5 Themes of Geography

What do you think of when you hear the word geography? The study the earth and the way that people live on it and use it. Includes water, landforms, weather, plant and animal life, and people, as well as the effects of human activity on the earth.

What do geographers do? Geographers try to discover reasons why places are the way they are and the reasons why people interact with the land the way they do. To help them organize their work they use the 5 Themes of Geography.

Theme 1: Location Where is a place located? Where is it near? What direction is it from another place? Absolute Location or Relative Location?

Theme 2: Description of Place What is a place like? What characteristics does it have? Physical and Human Characteristics The shape of the land, its climate, and animal life would be described along with how the people look and the kinds of building they live in.

Theme 3: Human-Environment Interaction How are people’s lives shaped by the place where they live? How has a place been shaped by human activity? How do people earn a living?

Theme 4: Movement Movement of people, goods, and ideas around the world. Communist Countries? Internet? Religious freedom? Nomadic?

Theme 5: Regions Why are some places similar to others? Why are some places thought of as “belonging” together? Common physical or cultural features. Language or Land

Maps and Globes You will use maps and globes to answer questions about locations of countries and cities, oceans and rivers, mountains and deserts. They show the shapes and sizes of places on earth.

Maps and Globes Help you determine distances and directions between places. Globes are small copies of the earth.

Continents and Oceans Large bodies of land are called continents. North America South America Europe Asia Africa Australia Antarctica

Hemispheres Half of a Sphere. Geographers use this term to refer to half of the earth. Equator – circles the earth halfway between the North Pole and South Pole.

Directions Cardinal Directions N, S, E, W Intermediate Directions NW, NE, SW, SE

Scale Will tell you how much smaller map distances are than real distances. Line Scales.

Symbols Is anything that stands for something else. Dots, squares, circles, triangles, lines, letters, and numbers. To find out what they mean, you must look at the map key. Map key explains what each symbol stands for.

Different Kinds of Maps Political Show countries, capitals, and other important political features. Physical Show the natural features of the earth. Ex. Continents, oceans, islands, lakes, rivers, mountains, plains, and deserts.

Kinds of Maps Landform Maps Distribution Maps Physical maps that show how the earth’s surface varies from place to place. Distribution Maps Shows how population, rainfall, language, and religion are distributed.