Lesson at a Glance: 2.3

Houghton Mifflin Social Studies
America Will Be

Lesson at a Glance
Chapter 2, Lesson 3: Studying Globes and Maps (pp. 41-47)

The Big Idea
Framework Concept: Technology Globes and maps are examples of technologies used to show and find places on the earth.

Discuss with students the things they can see on maps and globes. Point out land, water, physical features, locations of places, political boundaries, grid lines, scales, legends, and compasses.

Lesson Outline
Use the Lesson Outline to preview the content of the lesson. You may wish to print it for your students as a guide during reading.

Check for Understanding

Play a Location Game with globes or maps. Call out latitude and longitude coordinates and have teams of students find which city or place is located at those coordinates. When every team has written an answer, have them compare their responses. Teams with correct answers receive one point. The first team to reach twenty points wins the game.
Create a human map projection. As a class, draw a large Robinson projection on chart paper. (Use different pieces of paper and piece them together to make a very large floor map.) Then assign students various positions of latitude and longitude, along the equator, Prime Meridian, and 180° meridian. Students should also be assigned the positions of North Pole and South Pole. Have students work together to find their positions on the map and stand in place to see how these lines help form a grid.

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