Celebrate the geography of the Americas and develop map skills through a series of activities focused on the Western Hemisphere. Learners study everything from earthquakes and volcanoes of the Americas and the relationship...

This teaching packet is for grades five through eight, and it is organized around geographic themes: location, place, relationships, movement, and regions. There are four full lessons that are complete with posters, weblinks, and...

Before maps went mobile, people actually had to learn how to read maps. Pupils look at map elements in order to understand how to read them and locate specific locations. Finally, young cartographers discover how to make aerial maps.

Take out a map, a paper, a ruler, and those coveted colored pencils for a lesson on Chinese culture and geography. This is a multifaceted approach to basic geography skills that incorporate story telling, class discussion, primary source...

Put your students' map skills to the test with this engaging cross-curricular project. Given the task of developing new hiking trails for their local community, young cartographers must map out beginner and intermediate...

Young geographers travel back through time with primary source and map analysis and envision Captain John Smith's arrival at the Chesapeake Bay. 

Here are some outstanding lessons on the geology and history of the Great Lakes. These lessons are divided into Grade 4 -6, and Grade 7 - 8 activities. The activities all use the background information, maps, graphs, data, and Great...

Here is a fine lesson plan on geology designed for high schoolers. Learners use rocks, fossils, and other geological clues to determine the geology of an area. Then, they make recommendations to a fictitious city council about the...

Find five activities all about longitude and latitude! Use oranges to show the equator and prime meridian, plot birthdays on a map using coordinates, and plan a dream vacation.

Show your class how to read a map and decipher all of the markings and features. Start out by connecting maps to their homework from the night before and their current reading, in this case That Book Woman, and a related informational...

Accompany the story, Town Mouse Country Mouse by Jan Brett with an assortment of activities designed to reinforce concepts covering story structure, comprehension, grammar, and social studies. Here, scholars identify the difference...

A case study enables class members to confirm whether different geographic parts of Seattle, Washington have disproportionate environmental burdens and benefits. Groups use the EPA's Cumulative Health Impact Analysis formula and...

Extra, extra, read all about it! Use a newspaper as the primary resource in a special education classroom to teach reading, writing, and math skills. The activities help class members build their reading skills as well as their...

Young cartographers in groups hide treasure at school and then create a map to find it using pattern blocks and tiles. They make paintings with clues to create a visual representation of the location of their treasure. Groups present...

With the stroke of a pen, Thomas Jefferson roughly doubled the size of the United States. The Louisiana Purchase not only grew the new country, but also it gave rise to the legends surrounding westward expansion and accelerated the...

A case study of Seattle, Washington permits class members to compare and rank how different areas of Seattle are impacted by environment burdens. Groups investigate different zip codes, collect data on five categories, and color-code a...

After reading through Act II of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, take some time to discuss the references to death in the play. For this fishbowl discussion, learners prepare questions, practice answering individually and with...

Primary sources—even those that seem mundane—offer a window into those who experienced history. Using a Red Cross map offered to soldiers stationed in Paris after World War II alongside worksheet questions, scholars consider what life...

One of the most important skills in orienteering is being able to read a topographical map. Understanding the contour lines and symbols and the scale of the map will make planning your route so much better. In this lesson, partners get...

Is your current lesson plan for salt and freshwater literacy leaving you high and dry? If so, dive into part one of a seven-part series that explores the physical features of Earth's salt and freshwater sources. Junior hydrologists...

Young voyagers face the challenge of the wide dark sea, travel with Yunmi and Halmoni, and even get trapped by the ice as they explore the reading selections offered in these enrichment activities designed for the Houghton...

Lesson 1 of 10 lessons in this orienteering unit is about maps and map scales. After all, orienteering is all about maps, compasses, and finding ones' way around. It is imperative to be able to read maps and understand the relevance of...

Scholars warm-up their map skills with a discussion using location words to describe familiar places. An engaging video informs class members about latitude and longitude. Three leveled activities extend the learning experience for...

First graders are introduced to a variety of maps such as globes, street maps, atlases, and different types of floor plans. The focus of the lesson plan requires individuals to create their own plan of the classroom using the...