How to Make a 3D Topographic Map for a School Project
A topographical map shows the features of the landscape, including
landforms like mountains, plateaus, lakes, streams and valleys. Contour
lines drawn on the map indicate the elevation of natural features of the
terrain. Making a 3D topographical map provides kids with the opportunity to
demonstrate their understanding of landforms and elevation with a hands-on
activity. Although at first it may seem like a difficult task, when made with
paper mache, the project comes to life with little effort. Once the base is
completed, a few final touches create an outstanding display that can be
used as supplemental material in a geography unit.
Materials:
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Poster board
Pencil
Enlarged topographical map
Shredded paper
Paper mache paste
Bucket/bowl
Poster or tempera paint
Paint brushes
Fine tip marker
Clear acrylic fixative spray
Instructions:
1. Enlarge the outline of the map to fit a large sheet of poster board.
Copying the map on a transparency and projecting the image onto the
wall with a projector is a quick way to create the appropriate size
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image. Simply trace the outline onto the poster board. You can also
enlarge the image on a photocopier, cut it out and either paste it onto
the poster board or trace the outline directly on the poster.
Add finely shredded paper to paper-mache paste (see resources) and
allow it to soak completely.
Locate landforms on the map you are using as a reference. Check the
legend (the box at the bottom of the map that contains the symbols
used on the map) of the map to determine the symbols used to
indicate specific landforms like rivers, streams, hills, mountains and
valleys. Determine the elevation of each landform by reading the
contour lines on the map. Contour lines indicate the height of
geological features and are generally written in feet. Mark landforms
and elevations on the poster board with a pencil to create a guide for
forming the paper mache.
Squeeze small sections of paper mache between your fingers allowing
excess glue to drip back into the bucket and apply a thin layer of paper
mache to the entire map area. Build up areas of higher elevation using
the contour lines on the original map as a guide. Mountains may need
several layers of paper mache to reach the desired height. Use your
best judgment to simulate approximate height and keep landforms in
proportion.
Duplicate the texture of the terrain by molding the paper mache with
your fingers. Make rough terrain like rocky hillsides by forming the
paper mache into irregular edges with your fingers. Smooth the paper
mache with your fingers for areas that are smooth or level. Create
indentations for river or lakes by making indentations in the paper
mache with your fingers or other object like a pencil or dowel.
Place in an area where it will not be disturbed and allow to dry
overnight. Check that all areas are completely dry. Depending on the
amount of moisture in the paper mache, temperature of the room and
the thickness of mountains and landforms, it may take two days to
dry.
Paint the map in the appropriate colors using blue for water, green for
vegetation and brown for soil. Mixing or blending colors to create
variations in the terrain of the map creates a more realistic
appearance.
Allow to dry completely. Add labels with fine tip marker. Spray the
map with clear coat of acrylic fixative to protect the surface and
prevent wear.
Website source:
http://www.ehow.com/how_5828560_make-topographic-map-schoolproject.html
Sardines (Reverse Hide and Seek)
Sardines is an active game that is played like hide and go seek — only in reverse! One
person hides, and everyone else searches for the hidden person. Whenever a
person finds the hidden person, they quietly join them in their hiding spot. Soon, the
hidden group starts to look like a bunch of sardines! This game should be played in a
large indoor area.
How to play:
1. Gather everyone together and explain the rules and boundaries of the game.
2. Be sure to keep everyone safe and ensure no one wanders into areas that they
aren’t supposed to be in.
3. When everyone understands the rules and boundaries, ask for a volunteer to be
the first person to hide.
4. Give the person a set amount of time (e.g. a few minutes) to hide, while everyone
else closes their eyes or sits in a neutral spot away from the playing area.
5. When time is up, everyone splits up and tries to find the hidden person.
6. When someone finds the hidden person, the game is not over!
7. He or she quietly hides alongside the hidden person.
8. Over time, several people will be hidden together, resembling a bunch of
sardines.
9. The last person to find the hidden party loses that round.
10. He or she is the next person to hide.
11. Alternatively, you can reward the first person to find the hidden person by
allowing that person to hide if he or she wants to.
Variation:
There are other variations to this game, such as playing it in pairs. This adds a little
more teamwork to the game.
Website source:
http://www.icebreakers.ws/active/sardines-reverse-hide-and-seek.html
Places We Have Travelled
Materials: Large U.S. or world map, tacks or small circle stickers
Instructions:
1. Hang your U.S. or world map up on the wall at site. If you don’t have
wall space, you could always bring your map out during site, and store
it when site is not in session.
