Curated OER
Some Things You Need to Know to Read a Map
Young scholars study things the you need to know to read a map and explain location.
Space Awareness
Let's Map the Earth
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.
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Mapping Perceptions
Learners create and read maps. In this map skills lesson plan, students draw a map of their neighborhood, then use skills acquired during map-making to interpret a classmates map and a map of the Ming Dynasty.
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Geography and Culture of China
Take out a map, a paper, a ruler, and those coveted colored pencils for a instructional activity on Chinese culture and geography. This is a multifaceted approach to basic geography skills that incorporate story telling, class...
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Magical Maps
Second graders discuss the importance of using maps and how they are used. After they listen to a folktale, they develop their own story line maps and write their own folktale to accompany a map. They also identify and locate the seven...
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Map Making/Floor Plans/Map Reading
Young scholars apply their knowledge of scale when mapping the classroom. They determine the use of a map legend and orient a map using a compass. They create the classroom maps using transfer graph paper.
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Lesson Nine: Size and Scale
Students investigate scale as it is related to maps. In this map lesson, students read Jack and the Beanstalk by Carol North. Students then compare the setting in the story to a landscape picture map to help them study scale.
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Tooling Around Arizona: Reading Arizona Maps
Students research Arizona maps. For this map lesson, students discuss map titles, scales, directions, elevation, and symbols. The class will examine topography, landforms, and rivers found on an Arizona map.
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We're on the Map!
Students identify a variety of topographic map symbols. They make generalizations about an unidentified community by reading and interpreting map symbols.
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China Quest
Read and research information on China. Young researchers complete a knowledge hunt about China then locate and describe each location using directional words. They recognize the word meaning through context clues and application practice.
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World Projections
Learners identify map projections and examine polar maps. In this map skills lesson, students use a flat world map to identify various projections and calculate the distances between locations by using a map scale.
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What do Maps Show?
Eighth graders practice the skill of reading maps. In this geography lesson, 8th graders participate in a classroom lecture on how to read a map.
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Understanding "The Stans"
Students explore and locate "The Stans" in Central Asia to create, write and illustrate maps, graphs and charts to organize geographic information. They analyze the historical and physical characteristics of Central Asia via graphic...
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Waldseemuller's Map: World 1507
Students investigate the 1507 word map. In this world geography lesson, students examine the details of each section of the map and then draw conclusions about how the people of 1507 understood the world. Students are evalated on...
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Map the Civil War
Students explore the Civil War through original maps. In this mapping lesson, students calculate distance and show it on an original map. Students examine the type of landscape and its landmarks and draw symbols on the map.
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Where Am I? Navigating Around the Globe
Third graders review spatial sense learned in grades one and two. They measure distances using map scales. They use atlases, and on-line sources to find geographical information.
Edgate
Journal Maps
Inspire your class to look at their environments as if they were seeing them for the first time in order to gain a better understanding of the concept of perspective. After exploring their communities and keeping a journal of major...
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Drawing A Map
Students discuss any information they already know about maps. As a class, they draw a map of a park following written directions making sure to include a compass rose and key. They are graded based on a rubric and discuss the need for...
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Rivers, Maps, and Math
Students use maps to locate and label the major rivers of North and South America. Using the internet, they identify forests, grasslands, mountain ranges and other landforms on the continents as well. They compare and contrast the...
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Tracing Highs and Lows in San Francisco
On a topographic map, students identify the scale bar, north arrow, and contour interval. They then locate a hill on the map and make note of the contour lines. Students then locate other places with similar contour line patterns....
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Rivers Run Through It
Using a relief map of New York State, learners answer questions about the distance between different cities, identify bodies of water, and more. First, they discuss vocabulary related to the Hudson River area. Then, they complete a...
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Exploring the Hudson in 1609
While this lesson focuses on a study of the Hudson River, it could be used as a template for a discussion of map skills, converting measurements, and plotting a route. The lesson includes vocabulary and other resources to make it a...
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Introduction To Topographic Map Activities
Students discuss different types of maps, their similarities and differences. Using a Topographical Maps CD-rom program students create their own map.
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Map It With Pixie
Fourth graders use the computer program 'Pixie' to create a topographic, detailed map for the state they live in. In this mapping skills lesson, 4th graders use Pixie to make a map of their state that includes topographic features, state...