• 60 strips
  • Checked October 2026

Five Themes of Geography Comic Strip Ideas

One comic strip per press for location, place, human-environment interaction, movement or region, all set in the same town.

Five Themes of Geography Comic Strip Ideas

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  1. Where is the town? Two right answers1. A visitor phones: "Where exactly is your town?"2. One kid reads the latitude and longitude off a map.3. Another says, "Just north of the big lake." Both are right.Fact: Absolute location is a position given by latitude and longitude. Relative location is where a place is compared to something else.

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Location 12

  • A geographer's first question 1. A news report: something has happened in the town. 2. The geographer's first question: "Where is that?" 3. Only when a pin is in the map does she ask anything else. Fact: You have to know where something is before you can examine it geographically.
  • A treasure hunt with clue cards in two styles 1. Clue for the red team: "Ten steps east of the fountain." 2. Clue for the blue team: a letter and a number on the map grid. 3. One team paces, the other reads the grid. 4. Both reach the same bench in the square. Fact: Directions like north, south, east and west tell where one place lies relative to another.
  • The class finds home on a globe 1. A class spins the globe and stops it with a finger. 2. They count lines north from the Equator, then across from the prime meridian. 3. The finger lands on the town. Fact: Coordinates give a position relative to the Equator (latitude) and the prime meridian (longitude).
  • The classroom floor becomes a map grid 1. The class letters the floor tiles one way and numbers them the other. 2. "Where is the hamster?" "Tile C4." 3. The hamster moves, and so does the answer. Fact: A reference grid (say, latitude and longitude) gives every spot a location.
  • Directions with no street names in them 1. A new student asks the way to school. 2. "Go past the market square." 3. "Cross the bridge, then turn left at the station." 4. She arrives without hearing one street name. Fact: Describing a place by what it is near is relative location.
  • How far, which way and what is next door 1. How far: the town is a long walk from the next one. 2. Which way: that town lies to the west. 3. Next door: farms on one side, forest on the other. 4. A kid fits all three on one postcard. Fact: Location lets us describe distance, direction and what a place is next to.
  • Noon here, bedtime there 1. Noon in the town: a kid phones a cousin far to the east. 2. The cousin answers in pajamas. 3. They each describe the sky outside the window. Fact: Where Earth sits relative to the Sun shapes climate, seasons and time zones.
  • The pizza driver circles the bridge three times 1. A caller orders a pizza for "the house near the bridge." 2. The driver circles the bridge three times. 3. The caller gives the street and the house number, and the pizza arrives hot. Fact: A street address pins down an absolute location, as a pair of coordinates does.
  • Three travelers describe where the town is 1. A truck driver: "An hour off the highway." 2. A boater: "Two bends upstream of the lake." 3. A pigeon says it is just past the hill. Fact: A place has many relative locations and only one absolute location.
  • The town on a globe and on a flat map 1. On the globe the town is a dot on a curve. 2. On the wall map the same dot sits on a flat sheet. 3. A kid tries to flatten a paper ball and sees why the map had to stretch. Fact: A map projection shows the round Earth on a flat map.
  • Two towns share a name and the mail gets mixed up 1. A parcel for the town arrives in another town with the same name. 2. The mail carrier checks the coordinates of each. 3. Different numbers. The parcel is sent on to the right one. Fact: Each place on Earth has its own absolute location.
  • Where is the town? Two right answers 1. A visitor phones: "Where exactly is your town?" 2. One kid reads the latitude and longitude off a map. 3. Another says, "Just north of the big lake." Both are right. Fact: Absolute location is a position given by latitude and longitude. Relative location is where a place is compared to something else.

