THE FIVE THEMES OF GEOGRAPHY

GEOGRAPHERS USE THE FIVE THEMES OF GEOGRAPHY TO STUDY AND LEARN ABOUT THE WORLD

GEOGRAPHY is the study of the Earth, our home. Geographers analyze the Earth from many points of view. They may discuss how far one place is from another, but also they study things as oceans, plant life, landforms, and people. Geographers study how the Earth and its people affect each other.

MOVEMENT

The theme of movement helps geographers understand the relationship among places. Movement helps explain how people, goods, and ideas get from one place to another. For example, when people from other countries came to the United States, they brought traditional foods that enriched the American way of life. The theme of movement helps you understand such cultural changes.

REGIONS

Geographers use the theme of regions to make comparisons. A region has a unifying characteristic such as climate, land, population, or history. For instance, the Nile Valley region is a snake-shaped region on either side of the Nile River. The region runs through several countries. Life in the valley is much different from life in the regions alongside the valley. There the landscape is mostly desert.

HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTION

The theme of interaction stresses how people affect their environment, the physicakk characteristics of their natural surroundings, and how their environment affects them. Perhaps they deliberately cut trails into the mountainside. Perhaps tey have learned how to survive with little water.

Geographers also use interaction to discuss the consequences of people’s actions. For instance, because farms in Turkey receive little rain, people have built dams and canals to irrigate the land. On the bad side, irrigation makes salt build up in the soil. Thenfarmers must treat the soil to get rid of the salt. As a result, food could become more expensive.

LOCATION

Geographers begin to study a place by finding  where it is, or its location. There are two ways to talk about location- its absolute location and its relative location. 

Absolute location describes a place’s exact position on the Earth. You might call absolute location a geographic address. Geographers identify the absolute location by using two kinds of imaginary lines around the Earth: latitude and longitude. With these lines, they can pinpoint any spot on the Earth.

Lines of latitude are east-west circles around the globe. They are also called parallels, because they are parallel to one another. They never meet. These circles divide the globe into units called degrees. In the middle of the globe is the parallel called the Equator, which is 0 degrees latitude. Geographers measure locations either north or south of the Equator. The farthest latitude north of the Equator is 90⁰ south, the location of the South Pole.

Geographers also must pinpoint a place from east to west. For this they use lines of longitude. These lines, also called meridians, circle the globe from north to south. All meridians run through the North abd South poles. The Prime Meridian, which runs through Greenwich, England, is 0 degrees longitude. Geographers describe locations as east or west of the Prime Meridian. The maximum longitude is 180⁰, which is halfway around the world from the Prime Meridian.

Geographers also discuss Relative location. This explains where a place is by describing places near it. Suppose you live in Newburg, Indiana. You might give Newburg’s relative location by saying: “I live in Newburg, Indiana. It’s about 180 miles southwest of Indianapolis.”

PLACE

Geographers also study place. This includes a location’s physical and human features. To describe physical features, you might say the climate is hot or cold. Or you might say that the landis hilly. To emphasize human features, you might talk about how many people live in a place and the kindsof work they do.

HOMEWORK:

ACTIVITY TO UNDERSTAND THE 5 THEMES OF GEOGRAPHY