2. Round the children up, and introduce the activity.
3. The idea is that a tack goes on the map to show cities/countries that
children in Y-Care have visited (or lived at). The children themselves
must have travelled to that spot, not their parents or someone they
know.
4. Each location is indicated only once. This means that if Reva puts a
tack on New York City, no one else will put a tack there.
5. There are several different ways to do this. You could have the
children go one-by-one, taking turns to place ONE tack on the map, or
you could have siblings go together and talk it out, placing one or
more tacks on the map. You could also let children place tacks with
their parents when they pick up.
6. It might be necessary for some children to go home and talk to their
parents/family about where they’ve been. They might not remember.
7. Also, it is up to you whether or not you want to mark cities, states,
countries, or all of these. It really depends on how many children you
have in your program and how many tacks you want on your map.
8. This is NOT meant to be a competition whatsoever. Children shouldn’t
be overly praised for being well-traveled as this won’t make other
children, who’ve not traveled much, feel bad. The end result is a
collective one, or it should be. We simply want to know where we, as a
group, have been in our world. Try and make this fun.
Flour Tag
This is a fun outdoor game where you get tagged with flour-filled nylon sacks. Pioneer
kids had to be creative when it comes to playing games. They didn’t have all the toys
kids have nowadays. Most would have gotten in trouble for playing this game though.
They had very little money, and used their resources (like flour) as wisely as possible!
What is needed:
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Dark or colored shirts
Nylon stockings
Flour
How to play:
1. Choose a person to be the referee and determine a jail area.
2. Each player must have a dark T-shirt on (colored like the above shirt works well also).
3. Give each player a nylon that is filled with flour. Tie the nylon at the end to make it
into a ball shape.
4. The group plays tag as normal but players are out if they are hit by a thrown flour
torpedo. You'll be able to know exactly who has been hit by the flour mark on their
shirts.
5. The referee must keep their eye on the players and call out those who are hit to the
jail area.
6. Keep a damp rag handy to clean up the shirts between rounds.
Choose a Compass to Make
Make a compass, and you'll always know which direction you're headed. You
can make a floating compass or a Chinese hanging compass -- or both!
©2007 Publications International, Ltd.
Make either of these types of compasses.
Materials:
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2 needles (one for each compass)
Magnet
Straight pin
Cork
Scissors
2 clear plastic cups (one for each compass)
Water
Thread
Pencil
Magnetized Needle for Both Compasses
Step 1: Rub the pointed end of the needle along one side of the magnet,
always rubbing in the same direction. Do this about 30 times to magnetize
the needle.
Step 2: Test the magnetized needle by trying to pick up the straight pin
with it. If you can pick up the pin, the needle is ready.
Step 3: If you will be making both compasses, repeat the process with the
other needle.
Floating Compass
Step 1: Cut a small piece of cork, and push the magnetized needle through
it.
Step 2: Fill a plastic cup with water.
Step 3: Carefully place the cork with the magnetized needle into the cup so
the cork floats in the center. The magnetized end will always face north.
Chinese Hanging Compass
Step 1: Tie an end of a short piece of thread to the center of the
magnetized needle.
Step 2: Tie the other end of the thread to a pencil.
Step 3: Place the pencil over the rim of the plastic cup. Again, the
magnetized end of the needle will point north.
Website source:
http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/family/science-projects-for-kids-magnets-andmetal4.htm
Horseshoes
Background:
Root Beer is basically a carbonated beverage that is made by using extracts, which
initially used to come from the sassafras plant. It comes in two forms: it can either be
alcoholic in nature or it can be non alcoholic i.e. it can be treated as a soft drink. Root
beer is a very popular drink in North American, where it also believed to have
originated. As far as the history of root beer goes, we see that the beverage has always
been mildly alcoholic and was often mixed with ginger. In fact, initially, it served as a
traditional beverage and herbal medicine, mainly used for treating coughs and mouth
sores.
Interesting Information on Background of Root Beer
Root beer seems to have its roots in the Shakespearian times. It is stated that
Shakespeare used to have ‘small beers’, usually a collection of local beverages. The
drink seems to have been emerged from the early Colonial American recipe, which
contained variety of herbs, barks, and roots. It was considered a light social drink, which
emerged along with the other beverages like the Birch Beer, Sarsaparilla Beer, and
Ginger Beer.
It is believed that farmers of the 18th century used root beer in social occasions, as
alcohol. Most of the historians believe that the invention of actual root beer recipe
happened by a mere accident. The medicinal quality of the beer came around in the late
19th century. The drink tasted both bitter and sweet. Though it had the curing power, it
was neither well marketed nor well received by the masses in general.
