Social Studies
Activity Worksheet
GRADE LEVEL: / FirstCourse Title: / Family and School
Strand: / II. Geography
Topic: / Location, Movement, and Connections
Grade Level Standard: / 1-7 Identify location, movement, and connections.
Grade Level Benchmark: / 1. Identify locations of significance in their immediate
environment and explain reasons for their location. (II.3.EE.1)
Learning Activity(s)/Facts/Information
1. Brainstorm why we need a bathroom in our classroom or down the hall. What else do we need close by? Why? Then branch out to the whole school. Why do we need the playground close by and not across the street or down the block, etc.?2. Making a School Map (activity attached)
3. Reading a School Map (activity attached)
4. Mapping the Surrounding Area (activity attached) /
Resources
New Vocabulary: Environment
Making a School Map
SS010404
ABSTRACT
In this lesson, children review the purpose of maps. They learn that maps are made from a bird’s eye view, show cardinal directions, and feature legends identifying the map symbols. The children create a map of their school including the classrooms, hallways, offices, bathrooms, and other rooms of the school. They label the rooms with map symbols and create a legend to identify them.
SUBJECT AREA: Social Studies
Grade Level and Course Title: First Grade/Family and School
UNIT OF STUDY: Getting Around at School
BENCHMARK
Identify locations of significance in their immediate environment and explain reasons for their location (II.3.EE.1).
KEY CONCEPTS
legend
map symbol
INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES
Equipment/Manipulative
Aerial view of the school (or aerial sketch)
A street or state map
Dollhouse with removable top.
Easel paper
Map templates of an apartment:
Map templates of the school (including the classrooms, offices, hallways, bathrooms, lunchrooms, etc.) with the direction, north labeled with an N. The original can be created out of 11 x 17 inch sheets of paper and photocopied. Create a box on the reverse side to be used for the legend. (One per child)
Symbol stickers of the classroom. Depending on the number of rooms in your school, determine how many of each symbol you need per child. These can be created by printing out the symbols using clip-art on label stickers, or they can be hand-drawn.
(You can access the website www.1clipart.com or other clip art websites for examples).
Student Resource
Leedy, Loreen. Mapping Penny's World. New York: Henry Holt, 2000.
Sequence of Activities
1. In the large group setting, show the children a street or state map and ask, what it is and what it is used for. Establish that maps are like pictures of areas which help you get to places or know where things are located. Have the children volunteer examples of occasions they or their families have used a map.
2. Show the children the legend on the map and ask for suggestions regarding its purpose. Guide the children to understand that a legend helps us understand the map. The legend can be color-coded or use symbols so the map does not have to be labeled. Point out each symbol in the legend and ask the children to approach the map and find where it appears on the actual map.
3. Next, use a picture drawn ahead of time on a large sheet of paper of the school and its surrounding streets and/or other buildings from a side view. Ask the children if your drawing of the school is a map. Guide the children to understand that it is similar to a map, but there is one major difference: the drawing is not created from a bird’s eye view. Maps are created from a bird’s eye view because more land can be viewed from a bird’s eye view. Ask the children what part of the school they would see from a bird’s eye view (the roof). As the children watch, re-create your drawing of the school with the buildings and trees from a bird’s eye view. Explain that even maps of small areas are made from a bird’s eye view.
4. Show the children the dollhouse. Have them take turns in small groups approaching the dollhouse looking at it from a bird’s eye view. Ask them if they can see what the inside of the dollhouse looks like from a bird’s eye view. Ask the children how they could see the inside of the dollhouse. Take the top (roof) off the dollhouse and observe the rooms. Tell the children that maps of buildings and rooms are often created without the roofs/ceilings so that the floor plan can be viewed.
5. The next day, have the children create their own maps of the school. Review with them the criteria for a map; bird’s eye view and a legend. Show the children the map template and direct them to label each type of room with a symbol. Ask the children to list the various types of rooms in the building: classrooms, offices, hallways, bathrooms, lunchrooms, etc. Ask the children to suggest symbols for each type of room. Tell them that you have pre-determined the symbols since it would take awhile for them to create each symbol. Show the page of symbols and ask the children to determine what each symbol is. Tell the children that as they make these maps, place a map symbol sticker in each of the classrooms to indicate the type of room it is.
6. During small group or center time, distribute blank school maps, a clipboard, and a page of sticker symbols to each child. Tell them to fold the map in half and attach it to the clipboard. Explain that when making a map, it’s a good idea to observe all the areas covered on the map. Take a tour with the children around the school. In each area of the school, ask the children to identify the type of area it is and find the appropriate symbol to affix to their map. For homeroom classrooms, have the children write the number of the grade it is, but not the teacher’s name. As the walk continues, explain to the children the direction toward which they are walking.
7. After the tour, return to a table with the small group and tell them to create the legend on the back of their map. Tell them to affix each of the symbol stickers to the legend and identify each symbol. Display the words with the symbols on a large sheet of paper so children can write the words independently. Guide the children to determine where to write the directions, N, S, E, and W.
8. Read Mapping Penny's World to the class to reinforce the use of maps, map symbols, and legends.
ASSESSMENT
Assessment can occur during Step 7. If the children can create the maps with little assistance, they have achieved success. A more formal assessment could occur at another small group time. Give the children a map template of an apartment with three rooms and a hallway. Tell them what each room is. On easel paper create the same map on a larger scale and write what each room is. Ask the children to think of symbols for each room, draw the symbol in the room and create a legend identifying the symbols. If they can create logical symbols for each room and write a legend correctly, they have achieved success.
