A NOTE TO TEACHERS
There are many ways to incorporate MapMaker into learning, and it’s easy for students to save and share maps they create. In the process, they can hone essential 21st-century skills in data analysis, critical thinking, data-driven decision making, and spatial thinking.
Learning with MapMaker can be incorporated into multiple subjects. For example:
- As students read maps—considered informational text—they develop literacy skills.
- In math class, students using MapMaker apply scale, ratios, estimation, spatial understanding, and data visualization to real world topics.
- Analyzing data and recognizing patterns at different scales on Earth’s surface connects the practices, skills, and crosscutting concepts of national and many state science standards.
- Applications for social studies, history, geography, and world languages are endless.
These are just a few ways MapMaker’s learning approaches address state and national standards for literacy, math, and also the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) standards for social studies, and the National Geography Standards.
MapMaker is one of many resources the National Geographic Society offers as part of its commitment to geography education.
ACTIVITIES TO USE WITH MAPMAKER
A Latitude/Longitude Puzzle
Use latitude, longitude, and research on characteristics of different states and regions to solve a puzzle.
(Grades 3-4)
Guess the Place
Play a guessing game, using questions and maps, to identify the name of a city, state, country, or major physical feature in a continent of your choosing, or in the United States.
(Grades 3-12+)
Tectonic Plates and Physical Features
Use an online map to guide students through an analysis of Earth’s tectonic plates, how they interact, and the shape and location of physical features.
(Grades 4-10)
Backyard Bioblitz
Observe and identify living things in your community and then document what you found and where.
(Grades 1-8)
Energy Use Over Time
Discover how energy use has changed in countries worldwide over the past 40 years. Understanding how each region of the world is consuming energy makes it possible to learn how to use energy in more efficient ways.
(Grades 5-12+)
Preserving Biodiversity Through Protected Areas
Explore marine and terrestrial areas currently protected in an effort to preserve Earth’s biodiversity. Consider how scientists, businesses, and governments use this information to make good policy decisions.
(Grades 5-12+)