FIVE THEMES GEOGRAPHY

LESSON 1 Five Themes of Geography of Ecuador

Lesson Objective The students will be able to:

• find the five themes of geography (location, movement, human/environment

interaction, place, and region) of Ecuador using pictures and maps.

• find the five themes of geography (location, movement, human/environment

interaction, place, and region) using pictures

• compare information gathered

Materials and Resources

Activity 1 - Location: Absolute and Relative

▪ Handout 1 - Five Themes of Geography

▪ Handout 2 - Map of Western Hemisphere

▪ Worksheet 1

Activity 2- Place: Human and Physical

▪ Handout 1 - Five Themes of Geography

▪ Story - “ECUADOR WOW!”

▪ Worksheet 2

Activity 3 - Human/Environment Interaction

▪ Handout 1 - Five Themes of Geography

▪ Worksheet 3

Activity 4 - Movement

▪ Handout 1 - Five Themes of Geography

▪ Story “ECUADOR WOW!”

▪ Worksheet 4

Activity 5 - Region

▪ Handout 1 - Five Themes of Geography

▪ Story - “ECUADOR WOW!”

▪ Worksheet 5

Activity 6 - Comparing Cities

▪ Handouts and Worksheets used in Activities 1-5

▪ Worksheet 6

Lesson Introduction

In the following activities students will be using information from the text, pictures, and maps

in the story “ECUADOR WOW!” to discover the geography of Ecuador. Students will be using the

Five Themes of Geography as an organizational tool.

Read the story to the class as a whole. Then divide students into small groups and have

each group reread the story together. Then have the students find information on each of the Five

Themes of Geography, and record it on the individual theme worksheet.

Next, have each group examine the pictures for additional Five Themes of Geography facts.

They may need to have a magnifying glass to find some of the finer details in the photographs,

such as telephone poles (movement or human feature of place) and some buildings.

While students are doing this they should write down why they chose to place a specific fact

under that theme. If they choose to put a fact under more than one theme they will need to

explain why. It is much easier for students to write down their reasons as they are doing their work

than after they are finished.

REMEMBER: The geography themes overlap, for example, telephone poles are movement

of ideas, as well as, human feature of place (staying in close touch with our friends and businesses

are part of our culture). Houses fit the theme of place—human feature (man-made) and

human/environment interaction (adapting to our environment).

Activity 1 – Location

Students need to find the absolute and relative locations of Ecuador and its capital,

Quito. Distribute copies of handout 1, “Five Themes of Geography,” which will be used as a visual

reference for students to help them remember the geography themes as they work through each

activity in this lesson. Then distribute copies of handout 2, the map of the Western Hemisphere,

and copies of worksheet 1.

Using the map, have students determine the absolute location of Quito, Ecuador. Also,

have them determine which lines of latitude and longitude Ecuador falls between. Remind them

that latitude helps to determine climate in an area.

Next, have students determine the relative location of Ecuador and then record it on the

information worksheet. Relative location is your location in relationship to other places (north of,

south of, northeast of, next to, across from) and is given with at least two, preferably three,

reference points (such as most of the United States is south of Canada, west of the Atlantic Ocean

and north of Mexico).

Activity 2 – Place

Students will need to find the human characteristics and the physical characteristics of

Ecuador by using photographs and text. Distribute copies of the story “ECUADOR WOW!” and

worksheet 2.

Students will need to examine each photo closely to find the human and physical

characteristics of Ecuador. On worksheet 2, they need to list all of the physical features (gifts of

nature) they see in the photographs or have read about in the story. Students should also list

climate in this section, which is part of nature. Remind students that due to Ecuador’s location on

the Equator, the ocean currents, and its landforms, it has four diverse climate zones.

Next, they need to look for the human features (what makes a place unique—culture) that

they can find in the photographs and text, then record them on worksheet 2. Remind them to look

at the clothing, buildings, foods, celebrations, and landscape of the region.

Activity 2 (continued)

Another way this can be done is to give each group four copies of worksheet 2 and have

them look for the human and physical features of each of the four geographic regions in

Ecuador.

Activity Three- Human/Environment Interaction

Students will need to examine photographs and read the text in the story, and use the “Five

Themes of Geography” (handout 1) to find how people have adapted to, modified/changed, and

depend on the environment in Ecuador. Distribute a copy of worksheet 3 to each group. Again

students will need to look closely to find how humans have interacted with the environment.

Remind students that themes overlap and that a bridge which shows how humans have

modified the environment also shows a human feature of place. Students need to record the

information that they find on their worksheets.

Activity Four – Movement

Students will need to examine the photographs and read the text in the story and use

handout 1, “Five Themes of Geography,” to find how goods, ideas, and people move in and out of

Ecuador, and record them on worksheet 4. They should also look for migration patterns of humans.

They will need to look closely at the photographs for things like roads, TV towers, newspaper

stands, trucks, etc. which are examples of movement.

Activity 5- Region

Students will need all of the handouts used in activities 1-4 to help them decide what type(s)

of region(s) that Ecuador fits into with other countries of South America, or they can determine the

different types of regions within Ecuador. Pass out copies of handout 3 and worksheet

...