Download make a contour map overview directions

Yourwebbrowser(Safari7)isoutofdate.Formoresecurity,comfortand
thebestexperienceonthissite: Updateyourbrowser Ignore
Activitydevelop
EducatorVersion
MAKE A CONTOUR MAP
Howdoesacontourmapshowelevation?
OVERVIEW
Studentscreatethree-dimensionalclaymountainsandthenusethemtomake
contourmaps.
Forthecompleteactivitywithmediaresources,visit:
http://www.nationalgeographic.org/activity/make-contour-map/
DIRECTIO NS
1.Showstudentsmapimagesandintroducetheactivity.
Displaytheimagesoftopographic,orcontour,maps.Makesurestudents
understandthatcontourmaps,though2-dimensional,usecontourlinestoshow
elevationabovesealevel.PointouttheflattestandsteepestareasontheCrater
Lakemap.Askstudentstodescribehowthemapusescontourlinestoshow
whichterrainissteepandwhichisflat.Thentellstudentsthattheyaregoingto
maketheirowncontourmapswithDOGSTAILS.Dividestudentsintopairs.
Provideeachpairwiththefollowingsupplies:twosheetsofdrawingpaper,aball
ofclay,markersofdifferentcolors,severalfeetoffishingline,andapencil.
2.Havepairsdraworientationlinesonthedrawingpaper.
Havepairsdraworientationlinesonthedrawingpaper.Tellstudentstodrawa
straightverticallineandthenastraighthorizontallineintersectingittocreate
fourequalquadrants.Explainthatthepeakofthemountainwilllineupwiththe
1of7
intersection,sothateachmountainappearstobedividedintofourquadrants.
3.Havepairsofstudentsworktogethertomakeclaymountains.
Havepairsshapetheirclayintoamountainonthedrawingpaperandmarkits
peakwithadot.Askstudentstolineupthedotwiththeintersectionofthetwo
lines,anddrawthelinesacrossthemountainsotheclaymountainisclearly
dividedintothefourquadrants.
4.Havepairscutlayersoutofthemountains.
Next,havepairsusetheirpencilstomarkthreeringsontheirclaymountainsto
indicatedifferentelevations.Thefirstringshouldbeaquarterofthewaydown
fromthepeak;thenextshouldbehalfwaydown;andthethirdshouldbethreequartersofthewaydown.Thenhavestudentsholdthefishinglineverytautand
useittosliceallthewaythroughtheclayalongtherings.Whentheyfinish,
eachstudentshouldhavefourseparatelayers.
5.Havepairsusetheclaylayerstodrawcontourlines.
Havepairsre-draworientationlinesonthesecondsheetofdrawingpaper.Ask
pairstoputthebottomlayerofclayonthesecondpieceofdrawingpaperand
outlineit.Thenhavestudentsremovethebottomlayerofclayandplacethe
nextlargestlayerofclaywithinthefirstoutline.Havestudentsoutlinethislayer
andrepeattheprocesswiththetoptwolayers.Makesurestudentsrealizethey
havedrawncontourlinesforatopographicmap.
6.HavepairscompletethecontourmapswithDOGSTAILS.
Tellpairstoassumethatthebaseofthemountainisatsealevel,or0feetof
elevation.Havestudentslabelthebaseofthemountainonthecontourmap
with0feetandthenassignconsistentelevationstotheotherlevelsusingan
elevationrangeof100feetperline.Tellstudentstheywillcoloreachlayer—the
spacebetweeneachcontourline—adifferentcolor,andcreateamapkeyto
2of7
showwhatelevationseachcolorrepresents.Explainthattheycanuseanycolor
butblue,becausebluerepresentswateroncontourmaps.Havestudentscolor
andcreatetheirkeys.Finally,havestudentsaddanymissingDOGSTAILS
information:
Date:whenthemapwasmade
Orientation:direction(northarroworcompassrose)
Grid:linesthatcrosstoformsquares
Scale:mapdistance
Title:what,where,andwhen
Author:whomadethemap
Index:thepartofthegridwherespecificinformationcanbelocated
Legend:whatthesymbolsmean
Sources:whoprovidedinformationforthemap
7.Haveawhole-classdiscussionabouttheimagesofcontourmapsfromStep
1.
Asaclass,revisitthecontourmapimages.Havestudentslookattheelevations
anddetails.Askstudentstodescribethedifferencesinelevationthattheyseein
themapimages.Addressanyquestionstheymayhaveabouttopographic
maps.
InformalAssessment
Askstudentstoexplainhowthecontourmapshowstheelevationoftheclay
model.
ExtendingtheLearning
UseNatGeo’sTOPO!Explorertofindandanalyzetopographicmapsofyour
localarea.
3of7
O BJECTIVES
Subjects&Disciplines
Geography
Cartography
LearningObjectives
Studentswill:
makeacontourmapbasedonaclaymodel
color-codethelayersandcreateamapkey
labelthemapwithDOGSTAILSinformation
explainwhatinformationthecontourmapconveys
TeachingApproach
Learning-for-use
TeachingMethods
Hands-onlearning
Visualinstruction
SkillsSummary
Thisactivitytargetsthefollowingskills:
CriticalThinkingSkills
4of7
Applying
Remembering
Understanding
GeographicSkills
AnalyzingGeographicInformation
OrganizingGeographicInformation
NationalStandards,Principles,and
Practices
N AT I O N A L G E O G RA P H Y S TA N DA RDS
•Standard1:
Howtousemapsandothergeographicrepresentations,geospatial
technologies,andspatialthinkingtounderstandandcommunicateinformation
PREPARATIO N
WhatYou’llNeed
M AT E RI A LS YO U P RO V I DE
Ballsofclay(3"indiameter)
Drawingpaper
Fishingline
Markers
Pencils
RE Q U I RE D T E C H N O LO G Y
InternetAccess:Optional
TechSetup:1computerperclassroom,Projector
5of7
P H Y S I C A L S PA C E
Classroom
G RO U P I N G
Small-groupinstruction
RE S O U RC E S P RO V I DE D: W E BS I T E S
NationalGeographicMaps:Topo!Explorer
RE S O U RC E S P RO V I DE D: I M A G E S
ContourMaps
BACKGRO U ND & VO CABU L ARY
BackgroundInformation
Earth’ssurfacehasmanydifferentkindsoflandformsthatvarywidelyinshape
andelevation.Contourmapsshowtheelevationsofthesesurfacefeatures,
whichallowsyoutolookata2-dimensionalmaptovisualizetheEarthinthree
dimensions.
PriorKnowledge
[]
RecommendedPriorActivities
IntroductiontoContourMaps
Vocabulary
6of7
Term
contour
Partof
Definition
Speech
noun
representationofanarea'selevationpointsorslopes.
elevation
noun
heightaboveorbelowsealevel.
landform
noun
specificnaturalfeatureontheEarth'ssurface.
quadrant
noun
relief
noun
terrain
noun
map
topographic
map
noun
oneoffourpartsofagrid.Quadrantsaredividedinto
northwest,northeast,southeastandsouthwest.
thedifferenceinelevationbetweenareasofaspecific
region.
topographicfeaturesofanarea.
mapshowingnaturalandhuman-madefeaturesofthe
land,andmarkedbycontourlinesshowingelevation.
ForFurtherExploration
Websites
USGS:TheNationalMap
©1996–2017NationalGeographicSociety.Allrightsreserved.
7of7