Mapping in Different Content Areas

A couple Websites to explore
      ESRI's Community Mapping Project (6000 schools and more than 30,000 students are collaborating in this effort) http://www.esri.com/industries/k-12/atlas

      Wisconsin Watershed Connection (has lots of definitions, instructions and links) http://danenet.wicip.org/gisedu/homepage/maps/find.htm

PE

• Look at the terrain in an area and map out a route for a marathon. Or a bike path. Or ski runs.
• Compare and analyze two different running routes. Which route is better for building endurance? Which is better for building speed?
• Have students map our a "best path" for a recreational trip. They could map a bike path, a roller-blading path, a walking/jogging path, or any other outdoor activity that would take a path.
• Have students map out a route to run on. Have them find approximately how many miles they were going to run. Map the hazards they might encounter, sites they would run by, and ways to remain safe.

Health

• Map polluted areas in a community. Overlay disease incidence data. Is there a relationship?
• Map different places in a community where one can get healthy foods.
• Look for resources in a community to use for exercise or to stay physically fit including tracks, basketball courts, fitness gyms, baseball fields, parks, etc. Make a full size map of the town and input the street names and where the resources are located on these specific streets.
• Map out local agencies that are available to help our with teen pregnancy, and see how the placement to those agencies relates to the ratio of teen pregnancies.
• Study park and recreation sites in towns and calculate how much focus is given outdoor activities.

Literature

• Construct a map of the setting for a novel you are reading. Look for clues in the book about terrain, landmarks, landscape, etc. and create a database of setting details.
• Give the students a blank U.S. or world map and then plot where all of the books and their authors are from within a certain theme or unit, such as a unit on WWII literature. This project would show them how universal different themes in literature are, but also how these different regions treat the same subject.

Language Arts

• Map out your ideal town and then write a story about what happens in the town

Foreign Language

• Map your community. Label the features in Spanish (German, French, Chinese, Arabic,etc.)
• Practice conversation in another language at different levels:
  • Basic: lists of words, memorized utterances (quiz students on names; teacher says the name and the students point to the place on the map)(answer simple questions from teach; what is on the left of the store?)
  • Intermediate: question and answer, more vocabulary... integrate verbs and directions (ask students how to get to a certain place, have students give directions)
  • Advanced: give directions of a map and have the students draw a map according to verbal/written instructions; be able to accurately ask for and understand directions (for example go out to thecommunity and ask directions in Spanish in a Spanish community--focus on verbal instrctions)
• Use GIS to locate a small community in a Spanish speaking country. Do research on how it is set up etc.
• Give students a blank map of their business "community." Have them fill in with the Spanish names of the different businesses. Have them repoicate, on paper, one specific office. Their design will be presented using the furniture vocabulary learned in class.

Math

• Map out an area and find the shortest route from point A to point B.
• Create/find a map of your community. Have students figure actual distances to various locations based on the scale of the map. How does the math change as the scale changes?
• Find the coordinates of several cities in different countries on a world map. If it is noon in your town, find the timne it is in each of the other cities based on time zones. (24 time zones, 15 degrees longitude each.)
• Map the watershed of a river. Calculate the total area drained by the river in square miles or kilometers.

Social Studies

• How do people of different cultures design the layouts of their communities?
• Imagine you're in the Roman Empire and map out your land.
• Map out the community including the key places and sites of interest and then, with a partner classroom at a different school in another state or another country (preferable for an ESL classroom) exchange maps to get an idea about the other communities.
• Help the student develop a Sense of Place, by letting them research all the important aspects of their homes, etc., and then make a map showing what they have learned.
• Use maps to do research on weather patterns, geological features and the development of civilization.

Geography

• How does geography determine land use (city-towns layout, agricultural use... location to rivers, oceans, natural trade routes, etc.)
• Map the neighborhood to see how it grows. Are the newer homes built around the older homes or are they assimilated into them?
• Have students study and then map a different region of the country. Talk about the vegetation and activities that would be found in that region.

Art

• Create maps of the playground or a park from different perceptives--from the ground, from a higher point, from overhead.
• Build the perfect community that is not only pleasing to the eye but has all the elements needed for a successful community.

History

• Create a map of the Lewis and Clark trail through Oregon.
• Overlay current maps of your community over historical maps. Look for changes in land use, residential areas, farmlands, etc.
• Find a map of the community and break the map into sections. Research your section to find out the history of the area. Interview people who have lived in the area for a long time, or look in books to see what used to be in the area. Study the changes that have occurred within your area through time.
• Map your vision of what our town looked like in the 19th century (during early settlement).

Natural Science

• Track bird migrations. Take a look at the Journey North website (http://www.learner.org/jnorth/) to see how you can collaborate with 6000 other schools across the nation.
• Do a stream study, collecting data over time in several categories (chemical, biological, physical). Create a map with links to the data.
• Explore the watershed in which your school/community resides. Then map the watershed as a way to find out where the water you use comes from.
• Create maps of wetlands. There are several websites available for mapping wetlands, including WETMAAP-Wetland Education Through Maps and Aerial Photography and US Fish and Wildlife's Natural Wetland Inventory at http://wetlands.fws.gov/mapper_tool.htm
• Discover the diversity of ecosystems that exist in the world. Hands on the Land (http://www.blm.gov/education/ecosystem/handland/about.html) is a goverment-supported project in which students monitor a specific natural area and share their information via the Internet for other students to analyze. Not only can students publish the information the gathered, but they can compare their findings with that of the students across the country by mapping.
• Map out the agriculture around the community. Look at what is being grown or produced there (animals and crops), and possibly look at where the goods are exported.
• Create a general map of where your students live and then record on the map the number of butterflies students find around their home to go with a lesson on butterflies.

Elementary

• Give students a map of the school grounds, including unlabelled points identifying specific features, such as trees, play equipment, etc. Have students explore the school grounds with the map and label the features.
• A map is a great way to show children the importance of following directions.
• Help students to learn how they can get around town safely. They will be able to identify the streets where there are safe or block homes, where after-school activities take place, and ho to get home form all directions of the area.
• To introduce maps to Kindergartners, do a mini lesson on maps and how they help us, i.e. to find things. The students could then make maps of their classroom and label simple things like where they sit.
• Have students map their school and include such things as emergency exit routes.
• Use mapping to encourage students to learn the shape of their neighborhood or town and identify where the police station, fire station, parks, hospital, post office, courthouse, and library are.
• After completing a unit on fantasy literature, have students create a map of their fantasy world and write a summary of what the map includes.
• Map out the locations of where the children live. This could be used to teach students about directions, such as North, South, East and West. One could also discuss left and right and get the students to give directions on how to get to thier house from other points on the maps to a partner.
• Have students map out a fire escape for their home.
• Have students deign their ideal classroom.
• As the teacher, create a map of all the children in your class. Make a house with each child's name on it. The ask the children who lives closer to one another, further away? Who are neighbors? Introduce basic items to the elementary grades and expand from there in higher elementary.

Miscellaneous

• For any upcoming field trip the class could map out the area which they will be visiting.
• Use mapping to teach students how to read maps and find their way. Use maps to teach students how to tell someone else directions, such as: go north four blocks, turn right on Birch Street and so on.
• Introduce new students and parents to community resources. If someone has a strong background in ESOL, a map could be created in different languages for parents whose first language isn't English.
• Have the students divide into groups. Each group makes a block or neighborhood in a town. Each group is responsible for putting one special building on their block, such as: fire department, hospital, school, police station, etc. Then as a class, they can put their blocks together to make a town or city.