The+5+Themes+of+Geography

 The 5 Themes of Geography:

__Location__ Absolute Location: This describes where a location is on the globe, based on the lines of latitude and longitude. Every place on earth has only one absolute location. For example: 0 degrees west, and 0 degrees north would be in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Africa.

Relative Location: As the name implies, this means the location of somewhere relative to another location. There can be more than one relative location for one place. For example, if I live here in Orem, I can say that I live near the Wasatch front. I can also say that I live east of Utah Lake. Landmarks, either manmade or natural, can be used as reference points to describe relative location.

__Place__ Physical Characteristics - These are natural characteristics found in the landscape that distinguish one location from another. For instance, Yellowstone National Park has many hot springs and geysers. This is a characteristic that makes Yellowstone distinct.

Human Characteristics - These are man made. Things such as religion, language, ethnicity, social customs, and economic activities could all be classified under this theme. For example, if I were to travel to the Pennsylvania Dutch country, I would likely find Amish people, who dress differently than everyone else, and who do not use electricity in day-to-day living.

__Region__ Similar to place, a region is the common characteristics shared by a number of locations or areas within a specified location. There are 3 types of regions:

Formal Region - this would include national borders, that clearly mark territory owned by a specific government.

Functional Region - this would be an area that has a central activity, structure, etc. that the surrounding area depends upon. For example, Provo Power has a functional region of customers because they all depend on the company to supply them with power and electricity.

Perceptive Region - of all 3 types of region, this is the most difficult to define, because it depends on the perspective of each person. For example, many may say that the "South" includes eastern Texas as well as Missouri. If I asked someone else, they may tell me something completely different.

__Movement__ The movement of ideas, people, or items from one location to another. This theme is often the easiest to spot, since we often are participants in it. For example, if you were to look where your shirt was made, it would likely say something like this: "Made in China", "Made in Indonesia". Because the shirts are being shipped to the United States from another country, this is a perfect example of movement.

__Human-Environment Interaction (how people affect the natural landscape and visa versa)__ Adaptation - people must change their habits and ways of living in order to survive in their surroundings, such as wearing a jacket in winter.

Dependence - people depend on the resources that their surroundings provide them, such as minerals, crops, timber, etc.

Modify - humans modify their surroundings so that they may live according to their customs and traditions, such as cutting down trees in order to make a field to grow crops.

Here is a video that may help you understand the concept of location and how it relates to our surroundings:

media type="youtube" key="VnpJQ4IMg1Y" height="344" width="425" To be able to complete the worksheet for the 5 themes of geography, you will need to study the information presented here as well as in the video. If you need further help, [|National Geographic] has a wonderful resource to help explain some of these concepts. Also, [|click here] to see these concepts in a more graphic manner. You don't need to know all of the detailed information on the right side, but just the major concepts that have already been explained.

If you need a further explanation of the assignment, [|click here.]