Adopting a Lesson Plan

The lesson I chose to adapt is called “Symbols and Legends” http://interactive2.usgs.gov/learningweb/teachers/mapadv_lesson4.htm. This lesson is geared towards K-3. What I would do is make this lesson for 4th grade students. I would use actual maps to teach the lesson as well as National Geographics Map Machine. First we would look at a world map and then move closer with a map of the United States followed by a map of New York. We would then zoom into the neighborhood of the school.

I would introduce the students to National Geographic’s map machine, http://plasma.nationalgeographic.com/mapmachine/. We would start out globally and then put in the address of the school zooming in all the way. We would focus on the road map. What would we use this type of map for? How is this different then the other maps we looked at? The goal would be to get the students to see that a road map has an everyday purpose when trying to find a specific location.

I would ask the students what features they see on this map that can help them read it properly. We would have already discussed map features like, compass rose and scale. I would have the students point out the legend and we would discuss the use of a legend and symbols.

The students would then break up into pairs and go on the website to search the neighborhood map for different locations from the legend that I will give them. They will get an understanding of how to use a neighborhood map as well as how to look at a legend.

The final project for this lesson will be to create a fictional neighborhood map with their partner. They will include a legend showing the points of interest. All streets and points of interest will be labeled. The students will make this into a game. They will make a list of items for other students to find. When all the maps are complete, the groups will switch maps and try to locate each of the items.

The lesson will last about 50 minute. The students will have time during the week to work on their maps and we will play the game at the end of the week.

NYS Social Studies Standards:

Standard 3: Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the geography of the interdependent world in which we live—local, national, and global—including the distribution of people, places, and environments over the Earth’s surface.
• draw maps and diagrams that serve as representations of places, physical features, and objects
• locate places within the local community, State, and nation; locate the Earth’s continents in relation to each other and to principal parallels and meridians (Adapted from National Geography Standards, 1994).