5 Themes of Geography

Geography is more than reading a

map or memorizing locations of

cities, states, and countries.

It is investigating the relationship

that humans have with the
environment and our use of

natural resources.

Five Themes of

Geography

• Location
• Place
• Human-Environment

Interaction

• Movement
• Regions

Location

• Where are things located.
• A location can be specific
• (called ABSOLUTE LOCATION)

using the international grid
system of latitude and longitude
coordinates, or…

or general

(called RELATIVE
LOCATION) which

describes where a place

is located in

relationship to
other places.

What is the “relative location”

of this house to the store?

The relative location our state

to the rest of the
contiguous states?

The relative location of the
railroad to the cemetery?

The relative location of population

centers in our nation?

Place

• What makes one

place different or unique
from another?

• Difference might be defined in

terms of physical features or
human features.

Describe the physical PLACES

you see…

Describe the Human Features

of PLACE you see …

Describe the Human Features

of PLACE you see …

Dag

; Bonjour

Hola

Merhaba

Remember, human features of a

PLACE, include a people’s

language, religion, customs, etc…

Human-Environment

Interaction

• What are the relationships among

the people and places?

• How have people changed the

environment to better serve their
needs? AND

• How has the environment affected

people, for better or worse?

Can you describe the interactions

you see?

Movement

• What are the patterns of movement

of

people, resources, products,

and information?

• This includes transportation,

exports and imports, and

communication.

Can you identify patterns of

human settlement?

Regions

• How can the Earth be divided into

regions for study?

• Regions can be defined by a number of

characteristics including area, language,
political, religions, and vegetation.

Economic
Regions
(similar

products and

resources)

Ethnic Regions (similar

backgrounds and cultures)

Man-made Regions

(for common timekeeping needs)

Physical Region
(shared territory)

Five Themes of

Geography

• Location
• Place
• Human-Environment

Interaction

• Movement
• Regions