Two reference pages hold the core of a 3rd grade map skills unit. A vocabulary table defines seven terms, from map and globe to equator and symbol. Four Big Ideas boxes cover the continents, the five oceans, cardinal directions with the "Never Eat Soggy Waffles" memory aid, and map tools. A labeled park map and five key questions sit at the bottom. The 2-page organizer suits C3 Framework D2.Geo.3.3-5 units and has no answer key.
D2.Geo.3.3-5
“Use maps of different scales to describe the locations of cultural and environmental characteristics.”
The vocabulary table and the map tools box, especially scale, which students need to read a park map, a town map, or a world map.
Seven terms with short definitions: map, globe, compass rose, scale, map key (legend), equator, and symbol.
Four boxes list the seven continents, the five oceans, the four cardinal directions, and what a title, a scale, and a grid each do.
A town park map shows a title, compass rose, distance scale, and a key for trees, a playground, and a pond. Five questions ask, for example, how a map and a globe differ and why a scale matters.
Notebook insert
Print both pages at 90 percent and glue them side by side inside a social studies notebook. Students then have the vocabulary on hand for every map task in the unit.
Test prep
Use the five questions at the bottom as a partner quiz the day before a unit test. Map versus globe is the one most students answer vaguely.
Word of the day
Take one vocabulary term each morning and find it on a classroom map. Equator and scale are the two that need a real map to make sense.
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