World Geography / Unit 1: Geography Skills
1.1 The Five Themes of Geography
Notes
Geography is the study of Earth's places and the relationships between people and environments. Geographers organize their questions around five themes.
- Location: where something is. Absolute location uses exact coordinates or an address; relative location describes a place in relation to others ("north of the river").
- Place: the physical traits (climate, landforms) and human traits (language, buildings, customs) that make a spot unique.
- Human-environment interaction: how people adapt to, depend on and change their surroundings.
- Movement: the travel of people, goods and ideas between places.
- Region: an area with one or more shared traits, such as the Sun Belt or the Sahel.
- Example: dikes built to hold back the sea in the Netherlands show human-environment interaction.
Practice
A map note says a town is "two hours west of the mountains, on the north bank of a river." Which kind of location is this?
It describes the town in relation to other features, not with exact coordinates.
Farmers in a dry area build terraces and irrigation canals to grow crops. Which theme does this best show?
People are changing and adapting to their environment to meet their needs.
The spread of a food, a language or a style of music from one country to another is an example of which theme?
Movement covers the travel of people, goods and ideas.
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