The 5 Themes of Geography

Location

• Absolute: A location can be absolute (specific) as in coordinates of a map using longitude and latitude
• Relative: A location can be relative - examples: next door, nearby, a short drive, down the road a ways. Or, it can be in the same general location as another location - example: next to the post office

Place

• A place is an area that is defined by everything in it. All places have features that give them personality and distinguish them from other places. 

  If you refer to your school as a place, then that place would include walls, windows, gym, cafeteria, classrooms, people, clothing, books, maps, mops, brooms, hallways, mice (if you have them) and everything else in the school, including the languages spoken.

Region

• A region is an area that is defined by certain similar characteristics. Those unifying or similar characteristics can be physical, natural, human, or cultural. 

Movement

• Movement refers to the way people, products, information and ideas move from one place to another. This can be local such as how did you get to school today, or it can be global such as how did humans get to North America? 

Human-Invironment Interaction

• Human-environment interaction looks at the relationships between people and their environment; how people adapt to the environment and how they change it.

United States Vocabulary

Migration-movement of people from one to place to another


Columbian Exchange-movement of plants, animals, and diseases between the Eastern and Western hemispheres


Louisiana Purchase-territory between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains purchased by the United States from France.


Frontier-free, open land that had been available for settlement in the West


Suburb-community on the outskirts of a city


Representative Democracy-government where the people rule through elected representatives


Export-goods sold to another country


Free Enterprise-economic system in which private individuals own most of the resources, technology, and businesses and can operate them with little government control


Service Industry-any kind of economic activity that provides a servic rather than a product


Postindustrial Economy-economic phase in which manufacturing no longer plays a dominant role


Multinational-corporation that engages in business worldwide


New England-six northern states of the Northeast subregion


Megalopolis-area in which several large cities and surrounding areas grow together


The Midwest-subregion that contains the 12 states of the north central United States


The South-subregion of 16 states that covers about one-fourth of the land area of the United States


Metropolitan-area large city and its nearby suburbs and towns


The West-subregion of 13 states that stretches from the Great Plains to the Pacific Ocean and includes Alaska and Hawaii


Blazing-creating and marking a trail (a blaze is a trail marker)


Displaced-removed from the usual place; pushed out and replaced


Diverse-having many different forms or aspects


Grainmilling-grinding of grains at a mill to produce flour or meal


Hindered-made progress slow or difficult


Imports-things that are brought from other countries


Populous-crowded, densely populated


Spectators-onlookers, people who watch