Place 12

  • A dot on the map comes to life 1. On the map: one black dot. 2. Closer: streets, a river, rooftops. 3. Closer still: the bakery door and the bell at four o'clock. Fact: Location is a place in space. Place is the conditions and features found there.
  • A postcard that says what the town is like 1. The front: the river, the hill and the oak woods. 2. The back: "We have a Saturday market and street signs in two languages." 3. The stamp shows the old bridge. Fact: Place is what somewhere is like: its physical features and its human ones.
  • A stranger guesses the town from clues 1. Clue: a river and a hill. "That could be anywhere." 2. Clue: a red mill and a stone bridge. "Closer." 3. Clue: the Saturday market and the song the school sings. 4. "Now I know exactly where I am."
  • Morning, noon and night by ear 1. Morning: the mill wheel and the river. 2. Noon: market sellers calling in two languages. 3. Night: frogs on the pond. Fact: Languages and work are human characteristics of a place. Animal life is a physical one.
  • Physical or human? The town is sorted into two baskets 1. Two baskets, one marked physical and one marked human. 2. Into the first go the river, the hill and the herons. 3. Into the second go the bridge, the market and the school song. 4. The mill pond: a kid holds it over both baskets and cannot decide. Fact: Physical characteristics include landforms, plants and animals. Human ones include work and languages.
  • The population sign gets repainted 1. The sign at the edge of town gives the population. 2. A baby is born, and a painter climbs a ladder. 3. The number goes up by one. Fact: Population is the number of people who live in an area.
  • The same street in four seasons 1. Spring: the river runs high under the bridge. 2. Summer: the market moves into the shade. 3. Fall: the hill turns orange. 4. Winter: smoke from every chimney. Fact: A place is a combination of features, perceptions and activities.
  • The shallow crossing that named the town 1. Long ago: travelers wade the river at a shallow spot. 2. They name the spot for the crossing. 3. Today the name is on the station sign, and the shallow spot is under the bridge. Fact: A toponym is a place name, especially one that comes from a feature of the land.
  • Site in one frame, situation in the next 1. Site: the ground under the town, beside the river. 2. Situation: pull back to show the road, the rail line and the towns around it. 3. A kid draws both on one page, a small frame inside a big one. Fact: Situation is where a place is and what surrounds it.
  • The town's work in three shop windows 1. Window one: a miller weighing flour. 2. Window two: a boat builder planing a hull. 3. Window three: a kid selling hand-drawn river maps to visitors. Fact: Economic activities are human characteristics of a place.
  • The twin town across the sea 1. Our town: a river, a mill and plenty of rain. 2. The twin town: dry hills, a market under awnings and another language. 3. The two mayors swap postcards. Fact: Every place has features that distinguish it from other places.
  • Why the town was built on this spot 1. Before the town: a river, a hill and flat ground between them. 2. Settlers choose the flat ground by the crossing. 3. A few houses, then a market. 4. A label under the last panel: the site. Fact: A site is the area of ground on which a town is built.

Human-environment interaction 12

  • A bridge where there was only a ferry 1. Before: a ferry and a long wait on the bank. 2. The town builds a bridge. 3. After: carts cross in a minute, and the ferryman opens a café. Fact: People modify the environment.
  • A hot July and what the town does about it 1. July heat on the market square. 2. Awnings go up, shutters close and work starts at dawn. 3. By evening the square is busy again. Fact: People adapt to the environment.
  • A snow day and a high-water day 1. Heavy snow: the town clears the road with plows. 2. High water: the town stacks sandbags by the bridge. 3. A kid marks both days on the classroom calendar. Fact: Environmental hazards are part of the theme.
  • Depend, adapt, modify: one river, three panels 1. Depend: the town drinks from the river. 2. Adapt: the houses nearest the bank stand on stilts. 3. Modify: a wall is built to hold back high water. Fact: The theme's three ideas are dependency, adaptation and modification.
  • Good and bad things about living by a river 1. Good: water. 2. Good: boats. 3. Bad: floods. 4. Bad: mosquitoes. The town stays anyway. Fact: The 1984 guidelines looked at the advantages and disadvantages of places for human settlement.
  • The hill gets steps 1. A slope too steep to plant. 2. The town cuts it into terraces. 3. Beans grow on every step. Fact: In the 1984 guidelines this theme was called relationships within places.
  • The mill pond that people made and ducks moved into 1. The town dams a stream to make a mill pond. 2. The mill gets its power. 3. Ducks and reeds arrive and stay.
  • The river answers back 1. The town straightens a bend in the river. 2. Next spring the water reaches a field it never reached before. 3. The farmer complains at the town hall. 4. The town plants willows along the new bank. Fact: The theme asks how people act on the environment and how the environment responds.
  • The river does three jobs before lunch 1. The river turns the mill wheel. 2. The river waters the gardens. 3. The river carries the boats to market. Fact: People depend on the environment.
  • Three generations fetch water 1. Grandmother's day: water carried up from the river in buckets. 2. Mother's day: a pump in the square. 3. Today: a tap in every kitchen, and a water bill. Fact: The role of technology is part of the theme.
  • What should go on the empty field? 1. An empty field by the river. 2. One group wants a workshop and the jobs it would bring. 3. One group wants the frogs and the reeds left alone. 4. The meeting ends with a plan that has some of both. Fact: The theme includes weighing economic growth against protecting the environment.
  • Why the houses look the way they do 1. Steep roofs, so the snow slides off. 2. Thick walls, to keep out the summer heat. 3. A porch that faces the river, for the breeze.