Around this time only, Charles Hires, a Philadelphia pharmacist, was on his
honeymoon, when he discovered herbal tea. Taking the recipe of herbs, berries and
roots home to Philadelphia with him, he began selling a packaged dry mixture to the
public, made from many of the same ingredients as the original herbal tea. The drink
was acknowledged and he was encouraged to develop a liquid concentrate blend, from
more than 25 herbs, berries and roots.
Originally named ‘Root Tea’ the name of the drink was changed to Root Beer, so as to
attract larger markets of hard-drinking Pennsylvania miners. The public loved the new
drink and as a result, Hires introduced commercial root beer to the public in 1876, at the
Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition. In no time, it became a popular drink of its day. The
Hires family continued to manufacture root beer and in 1893, sold and distributed root
beer in bottle, for the first time.
Another famous brand of root beer is A & W Root Beer, founded by Roy Allen and
marketed in 1919. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned the use of sassafras
oil in 1960, classifying it a carcinogen. Root Beer makers began experimenting with new
and improved recipes, which would not contain the sassafras oil, hoping to find a
suitable tasting alternative. Not long after the ban, the root beer industry was saved
when inventors discovered that sassafras could be treated to remove the oil content and
then used in root beer.
Website source:
http://lifestyle.iloveindia.com/lounge/history-of-root-beer-2978.html
Add to a western day by bringing in bottled root beer for everyone. After they are done
have them rinse out their bottles, and use them in a horseshoe game.
WARNING: make sure that when you are serving the root beer and making the
connection between it and the theme, emphasize the OTHER information besides it
being an alcoholic beverage. We are NOT promoting that children drink alcohol, now or
later in life. Read the background information carefully, and decide what is appropriate
to share. Thank you!
What is needed:
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Popsicle sticks
Large pop bottles (or any bottles) – root beer
Paper or plastic cups (for drinking out of)
Markers
How to play:
1. Lay the popsicle sticks out as shown in the diagram. Glue the sticks where they
overlap to create the horseshoe shape.
2. Each team should make two horseshoes. Let the teams decorate their own
horseshoes. Be sure they are color coded so that you can tell which team they belong
to!
3. Fill the pop bottles with sand or water to stabilize them. Set the distance between the
bottles based on the age and skill of the participants ( 5ft for very young children, up to
15ft or 20ft for older kids).
4. Each team alternates throwing their 'shoes', and the team with the most points wins!
Scoring:
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3 points - for any shoe that rings the bottle
1 point - for any shoe that is within 6 inches of the bottle
(or touching it).
Website source:
http://www.creativekidsathome.com/activities/activity_37.html
EXPLORING A NEW WORLD
Component: 21ST Century Skills, Global L.
Time: 30 minutes
Goal: To explore how early settlers colonized the new world.
Materials:
 Handout, Exploring a New Word
 Pencils
 Coloring supplies (optional)
Procedure:
1. Engage and Connect—5 minutes: Tell the group that the earliest explorers were setting
out to explore oceans and lands that had never been explored before. They had poor
maps, bad equipment, and were often terrified of legends and myths they heard about the
places they were about to discover. Ask:
 Have you ever traveled somewhere far from home? How did you get there? Did you know
the way by heart, follow someone else’s instructions, or use a map?
 Have you ever become lost while travelling? How did that make you feel? How’d you find
your way home again?
2. Introduction and Set Up—5 minutes: Distribute the handout and writing utensils and
frame the activity as follows: It is now the year 2556 and the human race has recently
colonized a new planet. The Governors who chose you assigned you with several tasks as
you made your way into this New World:
 Make an accurate map of the continents, oceans, and islands you across and new theme
 Trace the route you used to circumnavigate the world and indicate places where canals
could be built to make sea navigation more direct
 Indicate whether the many legends of this New World were true and draw
pictures/descriptions of these wonders as possible.
3. New World Imagining—20 minutes: Let the group get to work! Circulate the room and
offer feedback/answer questions as needed. Encourage the kids to work together and
share their ideas as much as possible.
OPTIONAL: On the back of their sketch, ask the older kids to write a setting description or short
story about the New World they created.
Reflection: Once all the sketches are complete, bring the group together and ask some to share
their creations. Ask why they chose the names of their countries, waterways, etc. and make sure
they plotted the routes they took across the New World. To wrap up, ask:
 How would the earliest settlers in our New World travel across the seas and land? What
challenges did they face that we don’t today?
