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Teaching Geography
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 According
to the Joint Committee on Geographic Education of the National Council
for Geographic Education (NCGE) and the Association of American
Geographers (AAG), there are five themes of geography. These five
these were written in 1984 and offer a great outline for teaching
geography.
Teaching Geography Utilizing the Five Themes of Geography:
LOCATION
What is location? Every single point on earth has a specific location.
This location is determined by our favorite worldly and imaginary
lines, latitude and longitude. The latitude and longitude of a point
is what determines its location.
Teach students that latitude and longitude create an imaginary
grid across the globe. They can remember that latitudinal lines
are parallel to the equator because “lat”-itude sounds
like “lap”-itude, and laps are flat and horizontal as
well. Have the students use this “grid” on a map to
locate capitals, mouths of rivers, highest mountains, etc.
Teaching Geography Utilizing the Five Themes of Geography:
PLACE
Ask your students to describe a particular well-known place and
see if other students can guess which place it is. Have students
think of physical and human characteristics of places. Also, think
of common phrases that include the word “place,” like:
“caught between a rock and a hard place.” Place can
be a relatively abstract term, and it is important that students
get a better grasp of its meaning.
Have students describe what kind of places certain countries are.
Think about natural disasters as well as the people. Think of the
physical contours of each country.
Teaching Geography Utilizing the Five Themes of Geography:
HUMAN/ENVIRONMENT INTERACTION
Human/environment interaction is studied by looking at both the
positive and negative effects that people exert on their surroundings.
People have a lot of influence on the environment – they build
dams, pollute, tear down trees, etc. But the environment also affects
humans with floods, earthquakes, food shortages, droughts, etc.
Have your students come up with ways that people affect their environment
every day. Then have them think of how people affect their environment
through seasonal activities (like boating, hunting, etc.). Have
students discuss which human activities are most harmful to the
environment and what can be done to lessen environmental impact.
Find old and new photographs of an area (its best if it is your
own town or city) and compare how much the area has changed over
the years – different and more buildings, different transportations,
trees, etc.
Teaching Geography Utilizing the Five Themes of Geography:
MOVEMENT
People are always interacting with other people, place, and things.
We travel, communicate, and use products from outside our immediate
environment. Teach your students to understand the locations of
resources and how they are transported to people that need them.
Help your students understand how all people, including themselves,
are dependent on other cultures, regions, and people in the world.
Have your students look about the classroom and see how many products
they can find that were manufactured in the United States and how
many were manufactured elsewhere. Talk about ways to travel from
one place to another (you can get into abstract ideas like music
and literature). Talk about what happens when people are not able
to communicate.
Teaching Geography Utilizing the Five Themes of Geography:
REGIONS
Regions are areas on the earth’s surface that are defined
by certain unifying characteristics. These characteristics may be
physical or cultural, etc. Regions are also studied in how they
have changed over times.
Talk with the students about physical regions of the earth like
rain forests, deserts, mountains, etc. Have students think about
how they would have to adapt to these regions (would they need insect
repellant, etc.?) Have your students take a look at their own city
and divide it into regions by recreational areas, residential areas,
ethnicity, etc. Use an almanac to have your students divide the
US into climatic regions.
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