Social
Studies:
Reading Maps
Summary: After looking at a variety of maps of
China, students discuss the data and information presented. This
could lead to further work in comparisons, inquiry, map analysis,
and map making.
Minnesota Academic Standards Information
Subject Area Focus: Social Studies - Geography
Educational Level: Teachers may adapt the activity for the
various grade levels. Intermediate, Middle, High
High (9-12) Level
The student will use maps, globes, geographic information systems,
and other databases to answer geographic questions at a variety of
scales from local to global.
For the complete standard, see the Minnesota Academic Standards
web site at http://education.state.mn.us/mde/Academic_Excellence/Academic_Standards/index.html
Middle (6-8) Level
The student will use maps, globes, geographic information systems
and other sources of information to analyze the natures of places
at a variety of scales.
For the complete standard, see the Minnesota Academic Standards
web site at http://education.state.mn.us/mde/Academic_Excellence/Academic_Standards/index.html
Intermediate (4-5) Level
The student will use maps, globes, geographic information systems
and other sources of information to analyze the nature of places
at a variety of scales.
For the complete standard, see the Minnesota Academic Standards
web site at http://education.state.mn.us/mde/Academic_Excellence/Academic_Standards/index.html
Primary (K-3) Level
The student will use and create maps and globes to locate people,
places and things.
For the complete standard, see the Minnesota Academic Standards
web site at http://education.state.mn.us/mde/Academic_Excellence/Academic_Standards/index.html
LEARNING ACTIVITY
Directions
Objectives:
1. To become familiar with information on the physical characteristics
of China.
2. To interpret and use information from maps.
3. Formulate a question that can be answered through interpreting maps.
Preparation: Collect a variety of maps for viewing. See
Learning Resources section below for online sources.
Time Required: Varied
Description
Introduction for Students
Maps are rich resources that are filled with information about the
places they describe. Learning to read maps takes practice;
the more you read, the better you will become at it.
Each map (and the study of geography) will tell us some of the following:
Location: where things are in terms of latitude and longitude
and/or where they are in relation to other places.
Place: the human and physical characteristics; a description of
what you would see in the area represented.
Region: a characteristic or characteristic that helps unify or define
an area. For example, a map may show a mountainous region, a region
of high population density, or an earthquake region.
Movement: how the area is interconnected with other places, in terms
of categories such as trade, communications, travel, or migration.
Human-Environment Interaction: how people have changed and
responded to the environment. For example, a map may show where
people have developed farms, re-routed rivers, or built cities to
resist earthquakes.
Sometimes people read maps to find specific information; other times
people simply browse through maps--like you might browse through
a magazine to find new information or ideas.
Process
- Have students explore various print and on-line maps of
China. To focus your exploration, decide before you begin
what questions you want to answer about China. Or,
do an initial exploration of what information is available,
and then decide what types of information and issues you
want to focus on. Or, assign student groups a specific
question/questions.
- See your school library media center or local library for
atlases. With the growth of the World Wide Web, there are
also many on-line maps. See the sites listed in the
Learning Resources section below.
- Discuss with your class the information they found and
what you have learned about China. Try some ideas of
the ideas below to work further with the maps and map- reading
and map-making skills:
- Comparison. Explore maps of another place such as Minnesota
or the United States. Discuss the differences between China
and another place studied. Questions:
- What geographical features are the same?
- What are different?
- Identify three characteristics about China and Minnesota
that you observe are the same.
- What do China's ten largest cities have in common with
respect to their location?
- Why are Minnesota's top ten cities located where they
are?
- What areas of China are the warmest and why?
- What areas of Minnesota are the warmest and why?
- What areas of China are the coolest and why? What areas
of Minnesota are the coolest and why?
- If you were going to hold the winter Olympics in China,
where might you hold them and why? If you were
going to hold the winter Olympics in Minnesota, where
might you hold them and why?
- Inquiry. Use two or more maps to find correlations and
propose possible cause and effect relationships. For example,
looking a map on which major cities are shown to be along
a coast and a plains area has limited population, students
would explain why this might be true and then conduct research
to test their hypotheses.
- Map Analysis. For maps that students have studied, have
them identify the types of information presented. Do
they show location, place, region, movement, or human-environment
interaction?
- Map Development. Have students create their own maps, using
data found. Maps may be drawn on paper or on the computer
using a graphics/drawing computer program. Or make
a 3-D representation using a flour/salt mixture (equal parts
of flour and salt; water as needed to make a dough). On your
map, label physical and human features such as bodies of
water, islands, mountains, cities, ports, latitude and longitude,
time zones, earthquake zones, neighboring countries, etc.
Learning Resources:
National Geographic Map Machine
http://plasma.nationalgeographic.com/mapmachine/
Basic Search: You may search for a particular place using the basic
search feature. Once you get to that map, you can zoom in and out,
get related atlas maps, find the flag and fast facts on the country,
and find the map source.
Use of Map Categories: Select a map category such as World Themes,
than Physical. Within that theme, you may then select a variety of
more specific themes such as Earthquakes, Ecoregions, and Elevation
(and that's just the E's!).
EarthBrowser: http://www.earthbrowser.com/
University of Texas at Austin, online map library: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/china.html
Collection of maps and information from About.com: http://geography.miningco.com/library/maps/blchina.htm
CIA World Factbook, entry on China
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ch.html
Minnesota Ag in the Classroom:
http://www.mda.state.mn.us/MAITC/default.HTM
See this site for a variety of free resources including "Commodity
Cards" showing the Minnesota location of various agriculture
products, curriculum guides, and a four page profile of the Minnesota
agricultural industry, entitled Minnesota's Ag Profile.
Printable Materials: Download and print maps from
National Geographic Xpedition site.
Evidence of Learning: The following product(s)
supply evidence of student learning.
- Discussion and presentation of information from maps.
Special Notes
Technology Integration:
Incorporate technology tools and resources in ways that enhance
and support teaching and learning.
- Have students explore the various maps in the National
Geographic Map Machine and present findings to the class: http://plasma.nationalgeographic.com/mapmachine.
- Have students create or enhance maps using drawing programs
or GIS software.
Accommodations
Change the activity to accommodate students with different needs,
knowledge and skills.
- Have students do this work in partners or groups.
Extensions
Extend students' learning with additional activities.
- Have student conduct more extensive inquiry projects based
on questions raised through the map study.
Entire List of Curriculum Activities
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