5 themes of Geography

Place, Location, Region,

Movement, Human/Environmental
Interaction

All places have attributes that give them meaning and character and
distinguish them from other places on earth. Geographers describe
place by two specific definitions:
Physical Characteristics The physical characteristics of a place make

up its natural environment and are derived from geological, hydrological,

atmospheric, and biological processes. They include land forms, bodies of
water, climate, soils, natural vegetation, and animal life.

Human Characteristics: The human characteristics of a place come

from human ideas and actions. They include bridges, houses, and parks.
Human characteristics of place also include land use, density of population,
language patterns, religion, architecture, and political systems.

Physical Characteristics

Those physical features about a place that make it unique

Physical Characteristics

Where are these places??

Physical Characteristics

Where would you find these

animals??

Physical Characteristics
What are some of the physical
characteristics that make
Leland unique

Human Characteristics
Human Characteristics: The human characteristics of a place come from human
ideas and actions. They include bridges, houses, and parks. Human characteristics
of place also include land use, density of population, language patterns, religion,
architecture, and political systems.

Human Characteristics
political systems.

Human Characteristics
Architecture

Human Characteristics

Human Characteristics

Location is the second theme of Geography. Location

describes where something is, and is broken into two
areas:
Absolute Location: answers the questions: Where is it?
Absolute location is nothing more than a simple dot--often
identified as a grid coordinate on the surface of the earth.

Latitude and Longitude can be used to pinpoint a location. For

example, the absolute location of New Orleans, Louisiana, is 30
degrees north, 90 degrees west. Finding absolute location is the
starting point for geographic research.

Location is the second theme of Geography. Location

describes where something is, and is broken into two
areas:
Relative Location: answers the question of where a place

is located in relation to other places. For example, New

Orleans is located at the place where the Mississippi
River empties
into the Gulf of
Mexico, which gives it
easy access to ocean
and river shipping. Your home has a
relative location. Where is it
located in relation to
schools, stores, and convenient
transportation?

Absolute Location in practice

Absolute Location in practice

Not very accurate
in the beginning

Absolute Location in practice

Satellite and Global
Positioning Systems

Relative Location in practice

Near what city??

It is defined as an area that has unifying

characteristics.
A region has certain characteristics that give it
a measure of cohesiveness and
distinctiveness that set it apart from other
regions.

Functional Region:

It is organized around a node or focal point

with the surrounding areas linked to that node
by transportation systems, communication
systems, or other economic association
involving such activities as manufacturing and
retail trading.
A typical functional region is Silicon Valley.

Formal Region :

It is characterized by a common human property, such as the

presence of people who share a particular language, religion,
nationality, political identity or culture, or by a common physical
property, such as the presence of a particular type of climate,
landform, or vegetation.
Political entities such as counties, states, countries, and provinces
are formal regions because they are defined by a common political
identity.

(See next slide for example)

Formal Regions within

a Formal Region

Perceptual :

The third type of region is the perceptual region. It is a construct

that reflects human feelings and attitudes about areas and is
therefore defined by peoples shared subjective images of those
areas.
Southern California, Dixie, and the upper Midwest are perceptual
regions that are thought of as being spatial units, although they do
not have precise borders or even commonly accepted regional
characteristics and names.

The theme movement addresses this question:

How and why are places connected with one
another?
Relationships between people in different places
are shaped by the constant movement of people,
ideas, materials,
and physical systems such as
wind, plate tectonics and volcanoes.

Movement of People:
Immigration/Emigration, Urbanization, and Population. The total
people of the world is ever increasing, and they have to go
somewhere. The movement of people from one place to another
is
also addressed, and the movement of people from farms to cities, and
back again (urban sprawl) will be covered.

Movement of Land:

Plate tectonics, earthquakes, and volcanoes

Movement of People:
Understanding the patterns of
human movement, the causes,
and outcomes of that
movement, and the process of
that movement

Movement of Land:

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.

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.
The earths Vegetation Zones, Natural Resources, &
Energy Development play a significant factor in that development.

Desert
Savanna
Tropical

Desert

Prairie

The earths Vegetation Zones, Natural Resources, & Energy

Development play a significant factor in that development.

The earths Vegetation Zones, Natural Resources, & Energy

Development play a significant factor in that development.