This teaching packet is for grades five through eight, and it is organized around geographic themes: location, place, relationships, movement, and regions. There are four full lessons that are complete with posters, weblinks, and...

Students explore watersheds through the use of a topographic map. They observe topographical maps and discuss their characteristics. In groups, students create a model clay island and make a topographical map of it. Afterward, groups...

Put your students' map skills to the test with this engaging cross-curricular project. Given the task of developing new hiking trails for their local community, young cartographers must map out beginner and intermediate...

Underclassmen create a cone-shaped landform and then draw a contour map for it. Then they examine a quadrangle (which was easily located with an online search), and relate it to what they experienced. The accompanying worksheet is...

Students apply knowledge of topographical maps and how computer programs are used to make 3-D models of areas that humans have never visited. They view a Mars Canyon movie, then map the canyon.

Students use topographical maps students explain the challenges involved in building the railroad in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

In small groups, energy engineers research and make a topographic map of a marine natural resource. They report to the rest of the class pros and cons of extracting their assigned resource. The two activities may take up to four class...

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

Students plan a route across Donner Summit using topographical maps in order to understand the challenges involved in constructing the railroad in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. In this history lesson plan, students first discover how to...

Pupils explore Mount Shasta and various locations on Mars to examine ways geographical data can be represented. They study topographic maps and translating data from 2-Dimensions to 3-Dimensions.

Second graders increase their usage of maps and understand how maps are important in their lives. Students define what an atlas is, and to enforce the students' definition of what an atlas is, they also make their own atlas.

Students design a train route using a topographical map. In this historical and spatial thinking lesson plan, students must plan a route through the Sierra Nevada mountains that a train could physically travel. Links to printable student...

A set of questions on weathering and erosion are found in this resource. Some of them can be used as discussion topics or lecture guides. There are also suggested activities such as the examination of topographic quadrangles and the...

Students describe in words and graphic displays the elevation or depression profile of sections of Mars' Olympus Mons and/or Valles Marineris. They explain how orbiting spacecraft build up global maps one data slice at a time.

Fourth graders collect and explore different maps and their uses before using the program Pixie to create maps of geographic features, political features, and economic information for the state in which they live.

Eighth graders map their route from their local community to Salt Lake City, Utah for the Winter Olympics. Using atlases, they gather topographical information and use the internet to research any landmarks they might pass on the way....

Students build a model ocean using a variety of materials representing the various levels of the ocean. They collect data about the ocean floor in a partner activity. They practice working with topographical mapping grids.

Fourth graders draw a rudimentary map of the state of Utah, dividing it into the three regions: the Great Basin, the Colorado Plateau, and the Rocky Mountain Region.

Fourth graders create salt maps of a state and indicate its regions. They include topographical elements including mountains, valleys, lowlands and major water bodies and a compass rose.

Collaborative earth science groups create a working model of a watershed. Once it has been developed, you come along and introduce a change in land use, impacting the quality of water throughout their watershed. Model making is an...

Most of the states in the union have a nickname. Using the New Mexico state quarter as an example, pupils try to figure out why particular states have particular nicknames. They think about all the reasons New Mexico might be called...

Young scholars watch a demonstration to introduce them to the consistency of mudflows and how they move. In groups, they compare and contrast volcanic avalanches and mudflows. They create their own model of a volcano, simulate how it...

Students engage in several activities to explore Idaho and Social Studies themes. Using an variety of media, students become familiar with Idaho's geography and geology.

Seventh graders complete a unit of lessons on Native Americans. They analyze Native American cultures, create a Native American artifact for a Living Museum, and develop a tour of the museum using a digital camera and a Powerpoint...