How to teach the 5 themes of geography

Why this matters

A middle schooler can list Location, Place, Human-Environment Interaction, Movement and Region and still file a seawall under Place because it sits on the coast. On a worksheet where each fact already has its theme printed next to it, that mix-up never shows, and the teacher has to wait for quiz day to find out.

The 5 themes of geography

Students use the 5 themes of geography to describe any place on Earth. The National Council for Geographic Education and the Association of American Geographers set out the themes in their 1984 Guidelines for Geographic Education.

• Location is where a place is, by latitude and longitude or by what it's near. Chicago sits on the western shore of Lake Michigan.
• Place is what a location is like: its land, climate, buildings and people. Denver is a dry city a mile above sea level, with the Rocky Mountains to its west.
• Human-Environment Interaction is how people change the land and adapt to it. Much of New Orleans sits near or below sea level, so people built levees around the city to keep floodwater out.
• Movement is how people, goods and ideas travel between places. Ships carry goods from China, the port's biggest trading partner, into the Port of Los Angeles.
• Region is an area that shares a feature, such as a climate, a language or a main crop. The Corn Belt is the part of the Midwest that has led US corn production since the 1850s.

In the Flint activity, students find a mystery city from five clues, one for each theme, by clicking their guesses on a world map. When a guess breaks a clue, Sparky points the student back to that clue. After finding the city, students sort the five clues into the five themes and explain each choice. Sparky asks about any clue a student puts under the wrong theme, so a mix-up like a seawall filed under Place comes out in the chat.

Jonah's chat: find the mystery city, then sort the clues

Jonah is a middle schooler who loves soccer. He knows the names of the five themes but mixes up Place and Human-Environment Interaction.

The whole class gets the same activity: the same clickable world map, five clues in the same theme order, and the same sorting task at the end. Each student's chat is their own. Sparky picks the mystery city from what the student says they love, and its next message depends on the country or city the student just guessed.

Sparky uses what the student told itSparky sends the student back to a clue or picture they already haveA right answer gets a harder question

J

Jonah

Interest: Loves soccerStarting point: Files anything near water under Place

Sparky

I'm thinking of a mystery place somewhere on Earth. You'll find it with five clues, one for each theme of geography. First, tell me one thing you love doing: a sport, a game, music, food, anything.

Jonah

i love soccer

Sparky

I've picked a mystery city connected to soccer, somewhere outside your country. Clue 1: This city is in South America, on a continent where a major river system drains a vast lowland basin. Click your best guess on the map. Which country do you think this is?

Jonah

mexico

Sparky

Mexico is in North America, but Clue 1 says the city is in South America. Take another look at the map. Can you find the continent south of North America and pick a country there?

Jonah

brazil

Sparky

Brazil is in South America and has that major river basin. But this city is in a different South American country. Which other countries sit near a large river basin on your map?

Jonah

argentina?

Sparky

Not quite. On your map, look for the Río de la Plata region. Which countries share that river basin besides Argentina?

Jonah

uruguay

Sparky

Yes, the mystery city is in Uruguay. Clue 2: This city sits on flat, low-lying land along a wide river estuary, with a mix of older low-rise buildings and some modern towers near the waterfront. Can you name the city this time?

Jonah

salto?

Sparky

Salto is a real Uruguayan city, but it's inland along the Uruguay River, not on a wide estuary. Look at the picture again: the city sits right on a wide estuary. Which Uruguayan city on your map sits where a major river meets the sea?

Jonah

montevideo

Understanding check

That's it, Montevideo! Here are the remaining clues. Clue 3: The city's residents have built an extensive seawall and promenade along the low coastline. Clue 4: The city is a major port where goods from across the country move by ship. Clue 5: The city sits at approximately 35 degrees south, 56 degrees west. The five themes are Region, Place, Human-Environment Interaction, Movement and Location. Which theme does each clue belong to, and why?

Jonah

1 is region bc its about the big area. 2 is place bc it says what the city looks like. 3 is place bc its about the coast. 4 is movement bc goods move on ships. 5 is location bc its latitude and longitude

Sparky

You got 1, 2, 4 and 5 exactly right. Look at Clue 3 more closely. It says residents built a seawall. Does that describe what the place looks like, or how people changed or adapted to their environment?

Jonah

oh its human environment interaction bc people built the seawall to deal w the water

Sparky

Exactly right. All five are sorted. Now you're the clue-writer. Pick one of the five themes and write one clue about your own town, without naming the town or your state.

Jonah

my town is columbus and its the capital of ohio

Sparky

That clue names your city. Can you rewrite it so it hints at your town without using "Columbus" or "Ohio"?

Jonah

location: my city is right in the middle of my state and two rivers meet downtown

Sparky

"Right in the middle of my state" is strong Location language. Two rivers meeting downtown is more of a Place detail. Can you sharpen it to be purely Location, using direction, position or approximate coordinates?

Found Montevideo, then moved the seawall clue from Place to Human-Environment Interaction

When Jonah clicked Mexico, Sparky didn't name the right continent's countries. It pointed him back to the one clue Mexico breaks. When he guessed Salto, Sparky sent him back to the picture, which shows a city on wide water. The sorting task came only after he found the city, and when he put the seawall under Place, Sparky asked what the seawall says about people and the land.

Jonah is an example student, and Sparky's replies are shortened. Another student who loves soccer can get a different city, such as Buenos Aires, Lagos or Accra.

What Flint did for Jonah

• Sparky picked a mystery city from the one thing Jonah said he loves.
• The activity came with a world map Sparky built that Jonah clicks to guess, with no labels and no answers on it.
• When Jonah's guess broke a clue, Sparky named that clue and asked a question he could answer from the map or the picture.
• Sparky drew the mystery city for the Place clue, with no signs or text that would give the name away.
• After Jonah found the city, Sparky asked an understanding check: sort the five clues into the five themes, then write a clue about his own town.

A teacher can't do this by hand for 30 students, and Sparky does it in every student's chat.

Which students mixed up Place and Human-Environment Interaction

When students finish, Sparky grades each chat against the activity's rubric: whether the student uses the clues as evidence for each guess, tells the five themes apart, and writes an accurate clue about their own town. The activity page shows who needs help right now, what the class does well, and what to practice next.

Set up the activity for free

The mystery city activity is in Flint's public library, with the world map, Sparky's guidelines, greeting and a rubric already written. Open it, select Try this activity to copy it into a free Flint account, and move it to a class. In the activity settings, select Try session myself to test the activity as a student before you assign it.

For more social studies activities, see Flint for social studies.