Lesson Title: How People Change Maps

P2.5 Use data presented in social science tables, graphs, graphics, maps, and texts to
answer compelling and supporting questions.

Big/Powerful Ideas:
- Maps help you understand where you are in relation to other people and places.
- People change geography by creating cities and roads.
- Reading a map will help you know where you are and how to get somewhere.

Essential Questions:
- What can a map show you about various cultures, people, and history?
- How have maps changed over time?

Components Teacher Activity Student Activity

Opening Introduction of activity and big/powerful - Students start in their
ideas. Explain to students that: seats
Time: 5 minutes Maps help you understand where - Partner talk about how
you are in relation to other people people could change a
and places. map & background
- People change geography by knowledge of maps
creating cities and roads. - Group discussion
- Reading a map will help you know
where you are and how to get
somewhere.
Engage students in discussion about their
history and prior knowledge about maps.
Turn and talk with partner, then have a
few students raise their hands.
Development - Split students into four groups. - Students split into their
- Pass out maps to the groups. Each groups.
Time: 20 group receives a different map. - Students will talk
minutes - Explain that they are supposed to about/write down what
observe the different parts of the they see on the map. i.e
map, such as shapes, cities, roads, different colors,
or directions. landmarks, roads, and
cities.
- Walk around to ask questions to - Students will see by
encourage more discussion with listening and engaging
students. (formative assessment) in the discussion that
the geography of the US
 Questions:
- “Are there roads?”
- “What are the different landmarks
or areas you see?”
- “Are there any places on this map
you may have seen before?”
Group work will last about 10 minutes.
- Address the whole class and
instruct students to come to the
carpet.
Closure Discussion with the whole class on the
carpet
Time: 10 - Project maps on the screen
minutes - Discuss with students why they may
think that the US has changed over time.
- Who or what caused that?
- Explain that as people migrated to the
US from other places, the country began
to expand rapidly with people, which is
why the maps start to look different.
- Discuss how humans built roads and
cities, and continued to move further into
the US from the original colonies.
- Summative assessment questions:
- “How did the map change over time”
- “What did humans do to change the
maps?”
- “What direction does the map show that
people moved? (west)
Materials Four different maps of the US and how it
Needed changed over time, two copies for each
group.
Paper for students to write on.
has changed because of
people moving and
migrating, creating
cities.
- Students come to carpet to
discuss why people impact
geography.
- Students will understand the
meaning of the activity through
comparing all of the different
maps and see that they are all
of the same physical piece of
land but changed over time
because of human movement.
- Students will answer
questions asked by me
or give thumbs up or
down if they agree or
disagree with their
students.