Write in complete sentences in your spiral.

Think about a desert. What things about a desert would a geographer want to know?

Hint: Geographer – a person who studies the earth and its features and of the distribution of life on the earth, including human life and the effects of human activity.

Looking at the Earth

involves the study of places: their locations, their characteristics, and how humans use and move around them.

Physical Geography

Geography

Geographers and Historians

Section-1

The Geographer’s Perspective

The Five Themes of Geography

• Historians look at events over time• Geographers look at:

− use of space on Earth − interactions that take place there − patterns and connections between people and land

• Geography is the study of the distribution and interaction of:− physical features on Earth− human features on Earth

Continued…

• Location• Place• Region• Movement• Human-environment Interaction

What five themes do you think geographers use?

− maps − photographs − charts, graphs, tables − scale models − five themes of geography

The Geographer’s Perspective {continued}

Methods of Geography• Geographers use a variety of tools:

• Absolute location—exact place where a geographic feature is found

• Relative location—location of a place compared to places around it

Continued…

Where is it?

Theme: Location

Continued…

Theme: Location {continued}

Absolute Location• Earth is divided into two equal halves, vertically

and horizontally• Each vertical and horizontal half is called a

hemisphere• An imaginary line, the Equator, divides north and

south halves• Another imaginary line, the Prime Meridian,

divides east and west

• Geographers use latitude lines to locate places north and south

• Latitude—imaginary lines that run parallel to the equator

Longitude Lines•Geographers use longitude lines to mark positions east and

west• Longitude—imaginary lines that go over the poles•Where latitude and longitude lines cross is the absolute

location

Continued…

Theme: Location {continued}

Latitude Lines

Theme: Location {continued}

Relative Location• How a place is related to its surrounding

environment

• Place includes physical features and cultural characteristics:

− physical features include climate, landforms, vegetation − cultural characteristics include dams, highways, houses

Theme: Place

What is it Like?

Continued…

Theme: Region

How are Places Similar or Different?

• A region is an area united by similar characteristics• Unifying characteristics—physical, political,

economic, cultural• Three types of regions:

− formal − functional − perceptual

1

Continued…

Formal Regions

Theme: Region {continued}

• Defined by a limited number of related characteristics

• Formal regions of the world:− The United States and Canada− Latin America− Europe− Russia and the Republics− Africa− Southwest Asia− South Asia− East Asia− Southeast Asia, Oceania, and

Antarctica

Perceptual Regions

• Region with characteristics people perceive in much the same way

• Example: the American Midwest • Sometimes perceptions differ: Does Midwest begin in

Ohio or Illinois?

Functional Regions

Theme: Region {continued}

• Organized around interactions and connections between places

• Example: a city and its suburbs are connected through human movement

How Do People Relate to the Physical World?

Theme: Human-Environment Interaction

• A relationship exists between people and their environment

• People use and change the environment to meet their needs

• People adapt to environmental conditions they cannot change

• Often, people in similar environments adapt in different ways

Linear Distance and Time Distance

• Linear distance—how far a person, product, or idea travels

• Time distance—how long it takes for person, product, idea to travel

Continued…

Theme: Movement

How Do People, Goods, and Ideas Get from One Place to Another?

• Geographers use three types of distance to analyze movement:

− linear distance− time distance− psychological distance

Theme: Movement {continued}

Psychological Distance

• Refers to the way people perceive distance• Example: unfamiliar places may seem farther away than

familiar ones

• Describe the boundaries of the Sahara desert.

• What other physical features are shown on the map?

Vocab

• Geography• Absolute location• Relative location• Hemisphere• Equator• Prime meridian• Latitude• Longitude

• Define your theme and brainstorm a list of 5 examples. Share definition and examples.