Students were asked to look at maps (the old kind on paper) and find any places they knew on it and to think about how you can tell where roads, rivers, lakes, cities and towns are represented on the map. They were also asked to think about how a map is created from a bird’s eye view, like you are floating up above the land looking down, and to look for the compass rose, scale, symbols, and legend.

The introduction directions were: "Pretend you are floating over your bedroom, or favorite room in your dwelling (a place of residence), or perched above it like a bird. When you look down, you see the room from above. Think about the shape of the room. Is it a square or rectangle? What would you see? Think about how furniture would look from the perspective of a bird looking down."

Students then got to be a cartographer and mapped a room then created a map from their imagination.

Resources, Extend Your Learning, and Book Recommendations:

(the first five are linked)

The Cartographer's Dilemma

How National Geographic Giant Maps Are Made

Vermont Pictures and Facts

Explore Earth – Google Earth Education

Mapparium This place is amazing! I grew up just south of Boston and went to visit this globe with my parents and some cousins for the first time when I was in third grade. Not many people seem to know about it. It is one of my favorite places to take friends to in the city.

Books:

My Father’s Dragon The Once Upon a Time Map Book Where on Earth? Atlas: The World as You’ve Never Seen It