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Overview:
As students may already know, they can learn a lot about the world by comparing maps with various themes, such as population density and climate features. This lesson asks them to compare thematic maps of the continents and the world as a whole to determine where they would like to live (besides their own home region). They will view several online thematic maps and will conclude by writing paragraphs describing the three places in the world they think they would most like to live, assuming they had been asked to move far away from home.
Connections to the Curriculum:
Geography
Connections to the National Geography Standards:
Standard 3: "How to analyze the spatial organization of people, places, and environments on Earth's surface"
Time:
Two to three hours
Materials Required:
- Computer with Internet access
Objectives:
Students will
- view and discuss geographic and environmental pictures and news stories;
- list questions about a geographic or environmental news story, and use library materials to find the answers; and
- design posters to illustrate this news story.
Geographic Skills:
Acquiring Geographic Information
S u g g e s t e d P r o c e d u r e
Opening:
Have students do the main activity at the Riddle of the Russian Lights activity, comparing the maps to figure out why the lights zigzag across Russia. Then discuss their findings as a class. How did the maps help them in their attempt to solve the mystery? What clues on these maps were the most helpful?
Development:
Remind students that the temperature and population density maps they have seen are examples of thematic maps. This type of map has a theme, such as climate or population, that is illustrated with different colors, shades, or sometimes pictures. As they've seen, thematic maps use these features to show the differences between places on the map.
Have students look at the Climate and Population Density maps at the Riddle of the Russian Lights activity (under "Xtras"). Ask them to switch back and forth between these maps a few times and to answer the following questions:
- Which climate types have the lowest population density? Why?
- What climate types exist in India and China, the two most populous nations?
- Which parts of the United States are the most densely populated? How does this relate to the climate types present in the United States?
Ask students to imagine that they are looking for a new home in another country, far from where they live now. They don't know where to go, but they probably have some ideas about what would make a nice place to live. They need to rely on maps to help figure out which parts of the world might be the most promising.
Have students use the following Web pages to view thematic maps of the world and individual continents:
National Geographic: Climate Map and Population Density Map (both from the Riddle of the Russian Lights activity)
National Geographic: MapMachine (Have students create maps of the following themes for each continent: elevation zones, precipitation, and others of their choice if time permits.)
National Geographic: Xpedition Hall (link to Standard 3, the World Viewer)
As they look at each map, ask students to list the places they think would be the most desirable locations to live, based on the criteria that the maps show. Remind them to base their decisions on their own opinions about where they would like to live; they might all have very different ideas about this. For instance, one student might prefer a location that gets a lot of rain, while another might prefer a drier location.
Closing:
Discuss as a class the ways that comparing thematic maps can be helpful in learning about the world. When would it be helpful to look at only one map, such as a map of temperatures or population density? When is it more helpful to compare the features of several maps, as they have done in this lesson?
Suggested Student Assessment:
Have students look carefully at their lists and at the online maps they've created and select three places they think might be the most suitable options for their move. Ask them to write paragraphs explaining why each of these places is a good choice and mentioning the specific features they've seen on the maps that helped them draw this conclusion.
Extending the Lesson:
Have students return to the Riddle of the Russian Lights activity and look again at the image of Russia at night. Ask them to refer to maps they have seen in this lesson to create maps of what the United States might look like at night. One way to do this is to paint yellow or white lights onto a map they've traced on black construction paper. They should take into consideration major cities, transportation routes, and other settlements when drawing their maps.
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