Mapping Lesson Plan by Lindsay D'Agostini
Objectives:
* The students will use an atlas to locate places in Canada and China.
* The students will use the latitude-longitude grid system, to locate China
on a simple world map and/or globe.
* The students will read and interpret maps/legends showing physical
features and regions.
* The students will acquire information by reading, listening, and
viewing.
Materials:
National Geographic Atlas, Mapping Skills Scavenger Hunt Worksheet, pencils, world map(s), access to a more than one computer, and student list (for them to check off at each station)
Anticipatory set:
Start the lesson off by having a discussion with the students about where China is located in the world (i.e. which continent and hemisphere it is in and the countries that surround it). Discuss China’s location in comparison to Canada on a world map and explain that today we are going to do a paired activity having to do with mapping skills. This activity is like a scavenger hunt in the sense that the students will have to search out for the right answers. The first five groups that complete the activity correctly will get a prize (the prize for this activity is to teach the rest of the class the correct answers once everyone is finished).
Procedure:
The students will be introduced to using an Atlas. Students will get into groups of two and the class will go over the table of contents, the index, specific areas of the atlas, and what pages they can find simple world maps, maps of Canada, and maps of China. Once the students are given the background knowledge they need to complete the mapping activity, the class will go over the mapping worksheet. Explain to the students that this exercise is an interactive one which involves moving about the classroom and searching for the right answers. Go over the questions in the worksheet and make sure there are no questions or confusion about the activity. Discuss the coordinate system and how to use it (see coordinate system at the end of the lesson).Once the activity is clearly outlined and understood by the students, the groups can get started (independent practice).
Each group is given an atlas and so the questions relating to using the atlas can be done quickly and simultaneously. However, some of the questions involve using one of the five world maps that will be in the classroom for this activity and therefore the students will have to take turns using these resources. Still other questions can be answered by using the computer to access a designated site and the students can use the computer in the classroom or get permission to use a computer in the library by answering a question correctly about China (i.e. what countries share a border with China?). Students have to check their names off a list at each site they go to to make sure that they are not copying from one another.
Once the students are finished their worksheet, the teacher looks over the group’s answers to make sure each one is correct. When students are finished, they join a group that is not finished to help them find the correct answers. The first five groups will be given the opportunity to teach the answers to the questions in front of the class.
Closing:
The ten students will each get to go over one of the questions with the class; acting like the teacher to make sure everyone understood the activity and was successful. Not only will this check for understanding with the other groups, but it will also be a lot of fun for the ten students to get a chance to imitate the teacher.
Assessment:
The informal assessment for this activity is the observation and anecdotal records the teacher does while the groups are doing their scavenger hunt. The anecdotal records will only be for specific incidents that occur during the activity (i.e. two students are off task, one student is doing all the work, the groups are not being respectable to each other or to other group members, or a particular incident occurs with disrespecting the classroom or the material within it). The formal assessment for this activity is the worksheet that is to be handed in once completed. Each student will complete their own map worksheet even though they are working in pairs. This worksheet will give the teacher an idea of what the students understand and what they do not and will provide important pre-skills for the students to use in future lessons where they have to make a China map and provide a simulated tour of a particular area of China.
Modifications:
Special needs students will partner up with a compassionate student who is their friend. They will also have student guidance in completing the worksheet.
Coordinate system:
Longitude lines are made by circles that intersect with both the North and the South Poles. Each longitude can be thought of as dividing the Earth in half. Longitudes are measured in half circles of 0° to 180° East and from 0° to 180° West from the Royal Greenwich Observatory in Greenwich, England. Latitude is measured as an angle from the equator of the Earth (0°) to the North Pole (90° North) or to the South Pole (90° South). Think of the center of the Earth as the latitudes vertex and the plane made by the equator as the adjacent side or base of the angle. Latitude lines are made by circles that run parallel to the equator’s plane, and grow progressively smaller as they get closer to the poles. Explain these two definitions to the class and do some examples with the students on the world map (guided practice).
Resources:
Latitude and Longitude. Cognitive Technologies Corporation, 1996.
http://www.cogtech.com/EXPLORER/lat-long.htm
National Geographic. National Geographic Atlas of the World, 7th ed. National Geographic, 1999.
Mapping Skills Scavenger Hunt
Answer all of the questions fully with complete sentences. This worksheet will be marked out of 20.
These questions can be answered using an atlas.
1. According to the landscape legend on the China map in the atlas, what 3 physical features does China have the most of?
The 3 physical features China has the most of are mixed, semi evergreen-deciduous, coniferous forest, semi desert and desert areas.
2. What is the capital city of China? What is the capital city of Canada? Explain how you know this from looking at a map in the atlas.
The capital city of China is Beijing and the capital city of Canada is Ottawa. You can tell this because there is a circle with a star inside of it on the capital city of a country.
3. List two deserts in China.
Two deserts in China can be, Taklimakan, Mu us, or the Gobi desert.
4. What Province is the city, Kuujjuac located in? (Hint: it is in eastern Canada) Describe what part of the province it is located in and what large body of water it is close to.
Kuujjuac is in the northern part of Quebec, just off of the Ungava Bay.
These questions can be answered using a world map (on the wall).
5. What are the lateral and longitudinal coordinates of the capital city in China?
Beijing is at 40 ° East 116 ° South.
6. What are the lateral and longitudinal coordinates of Edmonton?
Edmonton is located at 55° West 115° North.
7. What major physical feature in China is located at 27° East 87° South?
Mount Everest is located at those coordinates.
These questions can be answered by using the website:
http://www.theodora.com/wfb/china_geography.html
8. How does China rank as the largest country in the world?
China is the third largest country in the world.
9. List four countries China shares a border with and explain what a land boundary is.
Four countries that China shares a border with can be from this list: Afghanistan, Bhutan, Burma, Hong Kong, India, Kazakhstan, North Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Macau, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia (northeast), Russia (northwest), Tajikistan, and Vietnam.
A land boundary is the border of land between the two countries that they both share.
10. What seas are within the vicinity of China?
The Yellow Sea, the South China Sea, and the East China Sea are the three seas that are within the vicinity of China.
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