THE FIVE THEMES OF GEOGRAPHY U N I T O N E

THE FIVE THEMES OF GEOGRAPHY U N I T O N E

FIVE THEMES OF GEOGRAPHY 1. Location 2. Place 3. Human-Environment Interaction 4. Movement 5. Region

LOCATION

LOCATION The position that something occupies Earth s surface Absolute Location a location that is determined by latitude and longitude Relative Location where a location is relative to other places or things such as other cities, landforms, or bodies of water

ABSOLUTE LOCATION The precise location of any place on Earth can be found using parallels and meridians Two sets of imaginary arcs are drawn in a grid pattern on Earth s surface

ABSOLUTE LOCATION Parallels: AKA Latitude Runs east and west 0* = Equator Meridians: AKA Longitude Runs north and south 0* = Prime Meridian Passes through the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, England

Latitude measures north and south Longitude measures east and west

TIME ZONES Meridians calculate time; every 15*, time gains or loses an hour from Greenwich Mean Time International Date Line: About 180* Longitude Go east towards US back a day Go west towards Europe forward a day

PLACE

PLACE What makes a place unique? What is it like in terms of human and physical characteristics? These things allow people to form a strong sense and bond to a specific location

SITE Site the physical characteristics of a place Characteristics included: Climate Water sources Soil Vegetation Elevation Humans manipulate site in order to make it more suitable to their culture

SITUATION Situation The location of a place relative to other places Helps us find an unfamiliar place by comparing its location with a familiar one Helps us understand the importance of a location because it may be accessible to other places

DJIBOUTI, FOR EXAMPLE

BUT ITS SITE AND SITUATION MAKE ALL THE DIFFERENCE SITUATION SITE

HUMAN- ENVIRONMENT INTERACTION

HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTION How humans change and adapt to their physical environment Physical Geography + Human Geography

ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINISM Proposed in the 19 th century The study of how the physical environment caused human activities and social development Argued that climate was a major determinant of civilization; due to Europe s temperate climate, greater human efficiency is produced (better health, more wealth)

Modern geographers reject the idea of environmental determinism and focus on possibilism the physical environment may limit some human actions, but people have the ability to adjust to their environment POSSIBILISM Examples: People can choose which crops are suitable to grow in their environment Population can be controlled by government policies, new technologies, migration, etc.

CULTURAL ECOLOGY The relationship between culture and the natural environment Different cultural groups modify the natural environment in distinctive ways to produce unique regions

POSITIVE ASPECTS

NEGATIVE ASPECTS

MOVEMENT

MOVEMENT Geographers think about the arrangement of people and activities found on Earth and try to understand why those people and activities are distributed as they are

DIFFUSION Process by which a characteristic spreads across space from one place to another over time Hearth the place from which an innovation originates

DIFFUSION OF CULTURE AND THE ECONOMY 3 Economic Hearth Regions (Core Areas): North America (New York City) Western Europe (London) Japan (Tokyo) What do these cities have that others may not?

GLOBALIZATION A force or process that makes a local process become a global phenomenon

GLOBALIZATION OF THE ECONOMY Most economic activities undertaken in one region are influenced by interaction with decision makers located elsewhere For example: I-Phones Concept developed in CA (better education labor) Parts processed all over the world (depends on resources) Assembled in China (cheap labor)

WHAT IT TAKES TO MAKE NUTELLA

OIL IMPORT AND EXPORT FLOWS

GLOBALIZATION OF CULTURE Uniform cultural preferences (wearing jeans, using cell phones, eating McDonalds) produce global landscapes of similar cultural values Threatens the survival of local traditions, especially language and religion

OPPOSING EFFECTS OF GLOBALIZATION Globalization can cause the following to occur in societies: Awareness and acceptance of cultural diversity Intolerance and hate between different cultures What is the irony in this statement?

REGION

REGION Applies to any area larger than a point and smaller than the entire planet Can refer to several neighboring countries or many localities within a country

FORMAL REGIONS AKA Homogeneous Region An area within which everyone shares in common one or more distinctive characteristics Language Agriculture Climate Religion Etc.

FUNCTIONAL REGIONS AKA Nodal Regions An area organized around a node or focal point The region is tied to the central point by transportation or communication systems What could possibly be a Functional Region at NMBHS?

VERNACULAR REGIONS AKA Perceptual Region A place that people believe exists as part of their cultural identity How do y all perceive the different Vernacular Regions of the United States?

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