FIVE THEMES OF GEOGRAPHY

What Is Geography?2 What Is Geography?Why It Matters NowJust as you affect the environment,the environment affects where youlive, what you do, where you go,and what you see.

TERMS & NAMES OBJECTIVES MAIN IDEAlandform, relative location,absolute location, place,physical environment, human-environment relationships,movement, migrate, region

1. Use maps to locate places and regions of importance to Texas.

2. Identify ways in which Texans havemodified their environment.

3. Analyze the consequences of humanmodification of the environment.

Physical characteristics tell only part of the story of geography. Muchmore can be learned by studyinghow places are similar to or differentfrom each other and how humanshave changed them over time.

A Land of Change ✯ 19

Write your response to Interact with History in your Texas Notebook.

WHAT Would You Do?

landform a feature of the earth’ssurface, such as a hill, valley,river, or plain

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Location

Place

Human-EnvironmentRelationships

Movement

Region

If someone were to ask “Where areyou right now?” how would youanswer? Of course, you’re right here,aren’t you? But where is here, exactly?There are many different ways todescribe your location, depending upon who is asking and why. For instance, how might you describe your location to someone calling on the phone? Howmight your description change if you were giving directions tosomeone from another city or state? What would you do if you were e-mailing a friend in another country?

The Five Themes of GeographySo far you have learned that history is a story about the past. You

also have learned that history and geography have a great impact on eachother. But what exactly is geography? Many people think geography dealswith only the shape of the land—its elevation, landforms, and otherphysical characteristics. However, geography actually has many differentparts. It is the study of not only the earth but also its people. To learnmore about how people use the land, geographers have broken the studyof geography into five distinct parts.

LocationWhen you think of location, you may think only of what is nearby.

If asked to describe the location of your school, you would probably namethe street or neighborhood where it is located. When you use street

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20 ✯ Chapter 1

FireStation

MemorialMiddleSchool

Maple Ave.

Poplar St.

Elm

St.

SouthlandMall

The things you notice on your way to school help to define the school’srelative location. ● How might youdescribe the relative location of theschool in this illustration?

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Petrochemical plants create jobsand important products. ● In whatways do you think the natural environ-ment was changed in order to buildthese plants?

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relative location the position ofa place relative, or in comparison,to another placeabsolute location the exactposition of a place on the earthphysical environment theexternal surroundings andconditions in which somethingexists

names or refer to other buildings or landmarks, you are providing infor-mation about your school’s relative location.

When geographers think of location, they may want to know exactlywhere something is found. For example, they might describe the loca-tion of your school by giving its exact position on the earth’s surface.This would be its absolute location. Geographers use maps to show bothrelative and absolute location. Look at the illustration at left. The build-ings near the school help define its relative location.

PlaceImagine that you are on a trip and someone asks what it’s like where

you are from. How would you describe the place where you live? Thefirst thing you might think about is the natural setting. Is it a flat placeor is it hilly? Is there a river, lake, or beach nearby? These features are allpart of the physical environment.

Humans change their physical environment in many ways, such asby building skyscrapers or planting crops. These changes define thehuman characteristics of a place. Geographers are interested in howphysical features, such as climate, vegetation, and landforms, combinewith human characteristics to create a unique environment. Thesefeatures give a place its identity. They are why no two places on earthare exactly alike.

Human-Environment RelationshipsThink about the kinds of trees and other plants that grow around

your home. Were all of those plants growing there before your home wasbuilt? When people move into an area, they often change the naturalenvironment by leveling the land, creating new hills and bodies of water,and bringing in plants from other places. These are just a few examplesof how people change their physical surroundings. Almost everythingpeople do causes some sort of change in nature.

Of course, some environmental changes are needed for survival.Without farms to produce food, many people around the world would

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A Land of Change ✯ 21

Human activities can have a signifi-cant impact on the environment. A lignite (coal) mine such as theone below can transform a land-scape. ● What is one way humans are trying to limit the damage they do to the environment?

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From 1990 to 1998, thepopulation of Texas grew by 2.7 million people. Where didthese new Texans come from?Between these years Texashad about 1.5 million morebirths than deaths. Moreover,about 1.2 million more peoplemoved to Texas than movedaway. ● What are some of thereasons why people mightmove away from Texas?

MOVEMENT

migrate to move from one placeto another

region a geographical areacharacterized by shared features

starve to death. On the other hand, some changes, such aspolluting the environment, are harmful. For this reason protecting theenvironment has become a major issue in world politics. By learning howhumans harm the physical environment, people can better limit thedamage that they do.

MovementWere you born in the city where you now live? You, your family, or

someone you know may have migrated to your city from another place.Long ago, colonists from Spain and other countries migrated to Texas,bringing with them their ideas and ways of life. They were followed byother people from around the United States and the world, once againchanging the face of Texas. The patterns of human migration are animportant part of movement.

However, it is not only people who move from place to place. Thenext time you go to the grocery store, think about all the foods thattraveled to your city from other places. Movement allows you to enjoyfoods and many other products from around the world.

Communication is another major part of movement. Imagine whatlife would be like if you could communicate only with the people on yourown block. Fortunately, satellite technology lets us receive news and enter-tainment from faraway locations through our television sets. Likewise,e-mail and the Internet let people send and receive information aroundthe world in an instant using computers. Communication, like migrationand the movement of products, allows humans to change their environ-ment to better meet their needs.

RegionThe earth is a very complex place with many different physical and

human characteristics. One way geographers make sense of these differ-ences is by dividing the world into geographic regions, or areas thathave certain features in common.

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Midland

Corpus Christi

30˚N

35˚N

110˚W 105˚W 100˚W 95˚W 90˚W

Gulf of Mexico

NM

OK AR

LA

MEXICO

ALMS

TN

AZ

Brownsville

San Antonio

Laredo

El Paso

Houston

Fort Worth

Dallas

Austin

Amarillo

Lubbock

Odessa

0 300 Miles

500 Kilometers0

Coastal Plains

Great Plains

Mountains and Basins

North Central Plains

The above map shows the four natural regions of Texas: theMountains and Basins, the Great Plains, the North Central Plains, andthe Coastal Plains. Each region has a number of different physicalfeatures. For instance, the land in the Great Plains region tends to besemi-arid, or somewhat dry, while the Coastal Plains have more greenforests and vegetation. Defining regions helps people quickly find andorganize information about their surroundings. For this reason, region—like location, place, human-environment relationships, and movement—is a very important theme in geography.

Knowing a region’s physicalfeatures can help farmersdetermine what crops oranimals to raise. ● In whichregion is your town located?

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Natural Regions of Texas

Terms & NamesIdentify:• landform• relative location• absolute location• physical

environment• migrate• region

Organizing InformationUse a cluster map like theone shown to identify the fivethemes of geography. Add a brief description of eachtheme.

Critical Thinking1. Using the map above,

describe in three ways the location of the capitalof Texas in relation to the rest of the UnitedStates.

2. What are three ways in which humans havemodified the physicalenvironment in yourcommunity?

3. Describe one way youhave been affected by the movement ofpeople, of goods, and of information.

Interact with HistoryReview your response toInteract with History in yourTexas Notebook. Did yourdescriptions use relative or absolute location?

A C T I V I T YGeography Make a collage, using words and visuals, to illustrate the five themes of geography for the area of Texas

in which you live.

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FIVETHEMES OFGEOGRAPHY

Regions vary in physical featuressuch as landforms and vegetation.The highest peak is in Texas in the Guadalupe Mountains in theMountains and Basins region. ● Why do you think the Apaches and Comanches often camped in the Guadalupe mountains?

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