What Are The Five Themes Of Geography

How Does Iowa Compare To Other Places On Earth

Geography Now! China

Factors in descriptions reflect the information that one wishes to know. There are many ways that Iowa’s location can be identified: latitude and longitude, relationship to neighboring states or height above sea level. Each can be correct. This primary source set focuses on five themes of geography: location, place, human-environment interaction, movement and region.

The Five Themes In Geography

The subject of geography is actually the convergence of multiple educational disciplines. Due to the complexity of the subject, there is a need to organize it into themes in order to facilitate the teaching of geography in the worlds schools, colleges, and universities. In 1984, a comprehensive educational tool was devised that divided the subject of geography into five themes. This division was done with the aim of aiding the educational organizations to teach Geography in a more structured manner. The National Council for Geographic Education and the Association of American Geographers formally adopted the five themes and formalized them in the Guidelines for Geographic Education, Elementary, and Secondary Schools by NCGE/AAG.

The five themes of Geography are Location, Place, Human-Environment Interaction, Movement, and Region.

Humanenvironment Interaction: Altering The Environment

Human-environment interaction describes how people work together and how they function in their environment. This interaction contains three key areas: human dependence on the environment, how humans alter the environment, and how the environment changes humans. Dependence refers to a need for something like natural resources from the environment. Humans alter the environment by, for example, building roads through wildlife areas. The environment also changes humans: For example, people in cold climates wear coats in the winter to shield themselves from the cold.

Recommended Reading: What Do You Need Physics For

Five Themes Of Geography

The five themes of geography are an educational tool for teaching geography. The five themes were published in 1984 and widely adopted by teachers, textbook publishers, and curriculum designers in the United States. Most American geography and social studies classrooms have adopted the five themes in teaching practices, as they provide “an alternative to the detrimental, but unfortunately persistent, habit of teaching geography through rote memorization”. They are pedagogical themes that guide how geographic content should be taught in schools.

How Do The Five Themes Of Geography Connect The World

Imagine that you have to tell a friend how to get from the classroom to the cafeteria. How would you give the directions? Would you give a list of steps to follow? Or would you say that the cafeteria is next to the office? Giving directions and describing a location are examples of geography.

KEY TERMS:

relative location

region

Geography is the study of the world. It explores the people, the places, and the environment. There are five basic ideas, or themes. These ideas explain how geography connects the world. The five themes are location, place, human-environment interaction, movement, and region.

Location answers the question, Where are we? It tells you where one thing is in relation to another. There are two ways to talk about location. There is absolute location and relative location.

Mt. Everest is part of the Himalayan Mountains. It lies on the border of Tibet and Nepal.

Absolute Location gives the exact spot on the earth where a place is found. It uses special instructions called latitude and longitude .

Moscow, Russia is located 55° north latitude, 37° east longitude.

Relative Location is not an exact location. It tells where a place is by describing places near it.

Canada is north of the United States.

Places also have human features. These features come from the ideas and actions of people. People make changes to the places. People build roads, bridges, cities, and grow food.

The Eiffel Tower is a landmark in Paris.

Map of Basque Region

You May Like: What Is Imf In Chemistry

How Geography Shapes Our Lives

Geography is defined as the study of landscapes, people, places, and environment on Earth. It informs us about our world and bridges natural sciences and human or social sciences. Humans can influence geography as Earths natural processes can influence geography. They both act to shape civilizations and history.

The word geography is derived from the Greek word geographia, meaning Earth description. Geography is partitioned into two categories: human geography and physical geography. Both interact to influence the spatial aspects of human populations, relationships of humans with plate tectonics, climate impacts on political borders, etc.

Geography Informs Our Lives:

Examples Of Physical Place Characteristics

Physical place is represented by the physical features of a location.

Islands are above water and surrounded by it.
Mountainous terrains can be steep, jagged or gently sloping.
Terrain can be flat, rocky, even, or uneven.
An area can be heavily forested or free of vegetation.
Arctic climates are extremely cold.
Tropical climates are extremely hot.
Soil can have varying levels of acidity.

