2 Issaquah Maps
Competencies: Social Studies, Geography
Geography 3.1: Understands the physical characteristics, cultural characteristics, and location of places, regions, and spatial patterns on the Earth’s surface.
Objective: Students name all of the things a community has such as post office, library, school, park, museum, etc and create a map of their own community. They become familiar with a map of Issaquah, map symbols and features. Students create their own map of where they live and play.
Materials:
- Large paper (construction or butcher), pencils, pens, or crayons, basic map of Issaquah as a guide
- Optional 3-D version: recycled boxes, empty containers, cans, etc., glue or tape
- Teacher resource: article on Turf Maps if interested (it is not necessary to read this in order to do the activity with your class)
Procedure:
- As a class, discuss locations that can be found in communities, “All communities have…”
- Examine the map of the community of Issaquah.
- Find the location of your school on the map.
- Help students locate approximately where they live on the map. Discuss symbols on the map.
- Students make a Turf Map. Students draw their own map of the area where they live, play, hang out, and travel.
- Students may want to show areas that a special, disliked, paths that they frequently travel, barriers, etc. The map does not need to be exact in scale, direction or size.
- Discuss features that they might want to include such as their home, school, grocery store, park, library, museum, or beach.
- Model how to use symbols and make a key or legend.
Extensions:
- The group can combine neighborhood maps and make one large map of Issaquah on butcher paper.
- Using the map of Issaquah, draw a large outline of the city on butcher paper. The teacher/leader will need to draw simple regional landmarks first to give participants a reference point. For example, the teacher/leader may draw the Lake Sammamish shoreline, their own school, I-90, Gilman Village, Costco, Cougar Mt., Squak Mt. etc. Once a basic outline of the city is laid out, the group can locate familiar roads and landmarks. This can become a three dimensional (3-D) map if the group makes buildings, houses, parks, etc. out of recycled materials such as old milk cartons, cereal boxes, cardboard, etc.
Downloads:
Activity 2 (DOC)
Activity 2 (PDF)
Turf Maps