Movement 12

  • A new game arrives by bus 1. A cousin from the city steps off the bus with a new game. 2. By Friday the whole schoolyard is playing it. 3. A month later the cousin's city is playing the town's version.
  • A red line and a blue line cross at the bridge 1. A kid traces her day in red: home, school, market, home. 2. Her father's day in blue: home, station, city, home. 3. The two lines cross at the bridge. Fact: Movement in everyday life is part of the theme.
  • The mill waits for a part from far away 1. A part breaks at the mill. It was made in another country. 2. The new one comes by ship, then train, then truck. 3. Meanwhile the bakery in the next town waits for flour. Fact: Global interdependence is part of the theme.
  • New neighbors by the bridge 1. A moving truck at the house by the bridge. 2. The new neighbors share a dish nobody here has tasted. 3. The school adds a word to its wall of hellos. 4. By winter the street has a new favorite supper. Fact: A person's travel from place to place is movement, and so is what they do when they get there.
  • One raindrop goes around 1. Rain falls on the hill. 2. A stream carries it to the river and under the bridge. 3. The sea, a cloud, and the hill again. Fact: The water cycle is one of the movements geography studies.
  • People, goods and ideas cross the bridge 1. People: a family moving in with a cart of furniture. 2. Goods: a truck of oranges for the market. 3. Ideas: a kid on a bike whistling a song from the radio. Fact: Movement means people, goods and ideas going from place to place.
  • The road that changed the market 1. Before: one dirt road, and a market for locals only. 2. A highway is built nearby. 3. Trucks stop, and a gas station and a diner open. 4. The Saturday market now sells things nobody in town makes. Fact: Transportation routes show plainly how places are related.
  • The same hello, faster each time 1. Great-grandmother's hello: a letter. 2. Grandfather's hello: a phone call. 3. Today's hello: a message, there before the sender has put the phone down. Fact: Inventions like the airplane and the Internet move things long distances in a short time.
  • The train station at eight in the morning 1. Workers leave town for the city. 2. Students arrive from the villages. 3. Parcels come off the mail car. Fact: Places are connected by movement.
  • What leaves town 1. Flour from the mill goes out by truck. 2. Boats from the yard go out by river. 3. A postcard goes out in a mailbag. Fact: In the 1984 guidelines this theme was called relationships between places.
  • Where did breakfast come from? 1. A kid's breakfast table. 2. The bananas: a ship, then a truck. 3. The bread: wheat from the farms outside town, ground at the mill. 4. A map on the wall with a string from each food to where it began.
  • Why people come and why they go 1. A job at the boatyard brings a family in. 2. A college in the city takes a teenager out. 3. A festival brings a crowd for one day. 4. On Monday the town is its usual size. Fact: Economic factors influence movement.