Don’t Miss: What Does Anxiety Mean Psychology

Examples Of Absolute Location

The absolute location of a place does not change. The broadest example of a place’s absolute location is its combined latitude and longitude. The place’s position on a map and its address are also examples of absolute location.

The White House’s latitude is 38.8977° N and its longitude is 77.0365° W.
The White House’s address is 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D.C.

These examples hold true for any place, from your home to your school to your favorite places to visit and beyond.

What Are The 5 Themes Of Geography Simple Examples

Geography Now! THAILAND

geography themes student world map
PERMISSION Used under Getty Images license

Geography is a huge subject. Since teaching such an expansive topic can be overwhelming, the topic is organized under five separate themes. Discover what are the 5 themes of geography, and use them as a tool to help effectively structure and organize your approach to teaching geography.

Also Check: What Is Proactive Interference In Psychology

Examples Of The Five Themes Of Geography

The five themes of geography include location, human-environment interaction, place, region, and movement. These five concepts help educators explain how and why humans map the Earth, as well as the ways in which people affect and are affected by the Earth. The five themes of geography help students comprehend the concepts of geography and apply them to their daily lives.

TL DR

Geography has five themes that help humans comprehend different aspects of the field and how they relate to human life. The concepts of location, human-environment interaction, place, region, and movement make up this list.

Location: Coordinates And Relative Distance

Two distinct but related parts the specific and the general make up the idea of location. Specific location refers an actual address, like “123 Main Street,” or a set of geographical coordinates like “40.7128° N, 74.0060° W.” General location describes where a place is in relation to another place. It does not give a direct address but indicates a place’s relative location and its relative distance. For example, the general location of a certain store could be “20 minutes away by car, next to the bank.”

You May Like: How To Test For Pure Water Chemistry

The 5 Themes Of Geography

adamPRO INVESTOR

The 5 themes of geography are location, place, human, movement, and regions. These themes provide an educational resource for teachers to categorize and summarize geography. The five themes were initially approved and included in curriculums in 1984 by the Association of American Geographers. The association saw these main tenants of geography as a way to provide best practices to teachers in their classrooms.

If geography is prose, maps are iconography. Lennart Meri

Today, most geography classrooms have in fact adopted the 5 themes of geography as published in the NCGE/AAG publication titled Guidelines for Geographic Education, Elementary, and Schools. The guidelines are no longer in print however, they have been republished several times with updated content and can be accessed from most major libraries.

Before jumping into the history of the 5 themes of geography and the details therein, lets cover what exactly the 5 themes are:

These five categories were based on experts in the geography field as a way to distill information taught at a number of school grades. They are the basis of standardized teaching in geography.

Examples Of Human Place Characteristics

The human characteristics of place refer to cultural features introduced and maintained by humans.

Land in rural areas may predominantly be used for agricultural purposes, with locals primarily earning a living from the land.
The architecture in New Orleans reflects the city’s unique blend of French and Creole culture.
New Orleans is also known for its distinct cuisine, including crawfish, muffulettas, etouffee, and jambalaya.
The United Kindom’s system of government is a constitutional monarchy with a royal family and elected officials .
In large cities with extensive public transportation, such as New York City, it’s not as common for people to own cars as in other types of locations.
In Amish communities, transportation via horse and buggy is the most common means of transportation.
In India, more than 80 percent of the population practices the Hindu faith.

Also Check: Introduction To Linear Algebra Solution Manual 4th Edition

Teaching The Five Themes Of Geography

As many of my long-time readers know, I spent time as a K-12social studies teacher and as a professor of social studies education. Duringthis time, one of my favorite things to teach was thefive themes of geography. The five themes of geography are location, place,human-environment interaction, movement, and region.

These themes were developed in 1984 by the National Councilfor Geographic Education and the Association of American Geographers to organizeand facilitate the instruction of geography in K-12. While they have been replacedby the NationalGeography Standards, I still think they provide an excellent way to promotethe teaching of geography. If I were still teaching social studies, I would useboth. Since come of you may not be familiar with the five themes of geography,lets discuss them.

