Unit Plan: Map Concepts and Analysis

Lesson Plan for Tuesday

Grade:5
th

Social Studies Strand: Geography
Submitted By: Zachary Haro


EDEL 453: Teaching Elementary School Social Science
Nevada State College Spring 2014
Instructor: Karen Powell

Lesson Plan for Tuesday Strand: Geography submitted by: Zachary Haro


Nevada State College EDEL 453 - Spring 2014 Karen Powell- Instructor page 2
B. Summary of the Lesson Plan:
This is a lesson that will help students develop and refresh their map skills by reviewing
maps and their contents by making one of the school together as a class by going on a
map walk. This is strategy 7 in the text Language Arts and Social Studies pages 48-51.
C. Basic Information:
Grade Level: 5
th
grade
Time to Complete this Lesson: 50
Groupings: Whole Group, Individual, partners
D. Materials:
Grid Paper
Markers/pencils/colored pencils
Pads
Clipboards
Blank Landform Map of America
http://courses.ttu.edu/mstoll/HIST2301/US_Physical.jpg
Labeled Landform Map of America for SMARTboard
http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/namerica/usstates/newgraphics/
uslandfm.gif
E. Objectives:
NV State Social Studies Standards
o G5.5.4 Construct maps, graphs, and charts to display information about human
and physical features in the United States.
o G5.5.1 Identify and locate major geographic features in Nevada and the
United States using maps and map elements.
o G5.5.3 Describe purposes for different types of maps and globes, i.e.,
topographical, political, physical.
Student-Friendly Standards
o I will learn how to make maps to display human and physical features.
Lesson Plan for Tuesday Strand: Geography submitted by: Zachary Haro


Nevada State College EDEL 453 - Spring 2014 Karen Powell- Instructor page 3
o I will learn how to locate geographic features on a map.
o I will learn the different purposes for different kinds of maps.
F. Vocabulary
Map a drawing or picture showing features of an area
Map Key table of symbols and their explanations on a map
Symbol a thing that means something else
G. Procedure:
Start the lesson by asking students if they have ever been lost before and to first think
about their answer and to focus on why they got lost.
Let students share their thoughts with their shoulder partners and then bring students
together to share their partners thoughts with the class. Bring the class to a mutual
understanding that not knowing directional orientation, place location, map scales, or
physical features can all be reasons for being lost. Access prior knowledge by
reminding students that the lack of a proper map and knowledge of the location are
some things that contributed to the slow initial westward expansion.
Explain to the students the importance of having and being able to understand a map
to navigate a place they arent familiar with.
Show students examples of different types of maps (topographical, political, physical,
etc.) Review the concept of symbols and how they are used on maps.
Tell students they will be constructing a scaled map of the school and explain that they
will need a place to show what all their symbols on their map mean, and review the
concept of the map key.
Model the kind of scaled map you want the students to create by creating a quick
map of the classroom together as a class.
Guide students into deciding to scale the size of the classroom and its contents by the
number of steps they can take from one location to another.
Use grid paper to translate one step into one square on the grid and create a scaled
classroom map with symbols for desks, the door, the board, etc. Label the sides of the
classroom with their steps size.
Have students partner up with their shoulder partners and assign each pair a clipboard
and paper.
Line the pairs up and take a tour of the school stopping every few minutes to have
students take note of what they have seen (classrooms, cafeteria, monument, flag
pole, etc.) and to start creating a map of the school keeping in mind the amount of
steps they take to get from one location to another.
Focus on having students take note of physical features of the school (i.e. courtyard,
garden, hills on the playground, trees, etc.)
Lesson Plan for Tuesday Strand: Geography submitted by: Zachary Haro


Nevada State College EDEL 453 - Spring 2014 Karen Powell- Instructor page 4
Bring students together as a group back in class and have them transfer the maps they
created as partners onto one sheet of grid paper making sure to include labels for
physical features, symbols, a map key, a scale, labels for distances.
As students create their maps, walk around to ensure that they are including all the
elements of an easy to use map.
Have students staple together their paper from the map walk, and their finished
product map together and turn it in with their partner names on them.
Have whichever partner who turns in the maps grab a blank landform/physical map of
the United States for them and their partner.
Remind students about the different landforms we studied yesterday and review a few
of them.
Instruct students to use their knowledge of maps and landforms to identify at least 3
different landforms and 3 different bodies of water using maps in their books, on the
wall, or displayed on the SMARTboard.
For closure have students use the Talking Chips Kagan strategy to take turns
explaining the purposes of the two different maps they created today. Students should
write their purposes on the back of their landform map and turn them in before
leaving.
H. Assessment:
What will you use to measure student understanding?
The maps turned in by the pairs of students will be used to determine understanding of
the map concepts. The notes from the map walk from each pair of students will also
help measure student understanding on how to differentiate what should be relevant
for them to indicate on their maps. The labeled landform map with landforms/bodies
of water to assess ability to identify geographic features, and the purposes listed on the
back of their maps will assess their understanding of the purposes of different maps.
Explain how you will know students understand the concepts from the lesson.
Students should have a map that has all map concepts learned in class. They should
also provide 6/6 geographic features on their landform map and a logical purpose for
why they would use each kind of map they studied on the back.
I. Closure:
For closure have students use the Talking Chips Kagan strategy to take turns
explaining the purposes of the two different maps they created today. Students should
write their purposes on the back of their landform map and turn them in before
leaving.
J. Reflection:
1. Which part of the lesson do you think will be the easiest for you to teach?
Lesson Plan for Tuesday Strand: Geography submitted by: Zachary Haro


Nevada State College EDEL 453 - Spring 2014 Karen Powell- Instructor page 5
The easiest will be the vocabulary and the different parts of the map as they should
be review for 5
th
graders.
2. Which part will be most challenging for you to teach?
Most challenging will be the scaling part of the map creation and translating it to
grid paper correctly.
3. How will you follow up or extend this lesson?
I will follow up this lesson with a math lesson on measurement and use the maps to
help create accurate scaled maps.
4. What can you do for students who dont grasp the concepts?
For students who dont grasp the concepts, I can give them an example of a map
with the different map concepts labeled and explained so they can have a map
with explanations to use as reference when creating their own. Modeling the
different steps to map creation and guiding students will help as well.
5. Which part of the lesson, if any, do you think might need to change?
I might need to change the integration of math into the lesson so that students can
connect scaling to map creation easier. I might have to change the part that
requires students to write and discuss the purpose behind different kinds of maps to
where I can facilitate the conversations.
6. When you were writing this lesson plan, what was the most difficult part?
The most difficult part was adapting the lesson for 5
th
grade standards and finding a
way to incorporate the importance of teaching students how to identify physical
features on maps, and to represent them on their own.