This lesson asks students to consider the various ways that maps help people in everyday life, and also to consider how students themselves might use maps to help in various situations. They'll begin by analyzing some maps on National Geographic's MapMachine, then they will discuss ways these maps might be used. They'll then be given four hypothetical scenarios and will search for maps to use in each one. They'll conclude by choosing five maps to use in planning an international festival in their town, and they'll conclude by writing paragraphs that explain how these maps will help in the planning process.

Geography

Standard 1: "How to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report information from a spatial perspective"
Standard 3: "How to analyze the spatial organization of people, places, and environments on Earth's surface"
Standard 18: "How to apply geography to interpret the present and plan for the future"

Two to three hours

• Computer with Internet access

Students will

• discuss the potential uses of specific maps; choose maps to help them in four different scenarios;
• select five maps to help them plan an international festival in their town; and
• write paragraphs explaining how these maps will help in the planning process.

Ask students to state some of the purposes of maps, and list their ideas on the board. Why do maps come in handy? Under what circumstances do people need to use maps? When have your students made use of maps?

Have the class go to the National Geographic MapMachine individually on computers, or have the site displayed on a projected computer for the entire class to see. After the site has been accessed the user with then click "View All Map Categories" on the lower left portion of the screen.

Have the class examine each of the following maps. For each one, they can click and drag a rectangle around a smaller area to zoom in on that region; this will be particularly helpful for the street and terrain maps.

• Atlas Map: Satellite World (World Maps category)
• Middle East (Countries and Continents category)
• Terrain Map, U.S. (Outdoor Recreation category)
• Street Level, World (Trip Planning category)
• Major Habitat Types, World (Conservation and Ecology category)

As students look at each map, discuss the purposes for which that map might be used, posing the question "When might this map be helpful?"

Give students the list of scenarios below, and have them use National Geographic's MapMachine and an atlas to find maps that they feel would be the most helpful in the given situation. Ask them to list the map titles and to state the region they zoomed in on when applicable. They can do this activity in groups, or individually.

Scenario 1
You are planning to circumnavigate the globe in a hot air balloon. You have to plan your route and figure out what the terrain will be like in the various places you fly over.

Scenario 2
You are planning a trip to France. You want to be sure you take the right gear, and you aren't quite sure how you'll get from place to place when you're there.

Scenario 3
You're on the committee to select where the 2014 Winter Olympics will be held. You have to compare several sites to determine the place that's got the "perfect" combination of mountainous terrain, winter weather, accessibility, political stability, and any other factors you deem important for a successful Winter Olympics.

Scenario 4
You are an urban planner in Australia. Your town has recently been overrun by kangaroos. You have to decide where to relocate the kangaroos and how to keep them out of your town.

Discuss as a class the maps that students have chosen. Why did they choose the maps they did? How will these maps help them address the challenges of their particular scenarios?

Ask students, either in pairs or in small groups, to imagine that they're going to plan an international festival in their town. The festival will feature food, music, and other performances from around the world.

Ask students to use an atlas, National Geographic's MapMachine, and other online or print resources (optional) to choose at least five maps that will help them plan the festival. The maps they select should help illustrate such specifics as how to get to the festival, where the performers will come from, where similar festivals are held in your state, where the different exhibits will be set up at the festival, and other topics students deem important to the planning effort.

Have students print the maps they select then write paragraphs explaining how they'll use each one to plan the festival.

Have students share their preliminary festival plans with the class.

• Have students create maps to be used at an actual school or community event, such as a concert, athletic competition, or parade. They should make multiple maps to help the event's planners, participants, and attendees prepare for and understand the event. Some examples might include a map of a parade or race route, a map showing the international origins of various songs or musical instruments, or a town map indicating the locations of the event's business sponsors.
  
  
• Have students learn about (or review) the concept of map scale at one of the following Web pages:
  
  Map Scales Fact Sheet
  Canadian Topographic Maps: Maps 101 – Topographic Maps, The Basics
  Map ScalesWhat are they really???
  
  Discuss the ways that maps of different scales can be useful. Have them return to the Map Scales Fact Sheet and look at the three maps at the top of the page. Which map would be most useful on a hike? Which would be most useful for the pilot of a small plane? Why is it important to understand the scale of a map you're looking at?

Canadian Topographic Maps: Maps 101  Topographic Maps, The Basics
Map ScalesWhat are they really???
Map Scales Fact Sheet
National Geographic: MapMachine