Mapping Skills and Creating a Community

Being able to read maps and understand how to locate various places is a necessary life skill. This requires an understanding of legends, coordinates, and scale. There are several fun activities that can be used to help with practicing these skills. See below for some ideas. (Note: scale has not been specifically addressed in the grid activities.)

The game Battleship has been around for years. I still remember playing our own version of this as a kid. My dad would make grids for us and we would draw out the ships and play for hours. It is a great way to learn how to read coordinates and locate specific spots.

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Designing classrooms, bedrooms, and treasure maps has always been fun to do. Reading coordinates and locating specific items or places is part of the fun of mystery maps.  I have created a set of different mapping grids and activities that explore some of these ideas. The sampler has 2 different mapping activities and a battleship grid for playing the game. Click on the image above to get your free copy.
If you are interested in getting several more activities for mapping, check out the product below.

Reading maps is only one part of mapping skills. Creating maps is another. When designing a map, it is good to have an understanding of what a community has in it. Planning a community is another activity that helps with understanding what necessities and conveniences are needed to help a community function well.
Several years ago, I created a unit with my class that I have replicated a few times. It is interactive and gives the students a sense of ownership as they design their own properties, community buildings, parks, waterways, etc. If you are interested in trying this with your students, you can check out the unit by clicking here or by clicking the image below.

Well, there you have it. I hope you have found something useful here today. If you have any other ideas, please share them in the comments below.