Are you looking for engaging and simple Mapping Earth’s Landforms activities? In this post you will find my top ways to introduce, teach, and practice these concepts with your 4th graders.
Students are expected to be able to read topographic maps, identify mountains, continental boundaries, and so much more!
Although I’ve come to love teaching this unit, it wasn’t always the case. The students did not find the lessons interesting, but I’ve come up with some engaging lesson activities that students love and teachers find extremely simple to teach.
The NGSS Standard
4-ESS2-2. Analyze and interpret data from maps to describe patterns of Earth’s features. Maps can include topographic maps of Earth’s land and ocean floor, as well as maps of the locations of mountains, continental boundaries, volcanoes, and earthquakes.
Mapping Earth’s Landforms Activities Mini Unit
This Mapping Earth’s Landforms mini-unit is chock-full of engaging activities for your 4th-grade students! It includes both a printable version and a digital Google Slides version. Use it in any classroom or homeschool setting. The printable version is PRINT and GO, so it puts the ease into teaching.
Here is the list of activities included in this resource:
- KWL chart
- Answer questions from a youtube video
- compare and contrast two images of landforms
- vocabulary word chart
- sort the images (plain, mountain, volcano)
- reading passages and questions
- a video link about Earthquakes and questions
- “place an X” on the map where there could be earthquakes
- reading maps with a question prompt
- 3-2-1 What have you learned so far?
- Choice board final activity
Observe a Volcano Map
Use this awesome online tool to have students learn about different volcanoes that may be in the area they live in or in the surrounding areas. They can do a research project on one of the volcanoes they find and share it with their class. Their presentation can be completed as a Google Slide or a paper and pencil poster.
Students will love this web-based tool to learn more in-depth about the locations of volcanoes and where they are placed on a map.
Analyze a Community Topographic Map
You can have students sketch a map of their school to get some hands-on practice of sketching maps. Make sure you teach your students about keys. I would not worry about having things to scale at this point. Then you will have students view and analyze a community topographic map. If you google one, you should be able to find one easily.
Here are some things you can do with these maps:
- Trace traveling route to school from one neighborhood
- Identify any high altitude areas
- Name any special landforms that are on the map
- Mark students’ homes on the map
- Ask students if they see any patterns on the map
- Discuss the items on the map that are east, west, north, and south
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If you are teaching 4th grade NGSS or upper elementary science, you will need these 30+ writing prompts! They are the perfect way to incorporate science into ELA or writing into science!
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If you are looking for activities on how to teach kinetic and potential energy, click here to read my favorite ways of teaching it.