HG - Geographical Themes - Stanley

GEOGRAPHICAL THEMES

There are 5 themes that geographers use to organize space:
1. location (where?)
2. places (what is it like?)
3. human and environment interaction (relationship?)
4. movement (of ideas, people, goods)
5. regions (how/why an area is similar to another)




3 important questions about a space:
1. Where is it?
2. Why is it there?
3. What are the consequences of it being there?




Location
• absolute location – latitude/longitude – coordinates?
• relative location – in relation to other areas – how is this location relative to other places?
• How does the importance of this location change over time?




Place
• characteristics of this place that make it different from other places

• physical characteristics
o the natural environment
o examples…
- green areas
- creek
- large body of water (river)
- animals (indigenous, usually)
- vegetation

• human characteristic
o ideas (naming something) and actions (building something)
o examples…
- baseball field, football field
- parking lot, bridges, roads
- language, religion, political ideas
- architecture
- population density
- named both the physical and human characteristics

• man’s names = political (can be changed)
- “no human characteristics”… is a characteristic
• How would you describe it physically?
• What are some of the human characteristics that describe the place?




Human/Environment Interaction
• environment: all living and nonliving things
• humans weaker than the environment
• the environment provides everything
• How has man interacted with the land he’s decided to live on?
• examples…
o added important facilities…
- hospital, school
- church, cemetery = some kind of established religion
- factories
- shopping center = big enough area, money-wise
- tried to even out areas (not all clumped on one part of the land)
o farming – near water
o reservoir
- power?
- steady water supply
o neighborhoods
- organized enough – some kind of town plan

• man can deal with the environment in 3 ways:
o depend on it
- for food, shelter, clothing
o modify it
- for their needs
- example – damming the river to make a reservoir; bridges on creek
o adapt to it
- example – heavy coat for cold weather; lighter or darker cars; air conditioning or heating; how they build their homes (chimney inside or outside, etc.)




Movement
• How/why places are connected
o roads, railroads, airports
o power lines, satellite dishes, radio towers
o creeks, rivers
• people, goods, ideas
• constant!
• a place without good movement will not survive
• Examples of movement in the area?
• Forms of transportation in the space?
• How does the movement affect immigration?




Regions
• no definition until located around something else
• different types/examples…
o town, part of a town
o type of housing, education
o industrial areas
o “Rocky Mountains”
o “Bible Belt”
• can be named by human characteristics
o “Big Apple”
- skyscrapers, tourist areas, Broadway, the subway, taxis, shopping, museums, sports, etc.
• boundaries are usually vague… moveable
• a place can be in multiple regions at one time (has to be in at least one… but can be in many, many more): every area is in a region