Land and Water Sort

1st Grade Social StudiesMaps and Globes3 pages

About this worksheet

The "Earth Explorer Museum" mixed up its displays, and 1st grade students fix them by sorting 12 places into Land Only, Water Only, or Both Land and Water. The word bank includes mountain, ocean, beach, island, pond, playground, and swimming pool. After the sort, students name the trickiest word and add one new place to each group. The answer key places Beach alone under Both and accepts Island there if a student explains it. It supports the C3 Framework indicators D2.Geo.3.K-2 and D2.Geo.6.K-2.

Remix for free

Land and Water Sort: Maps and Globes - page 1

Land and Water Sort: Maps and Globes - page 2

Land and Water Sort: Maps and Globes - page 3

Curriculum objectives covered

D2.Geo.3.K-2

“Use maps, globes, and other simple geographic models to identify cultural and environmental characteristics of places.”

The sort asks students to classify places the way a globe shows them, as land or water, with the museum globe picture as a model.

D2.Geo.6.K-2

“Identify some cultural and environmental characteristics of specific places.”

Question 1 makes students explain what a beach or an island is like, and why each sits on the line between land and water.

What's inside this worksheet

Word Bank

A grid of 12 places: Mountain, Ocean, Beach, Hill, River, Island, Forest, Pond, Playground, Lake, Swimming Pool, and Backyard.

Sorting Table

Students write each word into one of three columns headed Land Only, Water Only, and Both Land and Water.

Think About It

Question 1 asks which place was the trickiest to sort and why. Question 2 asks for one new idea for each group.

Answer Key

Land Only has six places, Water Only has five including Swimming Pool, and Beach goes under Both. Example new ideas include desert, puddle, and swamp.

How teachers use it

Globe first

Spin a real globe and let students point to land and water before they sort. The blue and green make the column headings easy to remember.

Class debate

Save time for the island. The key lists it as land, but many students say it is both, and hearing their reasons is the best part of the lesson.

Small-group center

Print the word bank on card stock so a group can sort the cards on a table first. They copy the final sort onto the sheet.

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