The Five Themes of Geography

In 1984, the Association of American Geographers and the National Council for Geographic Education published their guidelines for Geographic education. This publication introduced what has become know simply as "The Five Themes of Geography." Since the introduction of these themes, a growing number of local and state education departments as well as curriculum authors and teachers have been structuring geographic lessons around these themes. Understanding these themes and applying that knowledge is an important part of Mr. Dresel's Geography unit. The Five Themes are:

  • Location: Position on the Earth's Surface
  • Place: Physical and Human Characteristics
  • Human/Environment Interactions: Shaping the Landscape
  • Movement: Humans Interacting on the Earth
  • Regions: How They Form and Change
5Themes

Class notes on the 5 Themes are made on Cornell notepaper and come from our discussion in class as outlined in the slide presentation on the left.

Get a downloadable copy of all the notes in .pdf format at this link.

Try This:

Examine the following photographs. Can you make a connection between each photograph and a specific theme of Geography?