Mapping, part 1

In social studies right now, we are studying maps and map making. We discussed what a map is, and went from initial definitions like "A map is a piece of paper that helps you when you get lost." to a working class definition: an overhead view of a place. We imagined we were a robin, hopping in a field, and then we flew up into the sky and imagined looking down at the world below.

We said you could make a map of many things:
- a classroom
- a house
- a cave system
- the Blue Hills
- the Grand Canyon
- a park
- a zoo
- America
- a forest
- a flag factory
- the White House
- Brazil
- Long Island
- Florida
- a bedroom
- a lost island
- Canobie Lake Park
- the world
- Moxley Park
- a board game
- Faire on the Square
- the library
A map could be of a real place or of an imaginary one.

Next, we looked at a variety of maps used by a variety of people. In a small group, students discussed what they noticed, what they thought it was a map of, and who would use that map. We looked at a aeronautical chart of the airspace near Montreal, a hiking map of the Great Glen Way in Scotland, a map of Mount Everest, a map of Reykjavik, a road map of California, a map of NPR radio stations across the country, and a USGS topographic map from upstate New York. We noticed that all of these had a key that showed what different symbols meant.

Next, we drew a map of our classroom. We imagined a giant took the roof off, and we were looking down at the room from above. It was tricky to remember to draw the tops of everything, since we are so used to drawing what things look like from the side!

Our last task was to draw a map of our whole school. This was hard! We took a walk through every part of the school so we could see everything.

Next week, we will begin using maps to learn about the whole world: the difference between a continent and a country, a number of notable land features, and the location of the three countries we will study this year, India, Egypt, and Brazil.