Five Themes of Geography Project Ms. Kiesel, Per 5 The United States of America
Location Absolute Location : The USA is located in the continent of North America in the northern and western hemispheres. Its capitol is Washington, DC. and is located in the eastern portion of the country at 38 89 N, 77 03 W Relative Location: The USA shares borders with Canada (north) and Mexico (South). We also border the Atlantic Ocean to the East, the Pacific Ocean to the West, the Gulf of Mexico to the South and the Great Lakes, which we share with Canada. Alaska and Hawaii do not share borders with the rest of the continental USA. Alaska borders Canada to the north and west, and Hawaii is an island located in the Pacific Ocean to the west of the continental USA.
Location, cont.
Place: *The United States is the third largest country in the world by land size, with the third largest population. *Its population is diverse, sharing a melting pot of cultures from around the world, but unified in a common belief in freedom, opportunity human rights and patriotism. Strong immigrant history from all over the world *Diverse economically, with strong technology, business and manufacturing sectors, large corporations and small businesses, service industries (teaching, auto mechanics, health care, chefs, etc.) strong agriculture production (produce, meat and dairy) * America s landscapes are also diverse, including long coasts (Atlantic, Pacific Gulf), mountain ranges (Rocky Mts., Sierra Nevada Mts, Appalachian Mts, etc.), deserts (Mojave, Death Valley, etc.) plains (Mid-West), lakes (Great Lakes), National Parks (Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Acadia, etc.) and urban areas (New York City, LA, Boston, Chicago, San Diego, Miami, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Dallas, etc.)
Place, cont.
Place, cont.
Region: The United States has diverse geographic, landscape (mountain, desert, coastal, plains), climate (semi-arid, dry, arctic, hurricane, tornado alley, etc. and cultural regions (i.e many Scandinavian Americans live in the Mid-West, Cuban-Americans live in Southern Florida, Irish Americans in the North East, etc.) The four major geographic regions are the West, Mid-West, North East and South.
Region, cont. Climate regions/zones:
Region, cont. Tornado Alley:
Region, cont. Landscape: Coastal, Desert, Mountains, Plains, etc.
Movement: The United States has a complex transportation system of roads, highways, railroads, sidewalks, hiking paths, waterways, etc. Americans walk, run, bike, skate, swim, fly, drive, take public transportation (bus, subway, train, etc.) We are a high tech nation with great access to the internet (email, www, social media, SKYPE, etc.), cell and landline phones, cable and satellite TV, have an enormous postal system for mailing letters and packages, and utilize satellites for communication. Many Americans are immigrants (moved to America from a different country) and/or are easily able to move. Animals also migrate (birds fly south for winter).
Movement, cont.
Human-Environment Interaction: Americans actively interact with their environment in both positive (hiking, swimming, recycling, using solar power. conserving natural resources, camping, etc.) and negative (littering, wasting natural resources, oil spills, burning fossil fuels (cars, etc.). America is the largest user of fossil fuels in the world. Americans use technology to adapt to their environment (i.e.using weather satellites to track tornados, building underground shelters, building earthquake protected buildings, building, using mowers to clear land in fire zones, etc.).
Human-Environment Interaction, cont.
News article analysis: Analyze article through the Five Themes of Geography. 1. Summary of what the article is about 2. How does this relate to the 5 themes of geography in your country 3. What is it important?