Page 158 - Powerful Social Studies for Elementary Students 4th Edition

130 Powerful Social Studies for Elementary Students
provide a convenient and adaptable format for organizing geographical content and avoiding the practice of teaching geography through rote memorization. The five themes are as follows.
1. Location: Position on the earth’s surface. Absolute and relative location are two ways of describing the positions of people and places. Location is the most basic of the funda- mental themes. Every geographic feature has a unique location or global address, both in absolute terms and in reference to other locations.
Absolute location. We can identify locations as precise points on the earth’s surface using reference grid systems, such as the system of latitude and longitude. Maps of smaller seg- ments of the earth (such as cities or states) often use alpha-numeric grids. Different types of maps show locations of population centers, climate zones, political entities, or topographic features. Projections are needed to transfer information from a spherical earth to a two-dimensional map. This process often leads to distortions in distance (size), direction, or shape. The grids used in location systems allow us to measure distances.
Relative location. The accessibility, the relative location, and the political character of a place influence the quantity and type of interactions of other places. Relative location is a way of expressing a location in relation to another site (e.g., Peoria is 125 miles south- west of Chicago, and Australia is in the southern hemisphere). Both absolute and relative locations have geographical explanations (e.g., of why places are located where they are or why they have certain economic or social characteristics). Over time, certain aspects of relative location may change even though absolute location does not. (For example, as transportation routes in North America shifted from inland waterways to railroads to highways, cities at various locations saw shifts in their relative importance in the trans- portation system and in the nature of their links to other cities.)
2. Place: Physical and human characteristics. The location of a place in relation to other places helps explain the pattern of development. Location tells us where, and place tells us what is there (in particular, what makes the place special). All places have distinctive characteristics that give them meaning and character and distinguish them from other places.
Physical characteristics. These include the place’s land forms (e.g., mountains, plains, nat- ural harbors) and the processes that shape them, its climate (reasons for it and implica- tions for human and animal life), its soils, its vegetation and animal life, and the nature and distribution of its fresh water sources. These physical characteristics are studied with emphasis on how they affect one another and support or challenge human occupation of the place.
Human characteristics. These include the racial and ethnic characteristics of the people who live in the place, their settlement patterns and population factors, and their reli- gions, languages, economic activities, and other cultural characteristics. Also included are the perceived characteristics of places, which may vary across individuals or time periods. (Central America might be viewed as a place of political turmoil, an attractive vacation site, or an interesting blend of Hispanic and Indian cultures.)
3. Human-environmental relations (relationships within places). All environments offer geographical advantages and disadvantages as habitats for humans. For example, high population densities tend to accumulate on flood plains, and low densities in deserts. Yet, some flood plains are periodically subjected to severe damage, and some desert areas, such as those around Tel Aviv or Phoenix, have been modified to support large
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