Geography · 7th Grade

Active learning ideas

The Five Themes of Geography: Location & Place

Active learning works especially well for location and place because these concepts are abstract until students physically manipulate maps, compare locations, and describe surroundings. Moving from textbook definitions to hands-on tasks helps students internalize that location is a coordinate or a reference point while place is the living, changing identity of that spot.

• Common Core State Standards
• C3: D2.Geo.2.6-8

• 20–40 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

• Think-Pair-Share
• 20 min · Pairs

Think-Pair-Share: Your School's Location vs. Place

Students first look up the absolute location of their school (latitude and longitude) and record it. They then independently list five characteristics that define its sense of place. Pairs compare lists, sort characteristics into physical vs. human categories, and discuss which characteristics would change if the school moved one mile away and which would stay the same.

How does the concept of 'place' differ from the concept of 'location'?

Facilitation Tip

During the Think-Pair-Share, supply a large wall map so students can point to their school’s location while discussing its place characteristics.

What to look for

Provide students with a map showing two cities. Ask them to write one sentence describing the absolute location of City A and one sentence describing the relative location of City B to City A. Then, ask them to list one physical and one human characteristic for City A.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Awareness
• Relationship Skills

Activity 02

• Gallery Walk
• 30 min · Small Groups

Gallery Walk: World Places

Stations feature photographs and brief descriptions of contrasting places: a high-altitude Andean village, a coastal megacity, a Great Plains farming town, a Saharan oasis settlement, and a Scandinavian fjord community. Groups identify physical and human characteristics at each station, sort them into location-based vs. place-based attributes, and discuss which characteristics would attract settlers and which would challenge them.

Analyze how relative location influences a region's economic development.

Facilitation Tip

In the Gallery Walk, display printed images at eye level so students can stand back and observe both physical and human details before jotting notes.

What to look for

Pose the question: 'How might the relative location of a port city influence its economic development differently than an inland city?' Facilitate a class discussion, encouraging students to use vocabulary like 'trade routes,' 'access to markets,' and 'transportation costs'.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Create
• Relationship Skills
• Social Awareness

Activity 03

• Jigsaw
• 40 min · Small Groups

Jigsaw: Relative Location and Economic Development

Groups each research one historically significant trading city (Venice, Timbuktu, Singapore, Chicago, or New Orleans) with a focus on how relative location explains why it became economically important. Groups report back and the class constructs a generalization about how relative location and economic development connect.

Differentiate between the physical and human characteristics that define a specific place.

Facilitation Tip

For the Jigsaw, assign each expert group a different region so relative location descriptions vary enough to spark classroom comparisons.

What to look for

Display images of different places (e.g., a desert, a rainforest, a bustling city). Ask students to write down two physical characteristics and two human characteristics for each place shown. Review responses to check for understanding of the distinction.

• Understand
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Relationship Skills
• Self-Management

Activity 04

• Role Play
• 25 min · Pairs

Role Play: The Place Description Challenge

Students take the role of a journalist writing a 60-second radio segment describing a city using only place characteristics but not the city's name or coordinates. Partners listen and try to identify the city, then give feedback on whether the description used physical and human characteristics accurately and distinctly.

How does the concept of 'place' differ from the concept of 'location'?

Facilitation Tip

During the Role Play, give each student a simple prop (a hat, scarf, or tool) that matches their assigned place to make the human characteristics tangible.

What to look for

Provide students with a map showing two cities. Ask them to write one sentence describing the absolute location of City A and one sentence describing the relative location of City B to City A. Then, ask them to list one physical and one human characteristic for City A.

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Social Awareness
• Self-Awareness

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teachers often begin with concrete examples students already know—their school or neighborhood—before moving to global examples. They avoid overloading students with too many place traits at once, focusing first on the clearest physical and human contrasts. Research shows that pairing verbal descriptions with visual evidence builds stronger mental models than either method alone.

By the end of these activities, students should confidently distinguish absolute location from relative location and list both physical and human characteristics that give a place its unique identity. They should also recognize that places change over time while absolute coordinates stay fixed.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During Think-Pair-Share, watch for students who swap location and place terms when describing their school, e.g., saying ‘Our school is near the river’ when they mean the school is next to the river but the river itself is a place characteristic.

  Prompt them to reread their notes and circle the word ‘near’ as their relative location phrase, then underline ‘river’ as a physical place characteristic to clarify the difference.

• During the Jigsaw, listen for groups claiming that absolute location alone determines economic success, ignoring relative advantages.

  Ask each group to trace shipping routes on their map and calculate distance to nearest ports, then revisit their claim about why the place boomed.

• During the Role Play, notice students describing a place as if its human features were fixed forever, e.g., ‘People here only speak French,’ when many cities are now multilingual.

  Prompt students to add a modern twist—for example, ‘Today a quarter of residents speak Spanish’—so they practice updating place identities.

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Methods used in this brief

• Think-Pair-Share
• Gallery Walk
• Jigsaw
• Role Play