The Five Strands of Social Studies Geography – study of people, places, and the environment Government – the people and groups within a society that have the authority to make laws, carry out laws, and settle disagreements History – a record of the past Culture – attitudes, values and behaviors characteristic of a particular social group Economics – study of how people manage resources by producing, exchanging, and using goods and services

What are the Five Themes of Geography? Geographers use the five themes to organize information. The five themes are used to organize a lot of information while geographers study the world. Geographers are guided by two questions, “Where are things located?” and “Why are they there?”

Five Themes License Plate My helper. MHeLPR M=Movement He=Human Environment Interaction L=Location P=Place R=Region

Movement Helps geographers understand connections and relationships among places. Helps explain how people, goods, and ideas get from one place to another. Examples- cultural foods, jewelry, clothes, music, etc.

Human Environment Interaction Focuses on how people affect their physical surroundings. Also is used to understand the consequences of their decisions. Examples- people clear cutting the rain forest, the consequence- less trees to give off oxygen.

Location - Where is it? Is like the address of a place, absolute location is the like the geographic address. It is located in one spot, one location. Latitude & longitude Relative location explains where a place is by describing places near it. Example- I live in Atlanta, GA, it’s about 110 miles south of Chattanooga.

Place This is used to describe a location’s human and physical features. Examples- mall-people go here to shop; a church-people go here to worship; a school-people go there to learn; the jungle-very hot and moist; the desert-very dry and little vegetation.

Region Used for making comparisons. Each region has something that bonds it together, like the same language, religion, history, climate, geography, etc. Used for grouping and making observations about differences and similarities.