5 Themes of Geography
"The school is next to the fire station" or "Go two blocks north of the bank" are examples of this type of location.
Relative Location
This part of a map tells you what the map is about.
Title
This type of map shows borders, cities, and countries
Political Maps
a way of showing the round Earth on a flat piece of paper.
Map Projection
While "location" tells you where something is, this theme tells you what it is actually like when you get there.
Place
This symbol shows directions like north, south, east, and west
Compass Rose
A map that shows mountains, rivers, and elevation is this type.
Physical Map
This map projection keeps shapes accurate but makes places near the poles look much bigger.
Mercator Projection
Building a massive concrete dam to control a river's water flow is an example of humans doing this to their environment.
Modify or Change
This element shows how distance on the map compares to distance in real life
Scale
A map that uses colors to show temperature or rainfall patterns is this type
Climate Map
All map projections have this problem because you can’t perfectly flatten a round Earth
Distortion
Historically, the global expansion of major religions and languages along trade routes happened because of this theme.
Movement
This part explains what the symbols and colors on a map mean
Key/Legend
A map that shows where people live and how crowded areas are is this type.
Population Map
This projection shows the true sizes of continents but stretches their shapes
Peters Projection
Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin together form this type of area because they share similar features.
Region
A star for a capital city is an example of these.
Symbols
A map that focuses on one topic—like languages, crops, or income—is this type.
Thematic Map
Nearly correct size and shape of most land areas
Robinson Projection