Maps and Globes

Overview

Across seven 30-minute lessons, students will learn to read and use maps and globes. They will identify map features, use cardinal and intermediate directions, locate the equator, and build an age-appropriate understanding of latitude and longitude. Students will compare information from maps and globes and complete a short research task.

Learning intentions

• Students will be able to identify the title, map key or legend, scale, and compass rose.
• Students will be able to use cardinal and intermediate directions to describe locations.
• Students will be able to explain the purposes of the equator, latitude, and longitude.
• Students will be able to compare information shown on a map and a globe.
• Students will be able to use facts and details to complete a short geography research task.

Success criteria

• I can identify and explain four parts of a map.
• I can use north, south, east, west, northeast, northwest, southeast, and southwest to describe location.
• I can locate and explain the equator, latitude, and longitude.
• I can use a map and globe to find information and explain one similarity and one difference.
• I can support my answers with facts, details, or evidence from a map, globe, or text.

Curriculum links

• Reading informational text: Use information from illustrations and words to demonstrate understanding.
• Reading informational text: Compare the most important points and details in two texts on the same topic.
• Reading informational text: Describe relationships using sequence and cause-and-effect language.
• Writing: Conduct a short research project and develop a topic with facts, definitions, and details.

Lesson structure (7 lessons, 30 minutes each)

Part 1: Reading Maps and Globes

1. 0–5 min · Hook and activate knowledge. Teacher displays a map and globe using the map-and-globe introduction deck and asks, “How can these tools help someone find a place?” Students share what they notice and name any map or globe features they already know.

2. 5–15 min · Teach map features. Teacher models the title, map key or legend, scale, and compass rose, explaining that each feature gives different information. Students locate each feature on a classroom map and explain its purpose to a partner.

3. 15–25 min · Guided practice. Teacher distributes the map and globe investigation worksheet and models one question. Students use a map and globe to answer questions about symbols, distance, direction, and the places shown.

4. 25–30 min · Check and reflect. Teacher revisits the deck and asks students to identify the most useful map feature for a given situation. Students complete the sentence, “A map key helps me because…”

Part 2: Directions and Location

5. Days 3–5: 0–5 min · Review and movement warm-up. Teacher uses the direction practice slides to review the compass rose and leads students in facing north, south, east, and west. Students use their bodies and classroom objects to demonstrate each direction.

6. Days 3–5: 5–15 min · Model location language. Teacher teaches cardinal directions and then introduces intermediate directions: northeast, northwest, southeast, and southwest. Students describe locations on a displayed grid using the sentence frame, “___ is ___ of ___.”

7. Days 3–5: 15–25 min · Map challenge. Teacher gives pairs a map from the worksheet and calls out locations or routes, including immediate directions such as “move two spaces north, then one space east.” Students trace routes, use compass language, and explain how they know they are correct.

8. Days 3–5: 25–30 min · Quick assessment. Teacher displays three location questions from the direction practice slides. Students answer independently, then explain one answer using a complete sentence.

Part 3: Global Position and Comparison

9. Days 6–7: 0–7 min · Introduce global lines. Teacher uses the latitude-and-longitude teaching slides to show the equator, latitude, and longitude. Students observe a globe and explain that the equator divides Earth into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, while latitude and longitude help locate places.

10. Days 6–7: 7–17 min · Guided globe and map reading. Teacher models how the equator appears on a globe and how lines of latitude run east-west while lines of longitude run north-south. Students label or identify these features on the worksheet and use map or globe evidence to answer “where,” “when,” “why,” or “how” questions.

11. Days 6–7: 17–25 min · Compare and research. Teacher places a world map and globe side by side and prompts students to compare what each shows. In pairs, students record two similarities, two differences, and three facts about one selected place, using information from the map, globe, and a short teacher-provided text.

12. Days 6–7: 25–30 min · Share and exit ticket. Teacher facilitates brief sharing and displays the final prompts in the latitude-and-longitude teaching slides. Students complete the worksheet exit ticket: define the equator, identify one map feature, and explain one difference between a map and a globe.

Resources

• the map-and-globe introduction deck
• the map and globe investigation worksheet
• Classroom world map
• Physical globe
• Student atlases, if available
• Pencils, crayons, and highlighters
• Short teacher-provided informational text about a selected place
• Board or chart paper

Assessment

• Listen for accurate use of map-feature vocabulary and cardinal or intermediate directions during partner work.
• Check worksheet responses for correct identification of map features, the equator, latitude, longitude, and evidence-based comparisons.
• Use the final exit ticket to determine whether students can explain the purpose of a map feature and compare a map with a globe.

Differentiation

• Provide a labeled reference card or enlarged map, color-code direction words, and use sentence frames such as “___ is ___ of ___” and “A globe shows ___, while a map shows ___.”
• Pair students strategically and allow students to demonstrate understanding orally, by pointing, drawing, or writing.
• Support EAL students with picture vocabulary, gestures, repeated modeling, and explicit teaching of words such as location, symbol, distance, equator, latitude, and longitude.
• For students needing additional support, focus first on the four cardinal directions and use a simplified map. Advanced learners can describe multi-step routes, explain why different map projections may look different, or research a place using three sources of information.