What is Geography?

What is Geography?

• Geography is the study of people, their environments, and their resources. Geographers ask how the natural environment affects us, and how we affect it.

• By showing how people and the land are related, geography helps explain the past and the present.

Five Themes of Geography

• 5 Themes of Geography

• Location (absolute and relative)

• Place• Human/Environmental

Interaction• Movement• Regions

Location

• Where is it?

• Absolute location: given in degrees, latitude or longitude

• Relative Location: depends on point of reference.

Place

• Physical features and human features.

• Climate, soil, plant life, bodies of water.

• Historical Connection: People move to places where there are opportunities. Early colonists settled along the coasts for fish, and easy trade.

Human/Environment Interaction

• People adapt to and change their environment to survive and better their lives.

Movement

• The movement of people, goods and ideas. Occurs because resources are scattered unevenly around the world.

• Historical Connection: Land Bridge Theory

Regions

• An area of the world that has similar, unifying characteristics.

• Human, Physical, Cultural.

• Think. Chinatown (cultural) Rocky Mountains (Physical)