SOURCE: www.educationpossible.com.
SKILL: Social Studies – history, creative writing
Handout: Exploring a New World
Plot the route your explorers took and name all the waterways and countries in your New World.
Unconfirmed reports exist of creatures living in the oceans and on land. Do they exist? If so,
please describe them and, to the best of your ability, sketch two of them:
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
Around The World
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Materials
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World map or globe
Printed and online reference materials
Outline maps of the countries studied
Computer with Internet access
Procedures
1. The goal of this activity is to give students a good sense of some of the
major geographical and cultural differences in the world with a focus on
Antarctica, one part of Australia, parts of eastern Asia (Nepal and China),
and one part of southwestern Asia (Oman), an area also known as the Middle East. On other imaginary trips around the world, you and your class will
choose to focus on a different selection of countries and continents.
Begin by telling your students that they are going to imagine traveling to
several parts of the world that you've picked out. Either now or as you go
along, identify the parts of the world, and point them out on a large world
map or a globe:
Antarctica
Australia
Nepal and China in Asia
Oman in the Middle East
Explain that you and the students will stay in each part of the world as long
as it takes to gather at least four pieces of information about it:
A piece of information about its weather
A piece of information about its landforms
A piece of information about its animal life
A piece of information about its culture
Give students charts with rows labeled according to the world regions mentioned above and columns labeled according to the four different pieces of
information students will search for in each region.
2. Tell students to imagine that they have just been flown to the continent
known as Antarctica. Based on pictures and other reference materials that
you will make available to students, have them tell you what they can figure
out about Antarctica's weather, geography, and animals.
3. Tell or review with students that culture means "the way of life, ideas,
customs, and traditions of a group of people." Go on to admit to students
that it's hard to figure out what to say about the culture of the people in
Antarctica because there are so few people living there. Nevertheless, ask
students to think about the people who are sent to work in Antarctica with a
few other people for many months at a stretch. Ask, "What are the advantages and disadvantages of being with a small number of other people for a
long time?"
4. Challenge students to figure out how far it is from the northern tip of
Antarctica to the Kimberley Plateau on the northern edge of Western Australia. Point out that by traveling from Antarctica to the Kimberley, students
will find themselves in a land totally without snow. But this part of Australia
has its own unusual climate (unusual by U.S. standards). After you tell students that one-half of the year in the Kimberley is known as the dry, ask
them to guess what the other six months are known as. Follow up with other
questions that students should be able to answer by checking reference materials: How wet does it get in the northern region of Australia during "the
wet"? How do people travel in that region during the wet?
5. While it may be relatively simple for students to identify or describe the
weather, the geography, and the animals in this part of Australia, you may
have to help them learn about and appreciate the complicated array of its
cultures, which, in part, includes the culture of the people descended from
Europeans, the culture of the people descended from Asians, and the culture
of the aborigines, who have lived in Australia for tens of thousands of years.
6. Continuing on your journey to observe weather, geography, animals, and
culture in different parts of the world, tell students they are now going to
visit the Himalayan mountains. Have them show you on a map or globe or
explain by reference to compass points in what direction they can travel to
get from the Kimberley in Australia to the Himalayas.
7. In the Himalayas, once again ask students to tell you what they notice
about the weather, the geography, and the animals. As with the first two
stops on your imaginary trip, it will be harder to figure out what to say about
the cultures in the region—unless your school community has people who
practice the religions of Asia—for example, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Taoism.
8. The next stop is China. As with Australia, you should pick one area within
China for your students' imaginary visit—say, the Hunan province. Once
again, have students do research to identify weather, geography, and animals in Hunan. When it comes to culture in Hunan, your students should discover that China as a whole has one of the oldest civilizations in the world.
Direct students to find out interesting facts about the Chinese language, holidays observed in China, and ancient arts of China.
9. Oman in the Middle East is the final stop on this world tour. Although
technically still part of Asia, this stop will introduce your students to still another climate, geography, and animal population—as well as yet another set
of cultures. In many parts of the United States, your students will include Islamic youngsters, so the other students should be able to learn about Islamic culture.
10. As your class returns from its world tour, a good way to wrap up this
lesson about differences across the world is to review each of the areas' (1)
climatic conditions, (2) geographical features, (3) animal life, and (4) cultures with the purpose of seeing which, if any, exist right here in the United
States of America.
Sources:
Source: http://www.discoveryeducation.com/teachers/free-lesson-plans/
around-the-world.cfm
European Lands in North America