Lesson Plan
Curated OER

As the Kids Come and Go: Mapping a Classroom

For Teachers K - 2nd Standards
Map the classroom with your kids to help them understand how maps work and how to read them. The lesson plan starts off with a story about animals living and moving around the globe, and then kids create maps of their classroom to show...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Countries of the World

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students define the meaning of the word country. In this countries of the world map lesson, students identify boundaries, countries, and symbols within countries on the map. Students distinguish the words country and continent.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Walk Around the School: Mapping Places Near and Far

For Teachers K - 1st
After reading Pat Hutchins’ Rosie’s Walk, have your young cartographers create a map of Rosie’s walk. Then lead them on a walk around the school. When you return class members sequence the walk by making a list of how the class got from...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Where Am I, and How Do I Get Where I am Going?

For Teachers 2nd - 6th
Learners describe geographical places through art, music, writing, and math. They compile information in booklets which may be published.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Globe Lesson 4 - Intermediate Directions

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students explore the concept of intermediate directions. In this geography skills lesson, students use map skills in order to identify intermediate directions as they complete a map activity.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Using Four Main Directions in the Classroom

For Teachers 1st - 5th
Students identify the four cardinal directions. In this map skills geography instructional activity, students use a magnetic compass to label the four directions in the classroom. Students use the four directions to locate objects in the...
Worksheet
Curated OER

The Roman Empire-Map Activity

For Students 5th - 7th
In this Roman Empire worksheet, learners complete a map activity in which they label and color civilizations, countries and physical features as instructed. There are no maps included.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

North, South, East, or West

For Teachers K - 5th
Students participate in a game to learn cardinal directions. In this map skills instructional activity, students move around the room using cardinal directions.
Activity
Big History Project

Human Migration Patterns

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
Humans have been on the move for millennia. Using an article from The Smithsonian, pupils chart human movement before written history on a world map. In addition, they examine the modes of transportation used by different waves of human...
Unit Plan
Latin America Network Information Center

Urbanization

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Brazil's population has been changing dramatically in the last century. Study the causes of Brazilian urbanization, including industrialization and and migration, and the implications for the country of the populations'...
Lesson Plan
NOAA

Into the Deep

For Teachers 4th - 7th Standards
Take young scientists into the depths of the world's ocean with the second lesson of this three-part earth science series. After first drawing pictures representing how they imagine the bottom of the ocean to appear, students...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

European Elevation Sort

For Teachers 6th
Given a prepared database of European countries, sixth graders sort the countries in ascending order by elevation and identify the five countries with the highest elevations. This cross-curricular lesson combines elements of computer...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

India and Pakistan: Rivals from Birth

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders, after being divided into two groups, are assigned either Pakistan or India. They conduct research using the Internet, reference books, and magazines. The class compares and contrasts the two countries to find sources of...
Lesson Plan
NET Foundation for Television

1850-1874 Homestead Act Signed: The Challenges of The Plains

For Teachers 4th - 12th Standards
Start a whole new life in a land known as the Wild Wild West! Learners analyze maps, personal accounts, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, songs, and video clips to uncover life under the Homestead Act. Using their new skills, class members role...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Charting Neptune's Realm:

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students explore how to construct and interpret maps and globes and find information about people, places, regions, and environments.
Unit Plan
Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies

Schoolyard Biodiversity Investigation Educator Guide

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
In 1980, in the tropical rainforests of Panama, scientists discovered 1,200 species of beetles living in and around just 19 trees, with most of the species new to science—that's biodiversity! In the activity, learners work in teams to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Equator, North Pole, and South Pole

For Teachers K - 3rd
Pupils identify the Equator, North Pole, and South Pole on the globe. In this map skills lesson, students use a globe marker to locate specific locations on the globe. Pupils find where they live in relation to the Equator.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Countries of the World

For Teachers K - 3rd
Students identify countries on a world map. In this map skills lesson, students define the word "country" and use post-it notes to locate several countries on a world map.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Geography And The Gulf War

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students develop maps, tables, graphs, charts, and diagrams to depict the geographic implications of current world events, and analyze major human conflicts to determine the role of physical and cultural geographic features in the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Maps Can Help Us

For Teachers 1st
First graders explore the geography of Montana by analyzing geographic maps of the area. In this Native American reservation lesson, 1st graders discuss the similarities and differences between reservations in the state of Montana....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Where is the Trail? The Journey of Lewis and Clark

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers explore the trail followed by Lewis and Clark on their journey across the United States. For this United States History lesson, students complete several activities to establish the Lewis and Clark Expedition, including...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lewis and Clark and Native Americans, Part II

For Teachers 6th - 10th
Students research the Native Americans living in the regions explored by Lewis and Clark. They identify the modern-day names of sites claimed by the Lakota Indians, and create a poster of the original Native American names.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Let's Build a Map

For Teachers K
Students gain an understanding of maps while studying the map of the Louisiana Purchase and the trail of Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery. They demonstrate understanding of maps by creating a basic classroom map.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Lewis and Clark Expedition

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd
Students explore the challenges of the Lewis and Clark Expedition through a physical education simulation. In this cross-curriculum physical education lesson, students work in groups of three to log 8000 steps, stopping to participate in...