Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Where Is Japan? What Direction Is It?

For Teachers 1st
First graders locate countries on maps and globes and learn about the hemispheres and the cardinal directions. They listen to books read out loud and dicuss geography.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Kid Maps: Reading and Creating Maps with Human Characteristics

For Teachers 1st - 3rd
Students look at maps. In this map lesson plan, students listen to the book My Map Book by Sara Fanelli and they see the difference between human characteristics (buildings, etc.) and natural characteristics (rivers, etc.)....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

SpellO': An Orienteering Lesson

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Students participate in hands-on activities to practice orienting maps. Given activity cards, students accurately read maps and locate specific stations. Students collect information from the maps to spell a message when the activity...
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...
Interactive
National Constitution Center

Explore Rights Around the World

For Students 8th - 12th Standards
How has the American Bill of Rights influenced the rest of the world? An interactive web activity helps individuals see the similarities between countries' bills of rights. A text-to-text tool compares the American Bill of Rights to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Endangered Ecosystems

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Reading comprehension and note-taking skills are practiced as young ecologists embark on this journey. Explorers visit a website where they will read about three ecosystems that are in danger. They use interactive programs to build a...
Worksheet
Curated OER

Parallels and Meridians

For Students 4th - 5th
In this parallels and meridians learning exercise, students read about parallels and meridians and answer questions about lines of latitude and longitude. Students complete 8 problems.
Unit Plan
Curated OER

Where in the Latitude Are You? A Longitude Here.

For Teachers 5th
Students distinguish between latitude and longitude on the map. In this mapping lesson, students participate in mapping skills to recognize spatial relationships, and where to find natural resources on the map. Students create...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

New: Around the World

For Teachers 1st
First graders identify and demonstrate how symbols and models are used to represent features of the environment. They use a map and a globe to label where the students in the book came from, point out the continent, and show which ocean...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

United States Map- Rivers

For Teachers 2nd - 5th
Students learn about rivers. In this maps lesson, students describe rivers and what human activities take place in a river. Students use a map to locate the rivers in the United States.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Leapin' Landmarks: Locating 10 Man-made Landmarks Around the World

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders label continents, oceans, and major mountain ranges on maps and use the maps to write an informational report about landmarks. In this landmarks lesson plan, 3rd graders write about 1 major landmark.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Three Mapping Activities

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students label three maps of China after being introduced to background information about the country. In this geography lesson, students color two maps and label various points of interest in China. Finally, students draw...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Seasons and Cloud Cover, Are They Related?

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students use NASA satellite data to see cloud cover over Africa.  In this seasons lesson students access data and import it into Excel. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

World Map and Globe - Four Main Directions

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd
Students study the four main directions on a map. In this map instructional activity, students locate the North and South pole, and learn the four cardinal directions. They use the compass rose on a map to help with the directions. (Map...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Day to Day Life in a Small African Village

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Students analyze what it is like to live in an African village. They locate Tanzania on a map and compare life there to life here in the United States. They write about the health issues in East Africa.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Solving the Puzzle

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students create a map showing the United States borders at a specific period in history and produce three questions to be answered by examining the map. They also write a productive paragraph explaining who, what, when, where, how/why a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Our City

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders familiarize themselves with the town they live in by practicing their imagination, library research and writing skills.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Welcome to My World!

For Teachers 1st - 2nd
Learners use maps to locate information. They read the story, "It Looked Like Spilt Milk", view images of the continents and discuss the various continents. Afterward, they make their own Atlas to record information that they can later...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Cardinal Directions

For Teachers 1st
First graders study cardinal directions on maps. In this geography lesson, 1st graders determine and show where North, South, East, and West are on various maps.
Lesson Plan
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media

Continental Differences

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Students break into groups and closely investigate primary sources associated with the seven different continents. After deciding which continent their primary sources relate to, representatives from each group present their...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Where Is Japan? How Far Is That?

For Teachers 1st
First graders use literature and hands-on activities with maps and globes to explain distance and tools used to measure distance. They select tools to measure various objects in the classroom, then apply those concepts to their map...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Put Me in My Place: Using Alphanumeric Grids to Locate Places

For Teachers 1st - 2nd
Learners practice locating points on a large wall grid and create and label a neighborhood map. For this geography lesson, students spell and discuss places as the teacher places them on the map. They discuss the concept of an...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Nina Bonita: Culture and Beauty

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd
Pupils read Nina Bonita by Ana Maria Machado. For this reading comprehension/ geography lesson, students recall various parts of the story and create a map of where the rabbit traveled throughout the story. They participate in group...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Map Reading

For Teachers 1st - 4th
After examining a map from 1803 and 2003, they explore how to become map readers. They describe what they see on the map from 1803 and compare the information to the map from 2003. Young scholars create their own map of the neighborhood...