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Activities: You Are a Geographer

There are many different kinds of maps — physical maps, political maps, topographical maps, and so on. The type of map you use depends on your purpose. Sometimes you might want to know a certain kind of information about an area, and other times you will need different information. You can probably find a map to tell you almost anything you want.

One place where you can find different kinds of maps is on the Internet. The "Maps" section of the WisKids Library links to several Web sites where you can find maps.

Below are two activities that make use of online maps.

Activity 1
Choose one of the mapping situations below or make up your own. Using the U.S. Census Bureau's map-making site, U.S. Gazetteer, create a map of your town or a different area that would be useful for your imaginary purpose. First, decide whether you want to zoom in or zoom out.

The U.S. Gazetteer lets you create maps with about 20 different features, but select only the ones that would be useful to you in the situation you've chosen. (Including unneeded features will make the map harder to read.) Then print out the map. List the features you included in your map and explain why you used each one.

Mapping Situations

You are moving to Wisconsin and you need to choose a city where you want to live.
You are a city planner deciding where to put new houses, a shopping center, and a park.
You are a tourist and need to find your way around town.
You are a farmer looking for land to buy.
You are deciding where to go on a bike ride with some friends for the whole day.
You are a truck driver looking for the best route across the state.
You are a county planner trying to decide where to build new roads and bicycle routes.
You are the owner of a chain of fast-food restaurants and you want to decide where to locate
your next store.
You are going to a different county to hunt and fish.
You are a politician planning a campaign trip around the state.

Activity 2
From the map sites in the WisKids Library, choose two maps of Wisconsin (or another state that you are studying) that are quite different from one another. Make a list of the features of each map. Explain the purpose of each map, based on the features it uses.

Note for teachers:
These activities can be used with "Maps, Our Windows on the World" (program 13).
If you develop other activities using these maps, please e-mail them to us so we can add
them to the site to share with other teachers.

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