This document introduces the five themes of geography: location, region, human-environment interaction, movement, and place. It discusses each theme in 1-2 paragraphs with examples. Location is defined as absolute (exact) and relative (in relation to other objects). Relative location can use physical and human features for description. Region divides areas into categories based on shared features. Human-environment interaction has three types: using, adapting to, and changing the environment. Movement explains how people, goods, and ideas connect different areas. Place focuses on the distinct features of a location.

1. Welcome to…
Thinking Like a
Geographer!

2. What is Geography?
• Geography is the study of the Earth and the
ways we interact with Earth.
• Geographers came up with five different
ways to study the Earth and its people.

3. 5 Themes of Geography
1. Location – WHERE is it?
2. Region – HOW do common features help us
understand this place?
3. Human/Environment Interaction
–HOW do people interact with the environment?
4. Movement – HOW is the place connected to
other places?
5. Place – WHAT is it like there?

5. Location, Location, Location!
• Absolute Location is the exact location
of a place.
• How do you identify the absolute location
of your school?

6. Where Are You Located?
• What is the absolute location of your desk in
our room?

7. What is Relative Location?
• Relative location is when places are
described in relation to other objects,
items, people or places.
• What items or objects might
you use to help guide someone
to your desk at school?

8. Relative Location Features
• Physical Features -
Landforms, bodies of
water
• Human Features -
Roads, bridges

9. The Relative Location of Arkansas
• Use the map on your tablets to develop
FIVE different ways to describe the
RELATIVE location of Arkansas.

10. • Regions are categorized as sharing similar
features
• Using the map on your tablet, can you come up
with at least 2 regions that divide the state of
Arkansas?
Regions

11. Answer:
Arkansas is part of the Interior Lowlands
and Coastal Plains regions of the United
States.

12. Human-Environment Interaction
3 Types of Interaction:
• USING the environment.
• People use natural resources such as lumber to build houses
• ADAPTING to the environment.
• People adapt to the environment by utilizing air conditioners
to beat summer climate
• CHANGING the environment.
• People change the environment by building dams to control
water flow

13. Movement
• The geographic theme that explains how and why
people, goods, and ideas move.
• The theme of movement helps connect multiple
areas of social studies
• The theme of movement helps us understand how
things are connected to each other

14. Place
• What is it like here in Arkansas?
1.In your groups, discuss what it is like here.
2.Come up with 5
distinct features