Grade 2
History/Social Science
Standard 2.2

Students demonstrate map skills by describing the
absolute and relative locations of people, places,
and environments.


 
Resources
Lesson Plans
Assessments
*Check your Open Court Student Toolbox  for cross-curricular activities that tie in with this standard, especially 15 Social Studies-Mapping Peter's Route.  This activity goes along with the story "The Tale of Peter Rabbit"  (see standard 3).  Check for many other ideas on the cards labeled in light green.

The Music Connection 2, Silver Burdett Ginn, 1995
The following musical lessons have a Social Studies connection which supports the teaching of this standard:
 Concepts
  1.  Unit 19, Lesson 1, pages78-79, "Hawaiian Rainbows"
 Themes
  1.  Unit 3, Lesson 1, pages 120-121, "I'm Flying Home"
  2.  Unit 6, Lesson 1, pages 140, "The Flower"
 Reading
  1.  Unit 2
  2.  Unit 2, Lesson 2, pages 219, "Rocky Mountain"
 

Connecting California's Classrooms to the World
http://score.rims.k12.ca.us/
This website is filled with resources and lessons by grade level.  Just click on to second grade, People Who Make a Difference and you will find  lessons that support this standard

Previously Published Data

Children's World Atlas 
Rand McNally Educational
Publishing - 1996 
CD-ROM, Mac, Win 
Grades 2-6 Desirable

Children's World Atlas
Rand McNally Educational
Publishing, 1996 
(CD-ROM, Mac, Win)


 
 
 

 

1.  Making a Salt-and-flour-Relief Map
 Children will learn a great deal if they make their own salt-and-flour map.  On a base such as plywood trace a copy of your area map in felt pen.  Mix enough water to three parts salt and one part flour to bring the substance to a dough-like consistency.  Cover the entire map  with a thin film of the mixture.  Add a layer at a time until the region takes on the contours of the lowlands, hills and mountains  of the area.  Add each new layer only to the previous dry layer.  Trace major rivers with a knife edge. Use water-based paints to paint the dry map.
See the following website for a detailed lesson:
http://www.eduplace.com/
ss/hmss/2/class/postings.html

2.  U.S. Map Drills 
 During a few minutes each day pull down the U.S. wall map.  Students using a pointer point to spots called out by the teacher.  Sample Drills:  locate directional words on the map, located students' state, trace outline of home state with pointer, locate and identify home state's border states, find mountains and rivers in home state, find capital of home state, trace boundary of the U.S., locate and identify oceans, locate  the largest state, find the island state, find and identify the country bordering us on the north, south, find a state that begins with A, B ,C, etc., find Washington D.C., find a state that borders a different country in the North and in the South.

3.  Using Grids
This website provides an activity integrates math, geography, and art.  Students make a map of their favorite room. They create a map, a map key, and a map index. Students use a grid to find and describe the location of specific places. Students use a map key and index to interpret symbols and locate places and objects on a map. 
 http://www.eduplace.com/
ss/act/usegrid.html

4.  Houghton Mifflin Activity Search
http://hmco.com/hmco/
school/search/activity.html
This website provides teachers in Grades K-8 with lesson plans for a variety of topics, including activities that support this standard.

5.  Select a book, story, or poem that you know is a class favorite, and help the students create a simple map that shows the movement of the story's plot in geographical terms. Some stories will lend themselves to this purpose better than others ("Little Red Riding Hood," for example), but even some picture books loved by pre-readers can provide enough material for a simple map. 
Students can draw their own maps at their desks, work together in cooperative pairs, or contribute ideas as an entire class to help you draw one large map on the chalkboard or bulletin board.

Previously Published Data

1.) Students will define rural, suburban, and urban after looking at pictures.

2.) Students will use a road map of the community to locate places on a map grid. (Depending on the location and availability of maps, the teacher may want to adapt this activity to use with a map of the school or create a map of a local park.)

3.) Students will use a chart of 6-10 things that has been prepared by the teacher to practice using a map and a grid to locate specific places. They will be able to do the following:

  • Name the park in A,5 
  • Name the stream that runs through C,2
  • Write the grid location for City Hall 
  • Identify the major street that crosses grid squares D, 3, 4, 5 

    • Write the grid location and the name of the park north of our school, etc. 

    4.) Students will recall the photographs or posters and the class descriptions of the terms rural, suburban and urban. They will define the terms.

    5.) When shown a road map of the community students will tell which term they might use to describe where they live. They will explain why they chose a particular term. 

    6.) Students will be able to find areas on a road map that are representative of symbols in the map key.

    7.) Students will look at pictures in texts, library books or from the Internet of places in California. They will decide which are rural, suburban, or urban.

    Have students pretend they want to run in an election for President of the United States. Have them tell why they want to be President and what they would do for the United States once they took office. 
    * Ask students to draw a picture of the President of the United States on a campaign poster.
    Previously Published Data

    1. Students can use a number-letter grid map of their community or school to locate places such as city parks (community map) or flagpole (school map)

    2. Students are able to identify rural, suburban and urban settings when shown various pictures.