Region 12

  • A red line around what is alike 1. A map of farms: some grow apples, some grow wheat. 2. A kid loops a red line around all the apple farms. 3. She labels it: the apple region. Fact: A formal region is made of places where conditions are alike.
  • A region inside a region inside a region 1. The neighborhood by the bridge. 2. The town. 3. The valley. 4. The country. A kid draws them as boxes inside boxes. Fact: Geography's basic units are regions, big or small.
  • Arrows from every village to the Saturday market 1. The Saturday market in the middle of the map. 2. An arrow from every village whose people shop there. 3. A line around the arrow tails. Fact: A functional region is organized around a focal point.
  • Everywhere the river's water comes from 1. Rain on the far hills. 2. Streams join the river above the town. 3. One line drawn around all of it. Fact: A functional region can form around a flow, such as the water of a river basin.
  • The last stop on every bus line 1. The town's bus routes spread out like spokes. 2. A dot at the last stop on each line. 3. Join the dots: the region the town serves. Fact: A metropolitan area is a functional region.
  • One forecast for six towns 1. A forecaster points to one patch of the map. 2. Six towns under it get the same rain. 3. The town on the far side of the mountains gets sun. Fact: Climate and vegetation are physical characteristics that can define a region.
  • The pear farmer in the apple region 1. The apple region on the map, shaded solid red. 2. Closer: one farm growing pears. 3. The pear farmer waves. Fact: No region is completely the same throughout.
  • Three maps that do not match 1. Map one: the school district. 2. Map two: the pizza delivery zone. 3. Map three: where the town's newspaper is sold. 4. Laid on top of each other, three different outlines. Fact: A region can be defined by government or language, or by forests, wildlife or climate.
  • The town wears three hats 1. Hat one: it is in the river valley, a region of land. 2. Hat two: it is in a county, a region of government. 3. Hat three: it is in the area where people say hello the same way. Fact: A region is an area with common features, physical or human.
  • Two shadings that almost match 1. A map shaded where people share a language. 2. A second map shaded where they share a government. 3. Held up to the window together, the two shadings almost match. Fact: A region can share more than one trait, such as a language and a government.
  • The valley and the coast trade lunch boxes 1. The valley: farms, a river, slow trains. 2. The coast: ports, fish, ferries. 3. Two kids trade lunch boxes and taste each other's region. Fact: Regions help us make sense of human diversity.
  • Where does the valley end? 1. A kid asks where "the valley" stops. 2. The baker: "At the last farm." 3. The bus driver: "At the tunnel." 4. The county line on the map is as sharp as a ruler. Fact: A region's borders may be sharp and well defined, or vague.

How it works

These five themes of geography comic strip ideas all happen in one town with a river, a bridge, a hill and a market. Each strip shows one theme and gives a beat for every panel. Swap in your own town.

Read the full guide

The five themes

Location is where a place is, by coordinates or by what it is near. Place is what it is like. Human-environment interaction is how people depend on, adapt to and change their surroundings. Movement is people, goods and ideas traveling. Region is an area with something in common.

One town, five views

Every strip uses the same town, so five strips, one from each theme, read as one project. A strip of 3 panels shows one idea; longer ones compare two things or follow a change.

  • Draw the bridge, the hill and the mill the same way in every strip, so readers know it is one town.
  • Rename the river, the market and the school after the ones where you live.
  • Letter the theme's name in a corner of the first panel, so five strips are easy to tell apart.

Questions and answers

What are the 5 themes of geography?

Location, place, human-environment interaction, movement and region. They were published in 1984 in the Guidelines for Geographic Education as a way for teachers to organize geography lessons.

How do you make a comic strip about the five themes of geography?

Pick one place and draw a short strip for each theme, each with a small story: a visitor asks the way, a postcard describes the town, the river floods, a truck brings oranges, a red line goes around the apple farms.

What is the difference between location and place?

Location is a position: coordinates, an address, or north of the lake. Place is what you find there: landforms, plants and animals, and human features such as work and languages.

What is an example of human-environment interaction?

A town that drinks from a river depends on it. Houses raised on stilts beside the river adapt to it. A wall built to hold back floods modifies it. Depend, adapt and modify are the theme's three ideas.

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