APPLICATION BEYOND SCHOOL
Children can create a map of their home. They can determine what symbols should be used for the various types of rooms in their house. An architect could come for a guest visit and display floor plans of buildings and homes.
CONNECTIONS
English Language Arts
Children write words to explain symbols on the legend.
Health and Physical Education
Children walk through the entire school as they make their maps.
http://www.michigan.gov/scope/0,1607,7-155-10710_10733_10740-41749--,00.html
Reading a School Map
SS010405
ABSTRACT
This lesson draws upon experiences from the previous lesson, “Making a School Map.” In that lesson, children created maps of their school, labeled the rooms with map symbols, and created a legend. In this lesson, children read the maps they created and offer explanations for the locations of various parts of the school.
SUBJECT AREA: Social Studies
Grade Level and Course Title: First Grade/Family and School
UNIT OF STUDY: Getting Around at School
BENCHMARK
Identify locations of significance in their immediate environment and explain reasons for their location (II.3.EE.1).
KEY CONCEPTS
legend
map symbol
INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES
Equipment/Manipulative
Fictitious map of a school (one per child). This map should look similar in format to the maps created in “Making a School Map.” This map should use slightly different map symbols and should have two to three rooms in obviously misplaced areas (the office at the back of the school, the gymnasium next to the library and kindergarten rooms next to 5th grade rooms, etc.).
Maps of the school (created in “Making a School Map”)
Student Resource
Taylor, Barbara. Maps and Mapping. New York: Kingfisher Books, 1993.
SEQUENCE OF ACTIVITIES
1. In the large group, show the children one of the maps created in “Making a School Map.” Review the map with the children by asking volunteers to come and point to certain areas of the school (the classrooms, hallways, offices, etc.). Ask children to read the legend and explain its purpose.
2. Ask the children why the office is located in close proximity to the front door. Guide the children to understand that when people visit the school or make deliveries, they go to the office to take care of this business. Thus, it makes sense for the office to be next to the front door. Ask the children if the same grade classrooms are next to one another. Next, ask them why the hallways are located between classrooms. Ask if the gymnasium is directly next to the library and why it may not be a good idea to have them close together. Identify any rooms that are located in inconvenient locations and explain that sometimes certain rooms are located in a place because equipment might be needed or because the building is old and rooms are used for different purposes than were originally intended.
3. Divide the children into small groups and ask them to continue to look at the map and to explain the rationale for the rooms. Locate any rooms that are inconvenient or in unsuitable locations, and have them explain why it’s a poor location and offer an alternative location. Reconvene in the large group and ask children to share their responses.
4. Read the selected parts of the literature book, Maps and Mapping to reinforce the ideas of symbols and reading maps.
ASSESSMENT
Assessment occurs during individual conferencing with children. Show the children the fictitious map and ask them to identify some of the rooms according to the map legend. (Children can either read the legend or they can interpret the symbol). Ask the children to identify rooms that seem to be located in convenient and suitable locations and tell why. Next, ask them to identify rooms that do not seem to be located in convenient and suitable locations. In their journals, they can re-create the map, placing rooms in better locations.
APPLICATION BEYOND SCHOOL
Children can read road maps and interpret symbols. They can also examine the interior design of their home and identify rooms that are in good locations and rooms they would change if they could.
CONNECTIONS
English Language Arts
Children listen to literature to gain understanding about maps. Children read symbols or words in the legends.
http://www.michigan.gov/scope/0,1607,7-155-10710_10733_10740-41750--,00.html
Mapping the Surrounding Area
SS010406
ABSTRACT
In this lesson children create a map of a small area of a neighborhood. They take a walking tour of the neighborhood surrounding their school and note streets, houses, and other buildings. The children construct symbols to represent the features they see as they create a map. They also create a legend for the map.
SUBJECT AREA: Social Studies
Grade Level and Course Title: First Grade/Family and School
UNIT OF STUDY: Getting Around at School
BENCHMARK
Identify locations of significance in their immediate environment and explain reasons for their location (II.3.EE.1).
KEY CONCEPTS
legend
map symbol
INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES
Equipment/Manipulative
Clipboards (one per child)
Construction paper (light gray or brown), 9 x 12 inches – one per child. These are the maps of the area surrounding the school. Draw lines for the streets and a dot where the school is.
Markers
Pencils
Street map of the school’s neighborhood
STUDENT RESOURCE
Leedy, Loreen. Mapping Penny's World. New York: Henry Holt, 2000.
SEQUENCE OF ACTIVITIES
1. Review with the children the elements of the map, including how it is made, from what point of view it is constructed and the purpose served by map symbols and legends. Show the children a street map and ask them to identify these elements on the street map. Show them specific streets, parks, their school, other buildings of significance, etc.
2. Tell the children that they are going to make a map similar to the street map, only it will be much smaller, and will “zoom in” to focus in greater detail on a smaller area. Show them the area on the street map they will “zoom in” upon. Ask the children if they know what to do prior to making the map. Guide them to understand that it is necessary to walk through the area first to ensure they see everything. Note if your school is located in an area that is not easily walked or unsafe, prior to this lesson, drive through the neighborhood with a video camera, filming the entire area. This experience will not be as real, but it is a good substitute.