IDENTIFYING THE FIVE THEMES OF GEOGRAPHY

The Five Fundamental Themes of Geography serve as a framework for my semester course “World Cultures”. When studying Russia, the following lesson plan can be valuable. The pictures presented were taken in cities along the Trans-Siberian railway route.

LOCATION: “Where are we? is the question that the theme LOCATION answers. Location may be absolute or it may be relative.

Moscow, Russia is 55 degrees N, 37 degrees E

Ekaterinburg, Russia is 56 degrees N, 60 degrees E

Novosibirsk, Russia is 55 degrees N, 82 degrees E

Irkutsk, Russia is 52 degrees N, 104 degrees E

PLACE: What kind of place is it? What do you think of when you imagine Russia?

Places have both human and physical characteristics, as well as images.

Physical characteristics include mountains, rivers, soil, beaches, and wildlife. Places have human characteristics also. These characteristics are derived from the ideas of actions of people that result in change to the environment, such as buildings, roads, clothing, and food habits.

The image people have of a place is based on their experiences, both intellectual and emotional. People’s descriptions of a place reveal their values, attitudes and perceptions.

Using the following pictures taken in Russia, have students decide which picture depicts human characteristics and which ones depicts physical characteristics.

HUMAN/ENVIORNMENT INTERACTIONS: How do humans and the environment affect each other? There are three key concepts to human/environment interaction:

Humans adapt to the environment.

Humans modify the environment.

Humans depend on the environment.

Show the following pictures taken in Russia and have student discuss how they fit into the three concepts of human/environment interactions.

MOVEMENT: The movement of people - they import and export of goods - and mass communication, has all played major roles in shaping Russia. People everywhere interact. They travel from place to place and they communicate. People interact with others through movement. Not only do humans move but also ideas move: fashions move; fads move. Show the following pictures taken in Russia and have students identify movement in each picture

REGION: A region is the basic unit of study in geography. A region is an area that places a coherent unity in terms of the government, language, or possibly the landform or situation. Regions are human constructs that can be mapped and analyzed.

Show the following pictures taken in Russia and have students distinguish between cultural regions, physical regions, and political regions.