The Five Themes of Geography

Students this week are being introduced to the five themes of geography, different types of maps, and how to use maps. These skills will be utilized as students begin to work on "Project Road Trip".


1. Location

"Where are we?" Location can be absolute or relative.

Absolute location provides a definite reference to locate a place. The reference can be latitude and longitude, a street address, the town, city or other specific places.

Relative location describes a place with respect to its environment and its connection to other places.

2. Place

Place describes the human and physical characteristics of a location.

Physical characteristics -- the mountains, rivers, beaches, topography, and animal and plant life of a place.

Human characteristics include the human-designed cultural features of a place, how is land being used, cities, architecture, religion, food and folk ways, to transportation and communication networks.

3. Human-Environment Interaction

This theme considers how humans adapt to and modify the environment. Humans shape the landscape through their interaction with the land; this has both positive and negative effects on the environment.

4. Movement

Humans move, a lot! In addition, ideas, fads, goods, resources, and communication all travel distances. This theme studies movement and migration across the planet.

5. Region

Region divides the world into manageable units for geographic study. Regions have some sort of characteristic that unifies the area.

DRIVING QUESTIONS

What are some different ways maps are used?

What are continents?

What is latitude?

What is longitute?

How are latitude and longitude used on a globe?

What is the equator?

What is the prime meridian?

How can I locate different countries on a map?

How does a key or legend help you understand a map?