Half My Type Regents notes

The Five Themes of Geography

Geography: The study of people, their environments, their resources and the interactions among them

The Five Themes of Geography are:

1. Location

2. Place

3. Human Environment Interaction

4. Movement of People Goods and Ideas

5. Region

1. Location: Where something is located on the Earth’s Surface

Relative – Location of Something in relation to something else (Ex: A house in relation to the street address)

Absolute – An exact location of something on the earth’s surface using the lines of latitude and longitude.

Longitude – The angular distance east or west of the prime meridian that stretches from the North Pole to the South Pole.

Latitude – An Imaginary line joining points on the earth’s surface that are all equal distance north or south of the equator. It measures 0o on the equator and are parallel lines.

2. Place: Is and area defined by its physical and/or human characteristics.

A) Physical Features – Things that would be in an area if humans never exited (Ex: Wildlife, Forest, Volcanoes, Mountains, Rivers, Oceans, Hills, Valleys, etc.)

B) Human Features – Thins humans build, create, or influence. (Ex: Buildings, Crops, Cars, Roads, Cloths, Schools, Dams, Languages, Political Systems, Economic Systems, etc)

3. Human Environment Interaction: Two things can happen when humans interact with environment.

A) People Change The Environment – Need to make easier lifestyle. (Ex: Roads, Buildings, Airports, Tunnels, Bridges, etc

• Hidden Cost are Created – Damage to the environment. (Ex: Deforestation, Extinction, Overpopulation, Erosion, etc)

People Adapt to The New Environment – This includes Genetic Change

The Eskimo’s body adapts to Alaska harsh cold by growing an extra layer of fat, they use sleds for transportation, live in igloos that are created using ice, and wear heavy cloth.

African Tribesman use little to no clothing, no body fat due to the heat because body fat weighs you down, and they are fast and agile to get away from danger.

Chinese stir-fry cooking was developed because minimal fuel is needed. This was created to use the limited amount of fuel they had.

4. Movement of People, Goods, and Ideas

People

Migration – People move for different reasons, an example would be: Refugees (war), Economy, Climate, Food, Shelter, Religion, Persecution, Political Problems, and so on.

Immigration – People move into a country.

Emigration – People move out of a country.

Goods

• Trade – Products that can be bought or sold.

• Import – Goods brought into a country.

• Export – Goods that leave a country.

• Interdependence – Reliance on other nations to provide goods which can’t be produced in their own country.