Curated OER
Exploring Hawaiian Mountain Zones
Fourth graders watch a video that describes the climate and vegetation zones of Hawaii. They describe the different physical conditions that create vegetation zones from the sea to the mountains. In groups, they create an illustrated...
Curated OER
You Are Here
Students map local places and learn to use scale and distance. In this mapping instructional activity, students map their school and a favorite place. Students recreate their maps showing distance and scale sizes. Students...
Curated OER
Lesson Ten: Direction
Students explore the concept of relative location. In this map lesson, students read I Hate English by Ellen Levine and consider how maps and globes help people to familiarize themselves with an area.
Curated OER
Flat Earth Society
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.
Curated OER
Exploring Maps: Lesson 2 Guide: Navigation
Students explore and examine how maps have been used in navigation. They research how travelers collected observations to keep track of their positions and plotted information on maps. Each student then makes a Mercator projection...
Curated OER
Garb and Grub Across the Globe
First graders discuss what part of the world their ancestors came from. They locate the locations on a map and discuss the differences and similarities of each continent and their people. They become familiar with the traditional...
Curated OER
Map Reading
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. Students create their own map of the neighborhood that...
Curated OER
Building Bridges for Young Learners -- Community
Learners compare and contrast communities.They explore factors that influence how people live, the roles of adults and children, and the interaction of people who live and work within a community. The lesson focuses on the country of...
AGSSS
World Regions
Help your learners to visualize where historical events have taken place around the globe with a map that details the major regions of the seven continents.
Curated OER
Map of the Ottawa Valley
Students locate Ottawa Valley on a map. They then answer questions in reference to the map such as: What was the first use of timber in the Ottawa Valley?, What occurred first in Gatineau?, and On the Ontario side of Ottawa River, how...
Curated OER
California Geography
Fourth graders explore geography of four distinct regions of California: mountains, coast, central valley, and desert. They locate California on map, identify state's boundaries and borders, and explore agriculture, a major economic...
Curated OER
Map Making
Learners use a tennis ball and paper to construct a student-made globe. They sketch in continents and major map features and then compare a flat map to a globe.
Curated OER
Volcanoes: Sixth Grade Lesson Plans and Activities
Bring a set of pre-lab, lab, and post-lab lesson plans on volcanoes to your earth science unit. Sixth graders explore the three types of volcanoes found on Earth, plot the specific locations of these volcanoes on a map, and...
Curated OER
Mapping My World
Students are introduced to simple maps and view a map of a classroom and compare distances of items shown.
Curated OER
Creating a Map
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...
Curated OER
Tooling Around Arizona: Reading Arizona Maps
Students study geography. In this Arizona maps lesson, students develop their map reading skills. They have class discussions and work independently with various copies of Arizona maps to practice those skills. This lesson mentions...
Curated OER
Of Maps and Worldviews
Students explore Ptolemy's world map as an expression of the Renaissance view of the world.
Curated OER
United States Map
Students compare the United States on a globe and on a map. In this map instructional activity, students relate the sizes of the continents and locate the United States. Students identify the location of the continental US as well as...
Curated OER
The Gold Rush
Students identify the routes involved in the Gold Rush on a map. In this map skills lesson, students use a United States map to locate the routes used to travel to California during the Gold Rush. Students demonstrate how to use the map...
Curated OER
Where Is Japan? How Are We Alike And Different?
First graders use literature, maps, and globes to explain how physical environments in various parts of the world are similar to and different from one's own, and that certain areas have common characteristics and can be called regions.
Curated OER
Expedition Diaries
Students select an expedition to research, form expedition teams, keep individual diaries and compare diaries at the end of the simulated expedition. A variety of source documents are utilized in this lesson.
Curated OER
What Color is the Ocean?
Students view satellite pictures of the ocean, and discuss the presence of phytoplankton and the colors of the ocean. Students compare/contrast ocean satellite images with maps and globes, then color world maps to replicate the satellite...
Curated OER
Christopher Columbus
Help first graders gain an understanding of the beginnings of our nation by learning more about Christopher Columbus. They begin by listening to a read aloud of Christopher Columbus and His Voyage to the New World (another title...