A brief discussion of each the five themes of geography

Location Location pertains to a place or position.The instruction of geography usually begins with location. Location can be twokinds: absolute location and relative location. Absolute location is defined usingits exact address . Relative location describes where aplace is in relation to other locations.

Place Place pertains to the physical and human attributesor characteristics of a location. This concept allows us to compare andcontrast two places on Earth. The place theme of geography illustrates clear imageof a place in the minds of the learners.

Why do students need to learn the five themes ofgeography?

Examples Of Relative Location

The relative location of a place changes based on how its location is being described in terms of its relative position to another location.

The White House is approximately nine miles from Ronald Reagan National Airport in the District of Columbia.
The White House is approximately 30 miles from Dulles International Airport in Chantilly, Virginia.
Washington, D.C. is around 40 miles from Baltimore, Maryland.
The Port of Baltimore in Maryland is 197 nautical miles away from the Port of Norfolk in Virginia.
AIM Mail Center is in the shopping center located at the intersections of Grelot and Hillcrest roads in Mobile, Alabama.
The fourth grade classroom is in the second building past the gymnasium.
Interests along the eastern coast of the Gulf of Mexico should closely monitor the storm’s progress.

You May Like: Who Is The Father Of Modern Psychology

Guidelines For Geographic Education Elementary And Schools

The guidelines were a way for geography experts to share an improved method for teaching geographic education. The goal was to combat under the teaching of geography to U.S. children and a result of Americas poor understanding of geography.

War is Gods way of teaching Americans geography. Ambrose Bierce

As a preface, the guidelines present the methodological way geographers conduct scientific inquiry, the tools of the trade, and the rationale behind their conclusions. The guidelines then lay out the foundation of the 5 themes of geography: location, place, human relationships and interactions, movement, and regions.

Today, geography has the advantage of satellite imagery to better understand how our world interacts with humans and vice versa. Sequential satellite images over time present a picture as to how humans have destroyed environments through deforestation or dams. Software programs such as Arc GIS provides geographers to track droughts as they spread across continents and flooding from record rainfall.

Overall geography has seen a step-change in recent decades with the introduction of satellites and their ability to image the Earth through time. Satellite imagery can also be used to determine vegetation speciation, biodiversity, wars, urbanization, etc. It is today, commonly used by every government on Earth to inform on the themes of geography. This provides a way for governments to protect their interests and understand how to respond to external forces.

The Five Themes Of Geography Are Still Useful

Geography Now! Greece

The Five Themes of Geography are a way to give school-aged children a coherent framework for learning about geography.

They allow them to learn how to use concrete devices like latitude and longitude, maps, and atlases to locate specific places, as well as how to develop mental maps of their world, and all of the people and places in it.

Though the themes have effectively been replaced, they still have value when it comes to instilling children with a working knowledge of geography.

Place: Human And Environmental Differences

Place refers to a description rather than a location. Place is divided into two categories: human differences and physical differences. The concept of human differences refers to the ways in which people change and develop a place. These changes may be concrete, as in building construction or cultural. The concept of physical differences describe the ways in which a part of the world is characteristically different from others. For example, some places have mountains, while others have desert terrain.

The Five Themes Of Geography

A HUMAN PERSPECTIVE Between 1838 and 1842, Captain Charles Wilkes led an American expedition to the South Pacific and Antarctica. At one stop at a South Sea island, a friendly islander drew a map on the wooden deck planks of the ship. To Wilkes’s amazement, the map accurately showed the location of the Tuamotu Archipelagoa chain of about 80 coral islands that stretches more than 1,000 miles across the South Pacific. The islander relied on personal experience sailing in the area and a mental map to accurately show the positions of the islands.

Learn More About Geography

Geography is a fascinating subject that can be explored from many angles, though it’s most often organized in the context of the five themes discussed here. If learning about the five themes of geography has piqued your interest, continue learning even more. Start by building a strong vocabulary of geography terms.