Lesson Five: Special Purpose Maps

This lesson introduces special purpose (topographical) maps as a way to understand the
differing climates, elevations, and populations across the United States. Different maps of
countries, continents, and states around the world ar used to help students navigate finding
information on a map using a key.
Objective
Identify the climate of a place
or region using a topographical
map

Standard
Interdisciplinary
G1.0.5 Use maps to describe
elevation, climate, and patterns
of population density in the
United States.
Identify the elevation of a place G1.0.5 Use maps to describe
or region using a topographical elevation, climate, and patterns
map
of population density in the
United States.
Identify the population of a
G1.0.5 Use maps to describe
place or region using a
elevation, climate, and patterns
topographical map
of population density in the
United States.
Create their own key for items
G1.0.5 Use maps to describe
collected on the scavenger hunt elevation, climate, and patterns
of population density in the
United States.
*I used technology for this lesson to show that different maps show us different information. We
used Google Earth to take us different places in order to understand that the land in the United
States is the way it is because of the weather in that region.
Assessments:
For the preassessment I had the students get together with a partner to look at a map. I
asked them questions about the map and they had to figure out the answer. I then asked them
how they got the answers- to which they responded that they used the key on the map.
During the lesson I was able to assess the students by watching as they filled out their
worksheets during the map scavenger hunt. I was able to see who investigated the map to find
out information, and which partners divided the work evenly and which ones didnt.
I used the worksheets as a summative assessment by looking to see who answered the
questions from the scavenger hunt worksheet correctly.