Five Themes of Geography

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In 1984, The Joint Committee on Geographic Education of the National Council for Geographic Education (NCGE) and the Association of American Geographers (AAG) created a framework for the teaching of Geography. In order to help students better understand the world they live in, the group introduced five basic themes woven through the study of Geography. They are:

• Location
• Place
• Movement
• Region
• Human/environment interaction

Listed below are links to sites with explanations of the five themes. Some sites have suggestions for student activities in order to better understand this approach.

http://www2.una.edu/geography/statedepted/themes.html

From the Department of Geography, University of North Alabama, comes this clear explanation of the Five Themes of Geography. Within the site there are also links to well written pages adressing the definition of Geography, the National Standards for teaching Geography, and uses of modern technology in this field.

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/resources/ngo/education/themes.html

National Geographic provides a brief description of each theme and then suggests activities for teaching the themes. There are no links leading to other sites. But there is a pull down menu that will lead you to other pages within the site.

http://interactive2.usgs.gov/learningweb/teachers/mapsshow_guide2.htm

The USGS is a seemingly inexhaustible resource for things geographical. Three of the five themes are examined on this page from the USGS. Human Interaction, Movement, and Region. Place and Location are not addressed. You will see many links in this site connected to the USGS.

http://www.funsocialstudies.learninghaven.com/articles/fivethemes.htm

While this explanation is a simple one, it may be helpful for some students not quite reading at a sixth grade level yet.