US Geological Survey
United States Geological Survey: Topographic Maps
"Note: The information on this page is being retained for technical and historical reference only. The site is not under active maintenance and may include expired information and outdated links." This site gives an overview of the...
Enchanted Learning
Enchanted Learning: Topographic Map Activity
An activity to practice interpreting contours.
Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments: Jason: Topographic Maps What Can They Tell Us?
Rainforests at the Crossroads: Explore the topographic map of Barro Colorado Island (BCI); find the elevations of different locations and how far apart they are. Also determine the steepness of the land by observing the contour lines on...
Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments: Jason: Make a Topographic Map
Rainforests at the Crossroads: Make a topographic map of a simulated terrain, which consists of your classroom floor and two boxes of different sizes.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Geo Map App Learning Activities: Rules of Contouring
Using GeoMap software, students learn how to read topographic maps, and the rules for using contour lines on a map. Detailed teacher and student handouts are provided. (GeoMap software can be downloaded at: http://www.geomapapp.org/.)
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Topographical Maps, Contour Lines and Profiles
For this mapping field lab students determine the elevation of a given object in a designated area on the school campus using cartography tools. Then they use of these tools to create a contour map of the area.
Library of Congress
Loc: Map Collections 1500 2002
This collection provides maps dating back to 1500 up to the present. The collection includes: cities, towns, discovery and exploration, conservation and environment, military battles, cultural landscapes, transportation, communication,...
National Association of Geoscience Teachers
Serc: Mapping Potato Island
In this hands-on activity, students make a topographic map to describe the shape of a potato. They will gain an understanding of how contour lines are used to describe the shape of the land surface.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: An Investigation Into Geologic Mapping: Quarry Park
In this geology field lab, students will map an area around Quarry 12 and Quarry 13 in Quarry Park. Using a field notebook, students will take field observations to later produce a basic geologic map, topographic map, and a...
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Earth's Systems: Map It
Explore different types of maps and how different things are represented on maps in this media gallery from WGBH. Maps are used to help locate different places and different things. Map symbols are representations of larger things in the...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Mn Step: Student Created Landform Maps With Glacial Emphasis
An activity where students work together to make topographic maps of a local park. The map must include a key and the grid locations of landforms in the park.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Sandbox Modeling
Students create landforms using layers of colored sand, then construct a topographic map and a cross-section. This is an investigation that was presented to pre-service science teachers. The format would be similar with students, with...
US Geological Survey
Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation: Watershed
Explore the characteristics of a watershed through these multiple intelligences learning activities. Activities will help students define a watershed as well as read the features on a topographic map. Site also includes background...
Math Science Nucleus
Math Science Nucleus: Maps as Tools
A series of lessons in which students learn about landforms. Includes interpreting landforms, creating landforms, and information on Angel Island.
US Geological Survey
U.s. Geological Survey: Teaching About and Using Coordinate Systems [Pdf]
Provides lessons and activities for teaching about the different types of coordinate systems including the Cartesian coordinate system, the Geographic Coordinate System, the Universal Transverse Mercator grid, and the State Plane...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Choosing the Best Contours
Using GeoMapApp's interactive elevation base map, experiment to find the best contours for sensibly displaying topography in different landscape regions. Young scholars use contours in different landscape regions to find contour...
Curated OER
Educational Technology Clearinghouse: Maps Etc: South China, 1971
"South China comprises the drainage basins of the middle and lower Yangtze River, the basin of the His Chiang (West River) in Kwangtung and Kwangsi; and the mountainous coastal provinces of Fukien and Chekiang. The division between the...