1. The Five Themes of
Geography
A Framework for Studying the
World

2. Theme 1: Location
• Where is It?
• Why is It There?
Two Types of
Location
•Absolute
•Relative

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

4. Absolute Location
Lodi
Latitude: 43.31 N, Longitude: 89.53 W

5. Relative Location
• Where a place is
in relation to
another place
• Uses directional
words to describe
– Cardinal and
intermediate
directions

6. 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.

7. Map Projections

8. Mercator

9. Peters

10. Winkle Tripel

11. Theme 2: Place
Physical Characteristics
• Land Features
• Mountains, plains, and plateaus
• Climate
• Bodies of Water

12. Wisconsin:
Physical
Characteristics

13. Theme 2: Place
Human Characteristics
• People
• Culture
• Language
• Religion
• Buildings and
Landmarks
• Cities

14. Human Characteristics of
Asian Nations:

15. UNESCO World Heritage Sites - Quiz
UNESCO World Heritage Sites – Web

16. 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

17. Global Human Environment
Interaction

18. The Netherlands – land reclamation

21. 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)

22. Theme 4: Movement
The Mobility of
• People
• Goods
• Ideas
How Places are
linked to one
another and the
world

23. Wisconsin: Movement
What are the ways
people in our
region/state move?

24. Wisconsin: Movement

26. Movement of People
• Humans are a mobile
species
• Migration
– Immigration
– Emigration

28. 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”

29. Movement of STUFF
• Natural Resources
• Processing
• Manufacturing
• Marketing
• Sales
• Resale
• Disposal

30. Theme 5: Regions
What Places Have in
Common
• Political Regions
• Landform Regions
• Agricultural Regions
• Cultural Regions

31. 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

32. 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)

33. 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

34. Perceptual/Vernacular Region
Sense 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

35. 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.