This lesson has students look at a map of Russia as seen at night, showing the lights that indicate settlement patterns. They will then look at United States maps to figure out what the U.S. might look like at night, and will draw U.S. maps illustrating their findings.

Geography, social studies

Standard 3: "How to analyze the spatial organization of people, places, and environments on Earth's surface"

Two to three hours

• Computer with Internet access
• United States maps (physical, political, satellite, road map) [available online]
• Crayons, markers or paint, construction paper

Students will

• explore and discuss the Riddle of the Russian Lights activity;
• view a United States road atlas, a population density map, and some Web sites to figure out what the United States might look like at night;
• discuss how studying maps of population patterns in the United States might help them or others; and
• draw maps of the United States at night, showing the patterns of lights.

Have students do the Riddle of the Russian Lights activity and discuss the activity as a class. How did the maps help them to understand the pattern of settlement in central Russia?

Do students think there would be similar patterns in the United States? How can looking at a series of maps like this help people plan for future human activities, such as construction or transporting or selling products?

Ask students what they think the United States would look like if they could view it from outer space at night. Have them look at a United States road atlas, the population density map at the Riddle of the Russian Lights site, and the following Web sites to see the patterns of settlement in the U.S.:

National Geographic: A View From Above—The United States Satellite Map
National Geographic: MapMachine—United States Physical Map
National Geographic: Xpeditions Atlas—United States Political Map

Ask students to discuss how they might use the knowledge they gained from investigating the United States maps. How could businesses, the government, and the public use the information depicted on the maps?

Have students draw or paint nighttime maps of the United States, showing what they think the country would look like at night. They should take into consideration the major cities, transportation routes, and other settlements.

Students can do this by painting a piece of paper black, tracing the country's outline onto the page, and then painting the lights in yellow or white onto the country. It would be best if they practiced first with pencil on a standard outline map, available at the Xpeditions atlas.

Have students look at the climate and population density maps at the Riddle of the Russian Lights activity, and, for each map, ask them to write three statements describing what these maps show. For example, they can state that Europe and Asia have the world's highest population densities.

Ask students to switch back and forth between these maps a few times to answer the following questions:

• Which climate types have the lowest population density? Why?
• What climate types exist in India and China—two of the world's most populous nations?
• What parts of the United States are the most densely populated? How does this relate to the climate types present in the United States?

National Geographic: A View From Above—The United States
National Geographic: MapMachine
National Geographic: Xpeditions Activity—The Riddle of the Russian Lights
National Geographic: Xpeditions Atlas