The Five Themes of Geography

There are five different essential themes when teaching geography:

1. Location - location can be absolute or relative.  Absolute location means that there is a definite 

reference in which to locate a place, such as latitude and longitude or a street address.  Relative location is used to describe a place in relation to its environment and its connection to other places. 

2. Place - a place describes the human and physical characteristics of a location.  Physical characteristics are things such as mountains, rivers, beaches, etc.  The human characteristics are things like the religions, food, transportation, architecture, and other cultural features.

3. Human-Environment Interaction - how humans can adapt and change the environment in both positive and negative ways.

4. Movement - movement and migration across the planet for many reasons

5. Region - regions divide the world into smaller units for geographic study.  The units have similar characteristics that unify the area.  

Check out this video to learn more!

Rosenberg, M. (2015).  "The five themes of geography" on About.com. Retrieved from http://geography.about.com/od/teachgeography/a/5themes.htm