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Overview:
Whether we are going to grandma's house or just walking home from school, we need mental maps of places to help us move around in our world. This lesson introduces students to the concept of mental maps and their development. Students will transfer geographic images to a sketch map, providing visual reinforcement and a means of discussion and assessment.
Connections to the Curriculum:
Geography, literature, art
Connections to the National Geography Standards:
Standard 2: "How to use mental maps to organize information about people, places, and environments in a spatial context"
Time:
One hour
Materials Required:
- As the Crow Flies: A First Book of Maps by Gail Hartman
(Aladdin Paperbacks, 1993)
- Craft paper
- Markers or crayons
Objectives:
Students will
- use mental maps of the locations of places within local and nearby communities to sketch a map from memory of the route to and from school.
Geographic Skills:
Organizing Geographic Information
Answering Geographic Questions
Analyzing Geographic Information
S u g g e s t e d P r o c e d u r e
Opening:
Discuss the concept of directions. What they are and what purpose do they serve? How do you tell someone to get to your house?
Read to the class (or have students read aloud) and show pictures from As the Crow Flies: A First Book of Maps.
Follow the animals as they travel a daily route. For example, the rabbit hops on a path "around a farmhouse, past a shed, to a garden where the sweet greens grow." The rabbit knows exactly how to get from his home to where the best food is! Each animal has a mental map that is then drawn to show all the locations that are important to that animal. The final pages show a larger map that combines the locations from the individual maps. It reveals that the animals live in the same area, but each animal sees different landmarks within their shared space.
Development:
What factors made the animals travel the way they did? In some cases, food was the key. Discuss how the animals were able to find their way.
Ask students to distinguish between maps that are accurate spatial representations of Earth and mental maps, which are understandings held by individuals. Give examples of how people use maps.
Have the students close their eyes while you help them
visualize how to travel from one familiar point to the next (e.g., from the classroom to the library, or from the lunchroom to the playground. Then ask students to tell you what landmarks they passed on the way and whether they had to make turns or climb steps. Ask them if they could perform this same visualization exercise for their route home from school.
Have students explore Xpeditions' Mental Mapping activity. What did students notice about the differences in the adult maps and the child maps?
Closing:
Have the class help sketch a map on craft paper of a familiar geographic location, area, or region, then post it for the class to view. Include a map key if students use symbols and other information. Discuss natural and human-made features that might be included on
the map to help others find their way.
Suggested Student Assessment:
Give each student his or her own large sheet of craft paper and markers to construct a sketch map showing how to get home from school. Have students show the roads they travel and the landmarks they pass.
Have students share their maps and/or display the maps. Discuss why the landmarks are important to the mapmaker. Are some landmarks on every student's map? Why?
Dany Ray of Washington Middle School in Cairo, Georgia, contributed classroom ideas for Standard 2.
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