TED-Ed
A Digital Reimagining of Gettysburg
Why would Robert E. Lee order Pickett's Charge, an action that changed the course of the Civil War? Geographer and historian Anne Knowles uses digital technology to explain what she thinks is the missing piece in trying to understand...
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Topographic Maps
Sometimes it is difficult to grasp topographic maps. Here is a clever presentation designed to help your middle school earth scientists understand. Beginning with a side view of a pair of mountains, a graphic guy walks up one slope. As...
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Volcano Contour Models Activity
Young scholars 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.
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Layers with Lines
Students examine topographical maps and the challenges faced by cartographers when drawing the maps. While creating collages, they use contour lines to add dimension much in the same way they are used on maps to show elevation.
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Contour Map Worksheet #2
Following a contour map of a hill, a stream, and the ocean, are five multiple choice questions. Earth science enthusiasts determine elevation, direction of water flow, distance, and steepness. They also match the map to a selection of...
Curated OER
Topographic Maps
Your choice of hands-on topographic mapping tasks is provided in this resource. From actual map-making to viewing and interpreting stereographic photos, the activities are sure to succeed. To make the most of this lesson plan, you will...
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Under the Sea
Tropical fish are a great subject for any art project, they are colorful, interesting, and can go along with under water themed stories read in class, learner written narratives, or Marine Biology units. This set of instructions will...
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Introducing Topographic Maps: Guiding Students from Concrete Models to Graphic Representations
Students interpret topographic maps and infer human activity as it is influenced by the landscape.
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Contour Map Worksheet #3
Earth scientists answer five multiple choice questions about the topographical map atop the worksheet. Use this as a quick assessment of understanding after having taught how to read contour lines and topographic maps.
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Identifying Watersheds with Topographic Maps
Middle schoolers model a watershed and delineate one using topographic maps. In this hydrology lesson, students use aluminum foil to model a landscape and observe how water moves on it. They also observe the features of a topographic map...
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Topographic Maps
In this topographic map worksheet, learners learn how to read a topographic map and create a topographic map of their own using clay or Play-Doh. Students include contour lines by layering the clay. Learners answer 6 questions about...
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Creating a Topographic Map
In this topographic map worksheet, students add contour lines to a topographic map using instructions provided. Once topographic map is finished, students complete 2 follow-up short answer questions.
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Topographic Mapping Skills
For this geography worksheet, students read an excerpt about topographic maps and why they are useful for various jobs. They also respond to eleven questions that follow related to the excerpt and locating specific map points on the map...
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MAPS AND TOPOGRAPHY
Students analyze the details of a topographic map and create one of their own by utilyzing a map of elevations.
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Common Themes
Tenth graders test usefulness of a model Earth by comparing its predictions to observations in the real world. In this landforms lesson students construct an island from a contour map using model clay then analyze the landscape features...
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"Potato Mountain": Reading/Understanding Topographic Maps
Pupils investigate how to read topographic maps. In this map reading lesson students complete a topographic map activity.
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Introduction to Topographic Maps
Tenth graders create a topographic map and see how it represents different elevations. In this topographic maps lesson students read and interpret topographic maps.
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Gilligan's Island
Students investigate topographical maps and match actual landforms to them. In this topographical maps lesson students create "Gilligan's Island" to scale then answer questions about it such as what the highest elevations is and what...
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Lesson Design Archaeology- USGS Maps
Students research USGS maps and identify the major features. In this map skills activity, students identify low and high elevations on a USGS map and practice finding latitude and longitude.
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Contour Map
In this contour map worksheet, students create 3 different contour maps by highlighting all the data points with the same value and connecting the dots.
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Topographic Map Unit Plan
High schoolers examine topographic maps and discover how to decipher contour intervals, use contour lines and apply information to complete a topographic map lab. Working in groups, they identify the scale of the map, latitude and...
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What do Maps Show?
Seventh graders practice reading maps. In this geography lesson, 7th graders compare a topographical map to a picture of the actual place.
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Building a Topographic Map from Benchmarks
In this map worksheet, students draw a topographic map using benchmark points. They draw contour lines showing 20 foot intervals.
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Computer Enhanced Contour Line Drawing
Students practice drawing contour lines using a computer program. Using the lines, they use them in a photo scanned onto the same computer with a photo-editing option. They change the colors and textures of the photo and turn it in to...