Make a school map

Mapping your school will help students and the whole school community to be aware of where the school fits into the local environment. It will also build awareness of how their school currently uses resources and the areas that could be improved or changed in order to tackle climate change. In each theme area (energy, waste etc.), there is information to assist you in mapping your school.

If you have limited time to work on this process, you may want to use an existing map; however, make sure students are able to read it!

Mapping your whole school may seem a daunting task, but there are different ways to do it:

  • Start with your classroom, floor or building.
  • Organise your class into smaller groups so they can focus on mapping smaller sections of the school. You may need extra supervision if groups are dispersed around the school.
  • Work with other classes to map different sections and share your results.
  • Find out if there is a parent in the school with mapping or surveying skills who could be invited to lend a hand.

Mapping is relevant to students of all year levels, and can involve everything from basic mud maps to sophisticated GIS maps. The maps that are produced can be a very useful component of your School Environment Management Plan (SEMP).

Maps of drainage, aerial photographs, and historical photographs may be useful in the mapping process.

The mapping process

  1. Get your bearings
  2. Map your classroom
  3. Map your school

First, get your bearings

Where is your school located within South Australia?

  1. How would you describe your area (e.g. coastal, hills, plains, urban, rural)?
  2. How high above sea level are you?
  3. Describe any other special features of your area (such as lakes, rivers, sea, parklands).
  4. Find where you are on a map of Australia.
  5. Download Google Earth starting with the whole world view and then hone in on your school and its local environment.

Where is your school located within your region?

  1. If a stranger was planning to visit your school from the nearest post office (or main shopping area), how would they find it? Draw a map and describe the route they would take, including any important landmarks.
  2. ACTIVITY: Choose a few leaders and make up groups from within the class. Have the leader give each person in the group a piece of paper with a landmark written on it copied from their map (e.g. stop sign, shopping centre, red gate). Place the people in relationship to each other, holding up the signs. Choose someone to be a car or a walker, and find their way from post office to school, passing by each of the landmarks.
  3. What is the land which surrounds your school mainly used for (e.g. housing, farming, industry, park)?
  4. What do most of the people in your community do for work and leisure?

Second, map your classroom

  1. Use a compass to work out the orientation of the classroom and add this to your map.
  2. Sketch the classroom, including windows and doors. Indicate any outside structures, including trees or buildings.

Third, map your school

  1. Get a copy of a map of your school grounds and remove any unnecessary details.
  2. Check that the map is correct (e.g. that it includes new buildings).
  3. For large schools, divide the map into manageable sections.
  4. Teach students how to orient themselves with the map before they use it.

Determine the area of your school grounds

  1. To do this, find the perimeter (boundary) and estimate the distance in metres. Then pace along it and count your steps. Take a route right around the perimeter and record your outcome. Then, check your estimate by using a trundle wheel or laying a long measuring tape and stepping along the tape.
  2. To determine the area of your school grounds, multiply the length by the width.
  3. Make a map of your boundary. You can do this with chalk on the concrete or in a sand pit, and then draw it onto paper. Choose whether to keep the map as a ‘mud map' on paper, or to put in the extra effort to make a ‘scale map' or class model.

Consider buildings

  1. How many buildings are there and what are they used for?
  2. How much space do the buildings take up?
  • Pace the perimeter of the buildings. Draw the shape of the buildings and write down measurements. How big is the building? Pace between each building, and between the buildings and perimeter fences. Record your results.
  • Draw the shape of the school grounds and work out where the buildings are placed within this. Your whole group should agree on the boundary lines and shape and placement of the buildings. Make changes until your whole group is satisfied.
  • Put in where the sun rises and sets, and from these bearings, work out where North, South, East and West are. You now have the beginnings of a map of your school.

Consider other facilities

What other structures are there on the school grounds besides classrooms and offices?

Use this checklist:

water tanks / animal huts / adventure playgrounds
fixed sports facilities such as nets and posts / outdoor seats and tables / car parks play areas
toilet blocks / storage sheds / ovals and courts
bicycle parking / shadehouse and greenhouse / gardens
bicycle shelters / large sculptures / big trees
sandpits / resource centre
kitchen / play equipment

Represent these things on your map,showing their location and relative size.
Indicate types of surfaces, such as:

  • concrete
  • gravel
  • soil
  • vegetation
  • grass
  • bitumen
  • pavers

Indicate also where students eat their recess and lunch.If there are particular places, draw some pictures of students eating their lunches on the map.

Indicate also how your school facilities are put to use by your local community(e.g. sporting facilities, classrooms) and how your school in turn uses facilities available to that community, such as local parks. Indicate the support your school has from local businesses.

You now have a map of your school to conduct your environmental auditing.