Post on 10-Aug-2020
GeographyAlive:EarlyStage1Geography(Unit2)
©GeographyTeachersAssociationNSW
Lesson1:Exploringmaps
Contentfocus:Inthislessonstudentsareexposedtoarangeofmaps.Itgivesstudentstheopportunitytoexplorethesemaptypesandtheirdifferentfeatures.Indoingso,studentsdiscusscollaborativelywhattheyknowaboutmapsdrawingfromtheirexistingknowledgebase.Theteacherprovidesstudentswiththeopportunitytoexpresswhattheywouldliketoknowaboutmapsandwhattypesofmapstheywouldliketolearnabout.
Resources:
• Arangeofmaps.Thesecanrangefromtreasuremaps,mapsoflocalareas,mapsofschooland/orclassroom,streetdirectories,anatlasoraGPSsystem.
• Aglobeoftheworld• Interactivewhiteboard• Amapoftheschool• AccesstoGoogleEarth• ResourceSheet1:SampleschoolmapandGoogleEarthimage• Worksheet1:Neighbourhoodmapactivity• ResourceSheet2:Vocabularycards• Enlargedteachercopyoftheneighbourhoodmap• Colourpencilsandglue
Keyinquiryquestions:• Whatisamapandwhat
aretheyusedfor?
Outcomes:Astudent:
• identifiesplacesanddevelopsanunderstandingoftheimportanceofplacestopeople
• communicatesgeographicalinformationandusesgeographicaltools.
Lessonsequence:• Step1:Introducethetopictostudentsbydisplayingacopyofamapoftheschoolontheinteractivewhiteboard.Give
studentstimetolookatitcloselyandseeiftheycanidentifyanythingthatlooksfamiliar.BringupaGoogleEarthimageoftheschool.HavethestudentscomparethemapoftheschoolandGoogleEarthimage.AskstudentsiftheycanidentifyanyofthefeaturesshowintheGoogleEarthimage.Askthestudentswhichoftheseartefactsisitamap?And,whatdoweusemapsfor?SeeResourceSheet1asanexample.
• Step2:Discusswithstudentswhatmapsareandwhattheyareusedfor.Mapsarerepresentationsoftheworldcreatedbypeoplecalledcartographerstohelppeoplelocateplaces.Mapscontaininformationforpeopletofindtheirwayfromoneplacetoanother.Theyalsodisplayfeaturessuchaslandforms,vegetation,townandcities,landuses,transportnetworksandpoliticalboundaries.Mapshaveanumberoffeaturesincommon.Anindicationofdirection,gridreferences,legends(keys),anindicationofthescalethemapisdrawnatandatitle.
• Step3:Makeavocabularywallforstudentsanddiscussthemeaningofsomeofthesewords:Features–adistinctiveaspectofsomethingDirection–Thepositiontowardswhichsomeoneorsomethinglies,movesorfacesMap–Adrawingoftheearth’ssurface,orpartofthatsurface,showingtheshapeandpositionofdifferentfeatures.Aerialview–Viewfromabove,lookingdown;alsoknownas‘bird’seyeview’Above–Aphysicalpositioninrelationtoanotherobjectorfeature–over,ontopof,higherBelow–Aphysicalpositioninrelationtoanotherobjectorfeature–Beneath,lower,furtherdownBeside–Aphysicalpositioninrelationtoanotherobjectorfeature–nextto,nearby,atthesideofPlace–Aspace,areaorspotsetapartorusedforaparticularpurpose.
GeographyAlive:EarlyStage1Geography(Unit2)
©GeographyTeachersAssociationNSW
Earth–ThenameoftheplanetweliveonLegend–ThewordswrittennexttoamapthatexplainwhatitisaboutorwhatmapsymbolsmeanSymbol–Asign,shapeorobjectthatisusedtorepresentsomethingelse
• Step4:Placearangeofmap-basedresourcesaroundtheclassroomforstudentstoexplore.Givestudentstimetoviewallthe
differenttypesofmaps.Youmayalsoliketodisplaymagnifyingglassesforstudentstouse.• Step5:Studentsreturntotheflooranddiscussthefeaturesofsomeofthemapstheylookedat.Didtheyseeanysymbols?
Legends?Wherewasthemapshowing?Showstudentsenlargedcopyofaneighbourhoodmap(Worksheet1).Discussthethingstheycanseeandcomparethesewiththingstheymightfindintheirneighbourhoods.Studentsgluetheircopyofneighbourhoodmapintotheirbookstocompleteduringnextlesson.
• Step6:ConcludelessonbyreturningtoGoogleEarth[https://www.google.com.au/earth/]andsearchanaddresstoshow
studentswheretheirhouseisonamap.