What are the Five Themes of Geography?

What do all of these things have in common?

• Truck• Road• Letter• Cell phone• email

They all have to do with the movement of people, things, or ideas.

What do all of these things have in common?

truckroadlettercell phoneemail

• All of these are examples of the theme of movement.

What do all of these things have in common?

• Pacific Northwest• Eastern Europe• Counties around Lake Norman• Northern Iredell County• EIMS school district

They are all examples of regions.

A region is an area that is defined by certain similar characteristics.

Those unifying or similar characteristics can be physical, natural, human, or cultural.

What do all of these things have in common?

Pacific NorthwestEastern EuropeCounties around Lake NormanNorthern Iredell CountyEIMS school district

• All of these are examples of the theme of region.

What do all of these things have in common?

• Turn right at McDonald’s• Go 2 miles past the mall• 1133 Mockingbird Lane• 40°N 90°W• The United Kingdom is north of France.

They all are examples of how to locate a particular place.

There are two types of location.Absolute location is latitude and longitude or a street address.Relative location uses directions, distances, or landmarks to locate a place.

What do all of these things have in common?

Turn right at McDonald’sGo 2 miles past the mall1133 Mockingbird Lane40°N 90°WThe United Kingdom is north of France.

• These are all examples of the theme of location.

What do all of these things have in common?

• Picking up trash• Turning on a light when it’s dark• Building a house• Wearing short pants in the summer• Putting on a coat in winter• Air pollution

They are all examples of changing the environment, or adapting to it.

Changing or adapting to the environment is not always a good thing. An example of this is pollution.

What do all of these things have in common?

Picking up trashTurning on a light when it’s darkBuilding a houseWearing short pants in the summerPutting on a coat in winterAir pollution

• These are examples of the theme of interaction.

What do all of these things have in common?

• People speak Spanish in Argentina.• Russian is the largest country in Europe.• Mt Everest is the tallest mountain in the

world.• Iredell County is a hub of the NASCAR racing

industry.• Most people in Italy belong to the Roman

Catholic Church.

These statements are about the people that live in a particular place, or about the physical characteristics of a particular place.

Human characteristics are about the people that live in a place.

Physical characteristics are about the natural features and climate of a place.

What do all of these things have in common?

People speak Spanish in Argentina.Russian is the largest country in Europe.Mt Everest is the tallest mountain in the world.Iredell County is a hub of the NASCAR racing industry.Most people in Italy belong to the Roman Catholic Church.

• All of these statements are examples

of the theme of place.