Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Landscape of a Novel

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students, after reading a novel, utilize geographic skills to map out the places described in the novel. They collect data, envision spatial features and then design a map to work off of to complete their assignment. Each student also...
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Informal Proofs of Properties of Dilations

For Teachers 8th Standards
Challenge the class to prove that the dilation properties always hold. The lesson develops an informal proof of the properties of dilations through a discussion. Two of the proofs are verified with each class member performing the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Playground Mapping

For Teachers K - 2nd
Students review their physical models of the objects on their playground at school. Using the model, they convert it into a map with a scale and key. To end the lesson plan, they use the map to locate different objects and measure the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Strawberry Girl: Lesson 3 - Trains, Sails, and Trails

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students read two chapters of Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski and complete activities about Florida's transportation history. In this literacy and economics lesson, students read two chapters of the book, talk about their journal entries,...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Creating a Map

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders examine the process of creating an accurate map, and create a map of their playground. They identify what objects are on their playground, and discuss what is found on a map. Students then draw a map of their playground...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Welina's World

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students living in Hawaii draw a picture of themselves in their neighborhood. They draw their neighborhood in relation to their district and then in relation to the island they are from. They compare their pictures to their classmates'...
Unit Plan
Curated OER

What Is El Niño?

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Students access information at remote sites using telecommunications, identify impacts by reviewing past El Ni??o events, make and use scale drawings, maps, and maps symbols to find locations and describe relationships.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Oral Language

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students use distances on a map to draw a route, give directions, and follow directions. In this map lesson plan, students explain their route and directions orally.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Cultural Maps

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders examine map elements. In small groups they create a map of an imaginary country that includes a title, legend, directional indicator, scale, boundaries, capital cities, country name, and icons of five natural resources. ...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Footprints: Take a Step into Estimation

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Compare sizes of student footprints with those of elephants and sauropod dinosaurs! Upper graders make estimations of the areas of irregular shapes; students use grids to make and explain estimates within low and high ranges.
Lesson Plan
NOAA

To Explore Strange New Worlds

For Teachers 5th - 12th
It's time to boldly go where your class has not gone before! The introductory instructional activity in a five-part series takes young oceanographers aboard the NOAA Ship Okeanos to begin a study of ocean exploration. The instructional...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Earth on the Earth

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders plot points on a graph and transfer those coordinates onto a large scale model resulting in an outline of the Western Hemisphere. They identify the major geographical landforms of the Western Hemisphere.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Navigating Your Community

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students draw a map from memory describing the route between their classroom and the gym including a legend, a compass rose, a map scale, symbols, and a landmark at every change of direction. They then retrace their steps in their maps...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Volcano Contour Models Activity

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students experiment with water levels and plastic topographic volcano models to determine the contour lines that would be used to create a topograpohic map of a volcano. They use the traced lines to actually develop the map.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Schoolyard Geology

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Discover that maps show information about an area and that they have common features like scales and legends. View an aerial map of your school and find features on the map such as the playground, roads, and trees. Trace the outline of...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Pilgrims

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students use distance measuring tools to follow directions and chart the path the pilgrims made from Plymouth, England to Boston, Massachusetts. In this Pilgrim voyage instructional activity, students use a map to chart the distance...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Flat Earth Society

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students explore map distortion. In this geography lesson, students compare Mercator projection maps to globes in order to understand the strengths and weaknesses of projection maps.
Lesson Plan
Edgate

Great Grids

For Teachers 6th - 11th
Learners use grid boxes as a measurement tool and discover how grids are used for mapmaking and scaling down an area. They begin by attempting to draw a model shape drawn by the teacher by using the gridding process. At the conclusion of...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Who's Range is it?

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students investigate the habits of panthers by analyzing radio transmitted data.  In this animal life lesson, students utilize computers to view the range of different statistics dealing with Florida panthers.  Students...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mapping Your Community

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students define the boundaries of their community by comparing the community's official boundaries with other historical, political, physical, and perceived boundaries of the area and create a community map.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mapping Potato Island

For Teachers 5th - 9th
Learners create their own topographical map using a potato. In this hands on instructional activity students construct a topographical map and explain what contour lines are using a potato.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mapping with a Compass: A Simulated Survey

For Teachers 4th
Students use compasses and grids to map the locations of artifacts found in a simulated dig site. In groups, they role-play as future archeologists excavating a school site. Groups begin at their assigned datum and site the artifacts...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

FINDING A RESOLUTION

For Teachers 6th - 11th
Students examine detailed Moon and Earth views provided by the NASA-sponsored "World Wind" computer program. They work in groups to create maps of different scales using landmarks of their choice, and challenge their classmates to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mush! Tracking Travelers on the Trail

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Students get to know Alaska and the Iditarod route that is run by dogs as they track the mushers' progress on a map that they create specifically for the race. They learn about latitude, longitude, plotting on a map, checkpoints, and...