The five themes of geography, and physical vs human features
Grade 6 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.
Read this first
Five themes card
Location (where is it?), Place (what is it like?), Region (what area shares a feature?), Movement (how do people, goods and ideas travel?), Human–environment interaction (how do people and land affect each other?).
Bo's geography card asks, "Where is it?" Which of the five themes does that question belong to?
- Movement
- Location
- Region
- Place
Jun's card asks, "How do people, goods and ideas get from one place to another?" Which theme is that?
- Location
- Movement
- Human–environment interaction
- Region
Photo-style drawing of the Grand Canyon with the Colorado River at the bottom. Kira visits the Grand Canyon in Arizona, carved by the Colorado River over millions of years. Is it a physical feature or a human feature?
- Physical: nature made it
- Human: people visit it daily
- Physical: it is in a national park
- Human: roads lead to it
Luz boats on Lake Mead, which formed when Hoover Dam was built across the Colorado River. Is the lake a physical feature or a human feature?
- Physical: it is a lake, and lakes are natural
- Human: boats sail on it
- Human: people made it by building a dam
- Physical: rivers make lakes
Milo's family drives Interstate 64 through Charleston, West Virginia. Is the highway a physical feature or a human feature?
Drawing of a highway winding between forested hills. Drawing of a highway winding between forested hills. - Human: people built it
- Human: it has a number
- Physical: trees grow beside it
- Physical: it follows the hills
Noah writes, "Tucson is at about 32° N, 111° W." What kind of location is that?
Map of Arizona with a latitude and longitude grid and Tucson marked. Map of Arizona with a latitude and longitude grid and Tucson marked. Arizona Tucson Arizona - Absolute: it uses latitude and longitude
- Relative: it names a state
- Absolute: it names a city
- Relative: it compares Tucson with the equator
Map of West Virginia's northern panhandle between Ohio and Pennsylvania, with Wheeling marked. Pia writes, "Wheeling is in West Virginia's northern panhandle, between Ohio and Pennsylvania." What kind of location is that?
- Relative: it tells what Wheeling is near
- Absolute: it names two states
- Relative: it uses numbers
- Absolute: it names an exact spot
Ren reads, "Four Corners is where Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico meet." What kind of location is that?
Map of the four states meeting at one point. Map of the four states meeting at one point. Arizona Utah Colorado New Mexico - Absolute: four states meet at an exact point
- Relative: it uses degrees
- Relative: it names what is around it
- Absolute: it names four states
Five themes card
Location (where is it?), Place (what is it like?), Region (what area shares a feature?), Movement (how do people, goods and ideas travel?), Human–environment interaction (how do people and land affect each other?).
Tala reads, "Trains and river barges carry West Virginia coal to power plants in other states." Which theme does this show best?
- Location
- Place
- Movement
- Human–environment interaction
Ari reads, "Farmers near Phoenix water their fields through canals." Which theme does this show best?
- Region: the farms cover an area
- Movement: water travels through the canals
- Place: farms are part of the land
- Human–environment interaction: people change the land to farm