5 Themes of Geography• Geographers looked at the world in

many ways. Geography is not just “Where is it?”

• They chose five major categories (themes) to cover all the important areas:1. Location2. Place3. Human/Environment Interaction4. Regions5. Movement

5 Themes of GeographyTheme #1: Location

• Location – this is the “Where is it?” question that is the basis of Geography.

• Everything happens somewhere.• Absolute Location – The exact location

on the map; Ex: Manila is at 15 N and 121 E

• Relative Location – A description of where it is. Ex: Manila is in the northern part of the Philippines.

5 Themes of GeographyTheme #2 – Place

• Places have their own special qualities that make them unique or different.

• Physical Characteristics: Natural surroundings like landforms or climate.

• Human Characteristics: Things that Humans have done to impact an area– Buildings, governments, language or

even cultural expressions.

5 Themes of GeographyTheme #3 – Human-Environment Interaction

• People live in different places and share with their environment.

• We use resources the land and sea offer us.o Ex: we use the Susquehanna river for drinking water

• We alter the land and sea to better fit our needs.o We built the Springton Lake Reservoir for drinking

water• We impact our environment

o Negatively – ex: pollutiono Positively – ex: preserve open land with National Parks

5 Themes of Geography• Theme #4 – Regions

• Groups of places that have some common characteristics.

• Can be grouped in many wayso Physical Characteristics for ex: Mountains-

Poconoso Cultural Characteristics, like Philly for cheese

steaksThese are the geographic 5 regions

of the U.S.

Can you thinkwhy they are

separate regions?

5 Themes of GeographyTheme #5 – Movement

• People and things move around the globe.

• Things move because of people’s needs and the physical characteristics of the area. o Ex: oil tankers from Chester oil refineries to Boston.

• Human characteristics of an area move as well.o People’s culture is transferred by cell phones,

interneto People from one area giving their ideas to another

area.• Ex: Italian food in the U.S.