Memorable Maps

Teaching Theme of the Week

from Education World®

This "memorable maps" lesson provides students with a visual record of just how much they will learn about geography this year!

Subjects: Language Arts, Visual Arts, Social Studies

Grade Levels: preK-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12

Objectives
Students will:

• create at the start of the year a map from memory (the subject of the map depends on the focus of the social studies curriculum for your grade level); and,
• repeat the activity at the end of the year so students will have an eye-opening visual record of just how much they learned about maps and geography during the year.

Keywords
map, draw, test, United States, geography, world, state, region

Materials Needed

• drawing paper
• pencil
• colored pencils or crayons

Procedure
This lesson is a simple one that can be adapted, depending on the focus of your social studies curriculum -- whether that focus is your state, the world, the United States, your region, Canada, or any other locale. For the purpose of this activity, we will assume you are studying the world, so…

At the start of the school year, provide students with a sheet of drawing paper. Tell them they are going to make a “memorable map” -- a map of the world from memory, that is!

Remember, if you are studying your state's history, then the activity should focus on making a “memorable map” of your state. If your focus is the United States, then students will be challenged to make a “memorable map” of the United States…

Allow students a specified amount of time -- 30 to 45 minutes is recommended -- to draw the assigned map from memory. Students should include on their “memorable” world maps the continents, as many countries as they can name, names of oceans, mountain ranges, cities, and anything else they can think to include.

When students have finished their maps, make sure their names are on them, collect them, and file them away.”

Nine Months Later… At the end of a school year of studying world geography or history, and after many map experiences related to the world, students should be able to do a much better job of drawing from memory a map of the world. That is why you will repeat the “memorable map” activity that you did at the start of the year. Provide the same length of time and, when students' maps are completed, break out the maps they drew much earlier in the school year. How do the maps compare? The maps should show quite a bit of growth in students' concepts of the world. The end-of-year maps are probably much more accurate than their earlier counterparts, and they probably include many more places, bodies of water, and other features. The maps should be a visual reminder to students of just how much progress they have made.

Display the before-and-after maps for the whole school to see!

Assessment
Students will write a paragraph that expresses their reactions to the two maps.

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