Mapping Land and Water

People use maps to show a variety of information, including the presence of different landforms in a particular location. In this lesson, students create 3D models and maps of distinct landforms and bodies of water in a particular location to explore patterns of land and water in different places.  

• Landforms are natural features on Earth’s surface.
• People use maps to help them find out different kinds of information. Maps are drawings or other models of an area of Earth’s surface.
• Maps use symbols to show the different parts of an area that it is representing. A symbol can be a shape, a line, or a color.
  
  

• What is an example of a landform?
• How does weathering affect landforms on Earth?
• When have you used a map in everyday life?
• Why are landform maps useful?
• What are some of the landforms where we live?
• How do we know where different bodies of water are located on a map?
• How can we find mountains on a map? How are rivers shown on a map?
• Why is the title of a map important?
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Misconception: Water is found only in bodies of water.

Fact: Water is found in multiple places in addition to bodies of water. Its gas form, water vapor, is found in the atmosphere. Liquid water is also found underground. Finally, water is also found as solid ice or snow.

Misconception: Water isn’t recycled. When it rains, the rain drops are “new” water.

Fact: Water isn’t ever created or destroyed. Instead, it is always being recycled. It moves around the planet as it cycles between a solid, a liquid, and a gas depending on the amount of heat present.

Body of water: a part of Earth’s surface that is filled with water

Gravity:  a force that pulls things toward each other

Landform:  a natural feature on Earth’s surface

Map:  a drawing or other model of an area of Earth’s surface

Water cycle:  the circulation of water from a collection to the atmosphere and back to Earth; includes evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and collection

Mapping Alaska

Alaska is a state in the United States. It has more land than any other state.

Alaska is remote. This means that it is far away from the rest of the United States. Not many roads connect Alaska to the rest of the country. Some places in Alaska can only be reached by helicopter.

It is hard to make accurate maps of Alaska because it is so remote. A map is a drawing or other model of an area of Earth’s surface. Maps are important because they give different kinds of information about a location.

There are different kinds of maps. One kind of map shows the landforms of a specific area. A landform is a natural feature on Earth’s surface. 

Mountains are landforms. Dunes are landforms. Hills and valleys are also landforms.

In addition to landforms, there are also different bodies of water on Earth’s surface. A body of water is a part of Earth’s surface that is filled with water.

In this lesson, students create 3D clay models of land areas based on distinct landforms and bodies of water in a photograph. They then create a map of their model to see how maps can show where land and water are located. Students use their models to analyze patterns in where water is found as a solid on Earth and where it is found as a liquid. They also use their models to construct an explanation about the cause- and-effect relationship between the amount of heat present and the form that water is found in.