Mapping exploration
Learners rotate through mapping stations, starting to define their understanding of space and place through different modalities including geography and art literacies.
Learning Objectives
- I can name and find some features on a map.
- I can construct maps and other graphic representations of both familiar and unfamiliar places. (D2.Geo.1.3-5. C)
Essential Questions
- Where are we?
- What do we use maps for?
- How can we represent a place?
- How can maps help us make meaning of our experiences?
Lesson Plan
This will be the first lesson of the unit, Geographies of Home, where learners deepen their understanding of space through different modalities including geography and art literacies. Introduce the unit by starting an informal discussion with learners with the following questions as guides:
- Where are you?
- How could you tell people where you are?
- If you are lost, how could you find your way home?
Learners may bring up a wide range of answers to this discussion and that is precisely what we want! These questions are intentionally open ended and inevitably might lead to some learners mentioning maps, GPS, or using landmarks to orient us back home.
Share with learners that one way of orienting ourselves in a space is through mapping. Present the following slides to learners. This will provide learners with an introduction to mapping before they begin today’s stations.
Materials
- Four tubs for stations / centers (one per station, see below)
- Building 3D maps station — Legos, unifix cubes, blocks, or Magna-Tiles; minifigures or toy vehicles
- Map books station — children’s atlases and a variety of different maps
- Interactive maps station — Chromebooks or iPads with a Seesaw or Google Classroom activity linking to interactive map sites
- Map drawing station — individual whiteboards and whiteboard markers
- English classrooms (optional) — My Map Book, Sarah Fanelli
- Anchor chart
- Sticky notes
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