The Five Themes of Geography

A Framework for Studying the World

Theme 1: Location

• Where is It?• Why is It There?

Two Types of Location

•Absolute

•Relative

Absolute Location

• A specific place on the Earth’s surface• Uses a grid system• Latitude and longitude• A global address

Absolute Location

Lodi

Latitude: 43.31 N, Longitude: 89.53 W

Relative Location

• Where a place is in relation to another place

• Uses directional words to describe– Cardinal and

intermediate directions

Wisconsin

• Wisconsin is in the upper Midwestern region of the US.

• Lake Michigan forms the eastern border of Wisconsin and Lake Superior is the northern border.

• Wisconsin lies to the north of Illinois and east of Minnesota.

Map Projections

Mercator

Peters

Winkle Tripel

Theme 2: PlacePhysical Characteristics• Land Features• Mountains, plains, and plateaus• Climate• Bodies of Water

Wisconsin: Physical Characteristics

Theme 2: PlaceHuman Characteristics

• People• Culture• Language• Religion• Buildings and

Landmarks• Cities

Human Characteristics of Asian Nations:

UNESCO World Heritage Sites - Quiz

UNESCO World Heritage Sites – Web

Theme 3: Human Environment Interaction

How People Interact With Their Environment

People . . .• Adapt to Their Environment• Modify Their Environment• Depend on Their Environment

http://www.fotosearch.com/comp/corbis/DGT119/BAG0017.jpg

Global Human Environment Interaction

The Netherlands – land reclamation

Assignment:

• Find an extreme or surprising example of human environmental interaction (non-US).

• Create 1 power point slide– Include an image– Include a description (including location)

Theme 4: Movement

The Mobility of• People• Goods• Ideas

How Places are linked to one another and the world

Wisconsin: Movement

What are the ways people in our region/state move?

Wisconsin: Movement

Movement of People

• Humans are a mobile species

• Migration– Immigration

– Emigration

Chinese Migration

• The Chinese Economic Miracle– 1978 Deng Xiaoping

– Need for mass of labor in industrial areas on the coast.

• Economic Boom, Rise of Chinese Middle Class

Vs.• Congestion, Crime

Backlashes against internal migrant laborers

• “The Last Train Home”

Movement of STUFF

• Natural Resources• Processing• Manufacturing• Marketing• Sales• Resale• Disposal

Theme 5: Regions

What Places Have in Common

• Political Regions• Landform Regions• Agricultural Regions• Cultural Regions

US: Regions

http://home.neo.rr.com/rodsphotogallery/NaturalWonders/SeaSand/Images/JockeysRidge.jpg

http://www.shorebirdworld.org/fromthefield/Images/Hatteras%20Light.JPG

http://www.homestead.com/pncfa/files/piedmontmap.jpg

http://www.ncbbi.org/images/piedmont-images/piedmont-nc-heartland-golf.jpg

Steve Pierce

Formal Region

• Most common/familiar.• Determined by the distribution of a uniform

characteristic (physical or cultural)– Location– Climate– Religion

• Examples– Central America (Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama)

– Latin America (spanish-speaking nations)

– Tropics (countries located near equator)

Functional Region

• Serves a purpose that affects places around it. – Distributes goods/people

– Serves specific purpose

• Examples:– Panama Canal

– Amazon River Basin

– Hollywood

– Amish Country

Perceptual/Vernacular RegionSense of place defined by people’s ordinary

language and informal understanding of a place.Groups of areas that provoke a certain stereotype or

feeling.• Examples:

– The Bronx– The “ghetto” – China town– The Bible Belt– Packer Country

Assignment

• Create a Map of Lodi that defines one of the following:

• Formal Regions

• Functional Regions

• Vernacular Regions

You will be randomly assigned which regions you will define.