5 Themes of Geography

Location, Place, Human-Environment Interaction, Movement, Regions

Location

describes where a place lies

• Absolute Location: a specific description of where a place lies. An address (2101 Davis Drive) or

Coordinates on a map (17° N, 35° W)

• Relative Location: a general description of where a place lies(Where is Georgia in relation to Florida? NORTH)

Place

describes the features or landscapes that make an area unique

Physical Characteristics: defined by nature (plants, animals, climate, soil, etc.)

Human Characteristics: defined by culture; human ideas and actions (language, clothing, architecture, religion, political

systems, etc.)

Human-Environment Interaction

how people and their environment affect each other

Environment: an area’s land, water, climate, plants, and animals

People can have a positive or negative impact on the environment…Positive – picking up trash, planting seeds Negative – chopping down trees, littering

Our environment controls the types of crops we can grow, the kinds of clothes we wear, etc.

Human-Environment Interaction Continued…

• Humans depend on/use the environment for their basic needs: food, shelter, and clothing.

• Humans modify the environment to meet their needs. For example, they build dams, plow and irrigate fields, and dig mines. They build houses, schools, and shopping centers on land.

• Humans adapt to the environment: Humans have settled in virtually every corner of the world by successfully adapting to various natural settings. For example, people who live in the northeastern United States use heating units to keep their homes warm in winter. People in the southern part of the country use air conditioning much of the year to stay cool in the heat. The ways people choose to adapt to their settings reflect their economic and political circumstances and their technological abilities

Movement

how and why people and things move

Both tangible and intangible things move!

• Tangible: capable of being touched (food, clothes, resources)• Intangible: incapable of being touched (thoughts, ideas,

information)• Imports: things shipped INTO the United States

• Exports: things shipped OUT from the United States

Regions

areas of the world purposely divided by geographers so that comparisons can be

made

A region is a part of the world that has one or more common features that make it different from its surrounding areas

Some regions are defined by physical characteristics (climates, mountain ranges), while some regions are defined by human characteristics

(religion, language)