The Five Themes - Social Studies 210 -...

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. �


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


Human Migration






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.


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

The Five Themes - Social Studies 210 -...

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