With Mount Everest as the motivator, your earth science class learns about topographic maps. Begin by showing a film clip from The Wildest Dream: Conquest of Everest, featuring fearsome virtual imagery of a path up world's tallest...

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...

How is the wind up there? The class builds a topography model using materials available in the classroom, then place wind flags in different locations on the landscape. Using a fan as a wind source, pupils collect data about how wind...

Students construct a topographic map of the Denali National Park. They identify different elevations and record historic landmarks in student science journals.

Here is a fine lesson plan on geology designed for high schoolers. Learners use rocks, fossils, and other geological clues to determine the geology of an area. Then, they make recommendations to a fictitious city council about the...

Students participate in an activity that replicates the creation of sea floor bathymetry by taking a simplified form of soundings in the classroom. They discuss sea floor mapping technologies, sonar, soundings, and remote sensing,...

Students create a 3-D topographic map.  In this map building instructional activity, students use cardboard to create a topographic map of the Catskills mountain region.

Students read and use topographical maps. They also use a compass to find bearing to an object on a map and in the classroom. Ask your students how they might travel to somewhere they have never been to befo

Students compare and contrast topographic maps and bathymetric maps. They investigate how bathymetric maps are made and how to interpret one.

Fourth graders study topography maps and learn the importance of their contour lines.  In this map lesson students create their own topography map. 

Eighth graders examine the importance of battlefield preservation.  In this US History lesson, 8th graders participate in a virtual tour of battle sites.  Students create a map of Gettysburg to see the topography of the battle...

Students use maps to discover where Puerto Rico is located. In groups, they use the internet to research the vegetation. They also compare and contrast the relationship between the United States and Puerto Rico's government.

Students examine photos, a poster, maps and an article series by National Geographic to determine characteristics of glaciers and the process of glaciation. They both answer guided questions and develop their own questions about the...

Young scholars research Arizona maps. In 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.

Eleventh graders explain the topographical and geographical makeup of Deerfield. They explain the Massachusetts section of the Connecticut River Valley is located in the bed of glacial Lake Hitchcock, which contributes to its being a...

Students 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 longitude,...

Students practice measurement using the Hudson River. They calculate the discharge measurement at a location on the Hudson River using ingenuity and a topographic map.

Students examine and study the routes of trailblazers. In this American history instructional activity, students find a route on a map and compare that to the route of trailblazers. Students will then compare that map with a...

Students design a train route using a topographical map. In this historical and spatial thinking lesson plan, students must plan a route through the Sierra Nevada mountains that a train could physically travel. Links to printable student...

Students examine the impact of sea level on land formations. In this geography and map lesson, students construct a contour map model illustrating how much of the clay "coastline" is covered as water is added. Metric measurement is...

Students build a map of the Atlantic Ocean floor and mark the different depths.  For this ocean floor lesson students identify parts of the ocean floor that they created and discuss patterns that they see.

Students explore South Carolina. In this cultural heritage lesson plan, students investigate the topography of South Carolina using maps. Students are engaged in identifying the different regions of the state and examine the cultural...

Middle schoolers focus on the geography of the countries of South America. Using a map, they identify the European countries who claimed the South American countries and research the influences they had on South America. To end the...

Pupils draw the lines of longitude and latitude on a map. Students look at a topographical maps to see how topography relates to land use.