Mapping

We spent a couple of days on mapping. First we read Katy and the Big Snow. This book has an illustration of a map of town where Katy (the snow plow) has to maneuver through to clear the roads so the town can function again. Next we mapped out our house with all the rooms. Then I asked Ryan which direction North, South (pictured above), East, and West (pictured below) were. Surprisingly, he got them all correct. I think because we've talked about it before when we took the dogs for a walk and he just remembered it.

The next day, I have Ryan put a map together of our street with houses, trees, and cars. Then he did a map of our neighborhood with the compass rose pointing North. After all the hands on activities, I talked to him about the various types of maps such as a treasure map, a strategic map (like one used in battle), road map, state map, and an atlas, and how maps can be written directions, visual, or a combination of both. We discussed common maps symbols and looked through some examples of maps in a geography book, a wall map, and a map of the solar system. This was a fun lesson for both of us.