EDU 507/GEOS 507© S. KAY GANDY, 2010

WESTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY

Five Themes of Geography

Development of Five Themes

Guidelines for Geographic Education: Elementary and Secondary Schools (Joint Committee on Geographic Education, 1984) Content and skills framework for K-12

geography structured around five fundamental themes

Map of Five Themes (National Geographic Society, 1986)

Five Themes of Geography

MR. HELPMovementRegionsHuman/Environment RelationsLocationPlace

Movement: Humans Interacting on the Earth

* How did people, products, and ideas get from one place to another?

* Why do they make these movements?

There is a McDonald's in Russia, we have a television made in Japan, and we receive an e-mail from Turkey.

Teaching Strategies--Movement

Graph products that come from different parts of the world

Classify ways a community depends on transportation and communication

Research origin of words and expressionsExamine immigration patterns

Regions: How They Form and Change

Areas of the Earth that are alike in physical, cultural or geographical ways.

* How is this place like other places?

* What features set this place apart from other places?

Teaching Strategies--Regions

Use maps to classify urban and rural regionsIdentify regions in classrooms and school

buildingsCompare maps of different landform,

vegetation, or climate regionsCompare maps of different occupation,

religion, or ethnic regions

Relationships Within Places: Humans and Environments

* How are people's lives shaped by the place?

* How has the place been shaped by people?

We build bridges, manipulate water, and establish towns.

Teaching Strategies—Human/Environment Interactions

Relate agricultural patterns to climate patterns

Examine effects of natural disasters on people’s lives

Evaluate ways that constructed environment affects physical environment of a place

Location: Position on the Earth’s Surface

* Where is a place located?

* What is it near?

* What direction is it from another place?

* Why are certain features or places located where they are? Louisiana is in the

northern hemisphere.

New Orleans is 30 degrees N and 90 degrees W.

Teaching Strategies--Location

Use alphanumeric grids on maps to identify location

Observe locations of major cities on maps and suggest reasons why cities are there

Make location decisions based on relative advantages of a site for a baseball field, a bake sale, or a car wash

Place: Physical and Human Characteristics

* What is it like there?

* What physical and human features does it have?

Egypt has the Great Pyramids, Nile River, and a desert climate.

Teaching Strategies--Place

Describe how places change over timeClassify climate typesDistinguish natural and cultural features on

photographs of placesCompare ways that population patterns and

life styles are similar and different in cities and rural places

Using the Themes With Images

Study each image. On your paper, note the characteristics of location, place, region, human/environment interaction and movement that you notice from your observations.

From Google Images

From Google Images

From Google Images

Test Your Knowledge

Each sentence relates to one of the five themes of geography. Identify which them is revealed and be able to defend your answer.

Kiwi fruit from New Zealand is on sale at the supermarket.

In the bayous of Louisiana, many houses are built on stilts.

Test Your Knowledge continued

Deserts are not all hot and dry; Antarctica is a desert of sorts.

Mauritania is southwest of Russia.

Islam is the major religion in the Middle East.

Railroad networks in Europe make traveling easier for tourists.

Resources

Author. (1992). Who? What? Where? When? Why?: A geographical and historical perspective of Kentucky and the United States: Teacher resource guide, Louisville: Kentucky Geographic Alliance.

Author. (1984). Guidelines for geography education, Washington, D.C.: Joint Committee on Geographic Education