Curated OER
Orienteering
Everything you wanted to know about orienteering, and more! Take your class on an adventure with this creative activity. You will need to gather some supplies and materials and maps for your specific location, but the unit sounds like it...
Curated OER
A Contouring We Go
Students examine the built environment and infrastructures of their community by constructing contour equipment, using the equipment, and comparing their results to current topographical maps of the same area
Curated OER
How Big is the Playground: Creating a Map
Students create a topographical map of an area outside of the school. For this mapping lesson, students compile data on angles, distances, and key landmarks for a predetermined area on the school grounds to create a map using Geometer's...
Curated OER
High And Dry
Students explore the similarities and differences between desert environments and their local environment. After examining desert scened painted by Georgia O'Keeffe, they discuss the elements of their desert landscapes. Students use...
Curated OER
Mapping Potato Island
Students create their own topographical map using a potato. In this hands on lesson students construct a topographical map and explain what contour lines are using a potato.
Curated OER
Building a Topographic Model
Learners explore the features of a topographic map. They make paper models that portray, in three-dimensions, features represented by contour lines on a topographic map. Students demonstrate different elevations shown on a...
Curated OER
TE Activity: The Trouble with Topos
Young scholars study the uses of topographical maps including the many forms that they take. They discover that the map features show its intended use such as city maps, wilderness maps, and state maps. They complete a worksheet in which...
Curated OER
Mapping Your Watershed
Students examine student created maps to locate geographical features such as hills, cliffs, flat meadows, stream beds, etc. They use watershed topo maps to identify landmarks, water flow, and elevation of several features. In addition,...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Choosing the Best Contours
Using GeoMapApp's interactive elevation base map, experiment to find the best contours for sensibly displaying topography in different landscape regions. Students use contours in different landscape regions to find contour...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Topos, Compasses, and Triangles, Oh My!
In this activity, students will learn how to actually triangulate using a compass, topographical (topo) map and view of outside landmarks. It is best if a field trip to another location away from school is selected. The location should...