1. The Five Themes of Geography gives us a way to look at the world spatially.

2. Location
Where is it? The position of something on the earth’s surface.

3. Absolute Location
Exact location on the earth using latitude and longitude, a grid system or an address.
Absolute location doesn’t change and are unique

4. Relative/Situation Location
The location of a place by comparing it to another location
Cardinal direction
Distance
Time
Landmarks
Apply the concept of relative location to:
1. A college student deciding where to live in the coming year
2. Deciding where to locate a new grocery store, school
3. Multinational firm--deciding where to locate a production facility

6. Relative/Situation Location
This term can also refer to a place in terms of how central (important) or isolated a place is in relation to other places

7. The Silk Road and the city of Samarkand
The city of Samarkand was once very important as it was located on the major ancient, OVER LAND trade route known as the Silk Road. When ships began to be the focus of international trade, important cities grew along coasts. Inland Samarkand became isolated as a result.

8. Place
What physical and human characteristics can I see at a location?

9. Physical Characteristics: Topography
Relief or surface elements of the earth’s surface

10. Physical Characteristics: Climate

11. Physical Characteristics: Vegetation

12. Physical Characteristics: Wildlife

13. Human Characteristics: Agriculture

14. Human Characteristics: Architecture
The “dancing house” is an office building in downtown Prague

15. Human Characteristics: Religion

16. Human Characteristics: Economics
Levels of development
Livelihoods

17. Regions
How are places similar?

18. Formal/Uniform Region
A formal region is an area defined by a limited number of related characteristics based on data/facts
The globe shows Latin America where most people share Spanish and Catholicism. The middle image is of Canada, political boundaries form formal regions. The region on the right shares the common characteristic of Islam.
Political entities

19. Functional/Nodal Region
Functional regions are areas created by movement around a central hub or node. There must be movement to have a nodal region.
Austin metropolitan area
Eanes attendance area
Amazon River Basin

20. Perceptual/Vernacular Region
Perceptual regions exist in someone’s mind.
These regions are based on how individuals perceive a region.
Boundaries and characteristics of Vernacular regions are different depending on an individual’s perceptions

21. Perceptual/Vernacular Region
The characteristics of the regions above will differ between individuals. What characteristics do you think of when I say “The South?” Where does the South stop and the Midwest or the Southwest begin? There are no clear boundaries between perceptual regions.

22. Wilbur Zelinsky and perceputal regions of the USA
Zelinksy was a cultural geographer that used names of people and businesses in the phone book to map perceptual regions of the USA

23. Human Environment Interaction (HEI)
How do people relate to their physical world?

24. Human-Environment Interaction
Humans depend on their physical environment for basic needs.

25. Human-Environment Interaction
Humans adapt to their physical environment.
Adaptation must be to the PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT!!! Many students will make the mistake of lumping cultural adaptations into this category. For example, I moved to France and adapted by learning to speak French. This is wrong b/c it isn’t an adaptation to the physical environment.
Building materials
clothing styles

26. Human-Environment Interaction
Humans modify their environment.
Any change to the physical environment works. Breathing, cutting down a tree, or throwing a rock in a river are all simple but work as examples. Of course, we are looking for larger examples and the ramifications of HEI.
Open-pit mine
Terracing for rice farming

27. Human-Environment Interaction
Human interaction with the environment can have important consequences.

28. Movement
How and why do people, goods and ideas move? What changes resulted in the movement? (both locations involved in movement change)

29. People
We will look at the movement of people, migration, at a later date. People move for a reason and that is important.

30. Goods

31. Ideas
How do you move an idea? What changes occur when ideas move?