Building Skills by Exploring Maps

Maps hold the promise of an adventure. And children really want to know how to read them. At the same time, they still need a lot of practice with the basic map skills of using latitude and longitude, locating places on a grid, estimating distances using scale, using indexes, and understanding common map symbols. This series uses age-appropriate maps to provide opportunities to practice these skills. Background information at the top of each page provides either more information about a map skill or interesting facts about the subject of the map.

The wonderful thing about teaching students map skills is that they really want to know how to read maps. To students maps are keys to unknown places. Maps hold the promise of an adventure.

Intermediate-grade students do not have a lot of experience reading the story behind historical maps. They assume north is straight up. They do not like a lot of extra detail in their maps The resources and activities in Maps: The World provide an excellent bridge to a much deeper understanding of map reading by eliminating extra details-but not so many that the maps lose all context. This particular collection also provides students with practice in reading the kinds of maps they will encounter in their nonfiction reading in their travels.

The social studies standards addressed in this book include the following:

• Explain and use the coordinate grid system of latitude and longitude to determine the absolute locations of places on Earth.
• Read and interpret thematic maps.
• Estimate distances between two places on a map using a scale of miles or kilometers, and use cardinal and ordinal directions when referring to relative location.
• Know world patterns of resource distribution and utilization.
• Use a variety of maps and documents to identify physical and cultural features of neighborhoods, cities, states, and countries.
• Obtain information about a topic using a variety of visual sources such as pictures, symbols, and maps.

Encourage students to begin to see the historical stories behind the maps. If they spend enough time with the maps and activity sheets, they will better retain the names and locations of the places they read about or hear about in the news. Conveniently, the skills covered in Maps: The World will also transfer well to a standardized-testing situation.