Landforms and Compass Directions

2nd Grade Social StudiesGeography3 pages

About this worksheet

The sheet, headed "Landform Explorer," gives 2nd grade students three short geography tasks. They label pictures of a mountain, a river, an island, and a desert from a word bank. They read a compass rose and answer two questions, both with the answer South. Then they draw a map of a made-up island that must include at least one mountain, a long river, and a compass rose in the corner. The three pages support C3 Framework indicators D2.Geo.1.K-2 and D2.Geo.3.K-2, and an answers page lists the four landforms and both compass answers.

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Page 1 of 3

Landforms and Compass Directions: Geography - page 1
Landforms and Compass Directions: Geography - page 2
Landforms and Compass Directions: Geography - page 3

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Curriculum objectives covered

D2.Geo.1.K-2

“Construct maps, graphs, and other representations of familiar places.”

Draw Your Own Island, where students build their own map with landforms and a compass rose.

D2.Geo.3.K-2

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

The compass rose questions and the landform labels, which use a simple map tool and pictures to identify physical features.

What's inside this worksheet

Match the Landforms

Students write Mountain, River, Island, or Desert under four cartoon pictures, including a sandy island with one palm tree and a desert with a cactus.

Compass Directions

Beside a compass rose labeled N, S, E, and W, students say which direction points to the bottom of the map and which is behind them when they face North.

Draw Your Own Island

Students draw a map of an island they discovered, following a checklist of one mountain, a long river, and a compass rose.

How teachers use it

Map center

Leave colored pencils and a real compass at a center. Students check which way North points in the classroom before they add a compass rose to their island.

Assessment snapshot

You can tell from the island map who understands a compass rose. Look for N at the top, since plenty of students scatter the letters in random spots.

First day of the unit

Label the four landform pictures together, then ask which one is closest to your school. A river or hill nearby makes the word bank feel local.

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