5 Themes of Geography

WMS 6th grade

Social studies

Chapter 1: Geo. Tools and Concepts

Location

• Position on the Earth’s surface

• Answers the question, “Where?”

– Absolute location is the EXACT location, like your address, or latitude and longitude

– Relative location is the location of a place relative to something else; like next to or near

Location Examples

• 1570 Homer Road Winona, MN 55987

• Next to Bloedow’s Bakery

• Behind Sugarloaf

• 44° north latitude and 91° west longitude

• Go three blocks east of Midtown Foods and then turn right. I live in the last house on the left.

Place

• Characteristics or special features of somewhere

Place - human An idea or action that changes a

place to make it special or unique

•Tourist places like Garvin Heights Lakeview Drive In or Bloedow’s

•Maritime Museum, Polish Heritage Museum, Historical Society

•Ethnic Groups: Polish, German, Hmong, Mexican, Somali, African-American

•Government: Mayor, city hall, city council

•Places to visit

•Festivals

•Population

•Schools, skyscrapers, buildings

•Homes

Place - physical

Physical characteristics special to that place

- NOT made by man

•Nature

•Wildlife

•Mountains

•Bluffs

•Plants and other animals

•Lakes

•Rivers

Human Environment Interaction

• H.E.I.

• Shows how humans interact and sometimes change their environment

•Bike paths•Highway improvements•Parks•Levees •Dams •Campgrounds•Malls•Hiking trails

•Heat and air condition homes•Wear light clothing in summer•Wear heavy clothing in winter•Depend on environment – lakes for fishing, fields to plant

Movement

• How people, goods, and ideas move from place to place

TrainsPlanesBusesCabsCarsHorsesNewspaperRadio

BargeInternetWeb pagesPhoneEmailTextingBoatTruck

Region

• Used by geographers to make comparisons between areas

Tourism

Climate

Language

Political involvement

Plant/animal regions

Geographic sections or places

geography

• The study of the Earth

lines of latitude

• A series of parallel, imaginary lines that circle the globe from east to west.

parallel

• lines that circle the Earth parallel to the Equator

degree

• The unit of measure used to determine absolute location on a globe or a map.

Equator•An imaginary line that circles the globe at its widest point, halfway between the N and S poles

longitude

• The series of imaginary lines (meridians) that run north and south from one pole to another.

• Used to measure distance east and west of the Prime Meridian

meridian

• The series of imaginary lines (longitude) that run north and south from one pole to another.

Prime Meridian

• The imaginary line of longitude, that runs from the N to the S pole through Greenwich England; it is designated 0º longitude.

plain

• A large area of flat or gently rolling land.