Addressing the issues of knowledge fragmentation and superfi cial cognitive levels in the cultivation of regional cognition within senior high school geography, this study constructs a thematic teaching model centered on the core elements of“objective–theme–context–inquiry–evaluation,”based on constructivist learning theory and geography teaching methodology. This model deconstructs regional cognition into four dimensions: knowledge, methods, abilities, and concepts. Using the typical geographical phenomenon of the“tidal tree”—which features both regional representativeness and instructional extensibility—as a carrier, the teaching is systematically implemented through a progressive pathway of“context introduction–regional exploration–thematic inquiry–cognitive construction–thematic transfer.”Evaluation data and qualitative analysis based on performance assessment rubrics demonstrate that this model facilitates the hierarchical development of students’regional cognition competence. Furthermore, it realizes a cognitive progression from knowledge comprehension to concept formation, providing an operable implementation pathway and a process-oriented evaluation tool for competenceoriented classroom teaching.