Five Themes of Geography

Introduction

Welcome: Five Themes of Geography
Description: This WebQuest has been designed to help my student's discover how the five themes of geography impact their lives.
Grade Level: K-2
Curriculum: Social Studies
Keywords: five themes of geography and how they impact our lives
Author(s): Rachele Epperson

Introduction Page:

Geography is all around us! It encompasses our lives and the world in which we live. The purpose of your project today is to learn about the five themes of geography and how they impact your daily lives. Geography is a fun subject because it enables us to learn about the Earth, the impact we have on it, what is going on in the world, and why. Have you ever wondered how pollution impacts in the land, where the capital of your state is located, or where your ancestors grew up? This lesson is going to help you answer all of those questions and many more! The five themes of geography: "location, place, human/environment interaction, movement, and region" (Grand Canyon University, 2010, pg. 1) are going to be utilized to help you understand how geography impacts you on a daily basis and how you impact geography!

5 Themes of Geography YouTube video

Task

We will research the five themes of geography and learn how they impact our lives. The purpose of this activity is to discover the impact that we can have on the community as well as the impact it can have on us. You will complete a graphic organizer that describes what the meaning of each theme is. After we have completed the graphic organizers, we will go on a field trip around the neighborhood so that you can create a map of how to get to school with your partner.

Process

To begin, we are going to research the five themes of geography to discover what they each mean. As a reminder, the five themes of geography are “location, place, human/environment interaction, movement, and region” (Grand Canyon University, 2010, pg. 1). You will have the opportunity to read about each theme and listen to the YouTube video explanation again. After you have researched the themes, you can work with a partner to complete your graphic organizer in which you can write or draw your explanation of each theme.

Step 1: Review the definitions of the five themes of geography via the website: http://edtech2.boisestate.edu/andyroundy/502/conceptmap.html

Step 2: Review the YouTube video at: 5 Theme of Geography at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIqC79WrpKg

Walking field trip:

We will go on a walking field trip around the neighborhood to prepare you to make your maps.

Create maps:

You will work with a partner to create a map of how to get to school. You may use google maps to assist you in drawing the map.

Google Maps
This will help you create your map.

Provide rationale:

You will explain why it is important to know how to get to different places and describe the area in which you live through drawings and an oral presentation.

Evaluation

This is how your work will be evaluated:

	Does not meet requirement 1	Needs Improvement 2	Satisfactory 3	Excellent 4	Score
Provides definition of the five themes of geography on graphic organizer	Does not complete graphic organizer	Attempts graphic organizer, but includes no valid definitions	Defines at least three of the themes with a picture or written description	Defines five themes with a picture or written description
Behaves appropriately during walk	Disrupts other students	Does not follow directions	Follows directions, but does not engage	Cooperates with others and follows directions
Completes map	Does not attempt map	Engages in activity, but does not complete	Draws and completes map	Draws and completes map, includes labels for landmarks
Explains how important it is to know the location of specific places	Does not attempt to make explanation	Provides limited information, does not reference any themes	Explains how geography and location impact people’s lives	Explains how geography and location impact people’s lives and how people impact geography

Conclusion

To conclude the lesson, students will present their maps of how to get to the school and their explanations about how location is important to their lives. Students will describe the area in which they live and explain the impact that this has on their lives. Students will also be encouraged to explain how their lives could be different if they lived in Alaska or Hawaii.

Credits

Georgia Department of Education. (2015). Georgia performance standards – Social studies. Retrieved from https://www.georgiastandards.org/Standards/Georgia%20Performance%20Standards/Kindergarten%20Social%20Studies%20Stds%208-24-07.pdf

Grand Canyon University. (2010). EDU 570: Curriculum, Assessments, and Methods: Social Studies [Lecture Notes]. Retrieved from: https://lc-grad2.gcu.edu/learningPlatform/user/users.html?operation=loggedIn#/learningPlatform/loudBooks/loudbooks.html?viewPage=current&operation=innerPage¤tTopicname=Major Social Studies Themes&topicMaterialId=d98a48f5-b2d1-4a5d-aba3-c8ffda4b0319&contentId=47286826-5b82-4e57-bca3-1c29bd638b77&

Roundy, A. (2012). Five themes of geography concept map. Retrieved at http://edtech2.boisestate.edu/andyroundy/502/conceptmap.html

White, J. (2009). 5 themes of geography. Retrieved at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIqC79WrpKg

Teacher Page

This WebQuest is designed to introduce the five themes of geography to lower elementary level students. After the themes are introduces, the students have the opportunity to discover how important location is and how it can impact their lives by creating a map for others to use to find their school. Students have the opportunity to remain engaged in a lesson while collaboratively working with one another and applying curriculum to real-world problems.

Standards

SSKG2: The student will explain that a map is a drawing of a place and a globe is a model of the Earth. (Georgia Department of Education, 2015)

SSKG3: The student will state the street address, city, county, state, nation, and continent in which he or she lives. (Georgia Department of Education, 2015)