choose to use publictransportation or ride bicycles rather than drive, less gasoline isburned. When less gasoline is burned, there is less air pollution. Inother words, when the environment is healthy, the people who livein it are able to lead healthier lives.
40 CHAPTER 2
Write and illustrate a magazine advertisement to persuade people to move to a new place. Include several pull factors for the place you are advertising.
SECTION ASSESSMENT
Using Graphics2. Use a chart like this one to list
and explain the five themes ofgeography.
Main Ideas3. (a) What physical processes can
cause places to change overtime?
(b) How do push and pull factorscause migration?
(c) What are some ways peoplehave adapted to their environment?
Critical Thinking4. Making Inferences
What factors make your part of the United States a region?
Think About◆ similar human geography◆ similar physical geography
Terms & Names1. Explain the significance of: (a) continent (b) absolute location (c) latitude (d) longitude
(e) relative location (f) migrate
Theme Explanation