The Five Themes of Geography

A Framework for Studying the

World

North Carolina Geographic Alliance

PowerPoint Presentations

2007

Essential Question

What are the 5 themes of Geography and why

do we use various map projections?

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

OklahomaAbsolute Location

• Oklahoma City

35° N Latitude

97° W longitude

Relative Location

• Where a place is in relation to another place

• Uses directional words to describe

– Cardinal and intermediate directions

Oklahoma

• Oklahoma is bordered by Kansas and Colorado on the north, Texas on the south, New Mexico and Texas on the west, and Arkansas and Missouri on the east.

• Oklahoma is one of the Southwestern States

Regions = places united by specific characteristics

Formal Regions = a region defined by a common characteristic. Ex. The Corn Belt

Functional Regions = a central point and the surrounding territories linked to it. Ex. Houston

Perceptual Regions = a region defined by popular feelings and images rather than by objective dataEx. The Deep South

Cultural Regions = a region defined many factors such as government, social groups, economic systems, language, or religionEx. The Middle East

Theme 2: Regions

Theme 3: Physical Geography

Physical Land Characteristics

• Land Features

• Mountains, plains, and plateaus

• Climate

• Bodies of Water

• Ecosystem

Physical Characteristics

http://www.wetmaap.org/Cape_Hatteras/ch_tm_2.html

Photos above: Steve Pierce

Theme 4: Human Systems

• People

• Culture

• Language

• Religion

• Buildings and Landmarks

• Cities

• Movement

Human Systems

Movement

The Mobility of

• People

• Goods

• Ideas

How Places are linked to one another and the world

Movement

http://www.marad.dot.gov/Gallery/MoreheadCity/pages/Ming%20Europe.htm

http://www.evertize.com/land/images/I-40-64%20interchange.JPG

Theme 5: Human-Environment Interaction

How People Interact With Their Environment

People . . .

• Adapt to Their Environment

• Modify Their Environment

• Depend on Their Environmenthttp://www.fotosearch.com/comp/corbis/DGT119/BAG0017.jpg

Human Environment Interaction

http://aam.wcu.edu/grant/images/Fontana%20Dam%20Shirley.jpg

http://www.ee.duke.edu/~sag8/Duke/02-03/PiKA/Fall%20Break/Fall_Break_02.htm

http://www.dukemagazine.duke.edu/dukemag/issues/091002/images/mallc.jpg

From Globes

to Maps 4

From Globes to Maps:

To create maps, cartographers project the round earth onto a flat surface–making a map projection.

There are more than a hundred kinds of map projections, some with general names and some named for the cartographers who developed them.

The basic categories of map projections are shown here: planar, cylindrical, Conic, and Mercator.

From Globes

to Maps 6

Cylindrical Projection A cylindrical projection is based on the projection of the globe onto a cylinder. This projection is most accurate near the Equator, but shapes and distances are distorted near the Poles.

From Globes

to Maps 7

Conic Projection A conic projection comes from placing a cone over part of a globe. Conic projections are best suited for showing limited east–west areas that are not too far from the Equator. For these uses, a conic projection can indicate distances and directions fairly accurately.

Common

Map

Robinson Projection The Robinson projection has minor distortions. The sizes and shapes near the eastern and western edges of the map are accurate, and the outlines of the continents appear much as they do on the globe. However, the shapes of the polar areas appear somewhat distorted.

Common

Map

Mercator Projection The Mercator projection, once the most commonly used projection, increasingly distorts size and distance as it moves away from the Equator. This makes areas such as Greenland and Antarctica look much larger than they would appear on a globe. However, Mercator projections do accurately show true directions and the shapes of landmasses, making these maps useful for sea travel.