Bird’s-Eye Map

1. Students pretend they are a bird or in an airplane looking down on the street where they live or go to school. What do they see? Houses? Apartment roofs? Stores? Intersections? Have students talk about the street signs and buildings they see, then draw a map.
2. Students use Crayola® Erasable Colored Pencils and a straight edge to draw their street. Add streets and intersections close to their home. Which ones do they travel on the way to school?
3. Students draw the building where they live with Crayola Twistables. What would a bird see? Add details such as a swing set, fence, pets, steps, or patio.
4. Color in other buildings. Add details such as cars, stop signs, street lights, or people.
5. Students identify their house and label the streets on their map. If friends used the map, could they find their way around?

LA: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.

LA: Report on a topic in an organized manner, using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace.

MATH: Know relative sizes of measurement units within one system of units.

MATH: Draw points, lines, line segments, rays, angles (right, acute, obtuse), and perpendicular and parallel lines. Identify these in two-dimensional figures.

SS: Use appropriate resources, data resources, and geographic tools to generate, manipulate, and interpret information.

SS: Estimate distance.

VA: Select and use the qualities of structures and functions of art to improve communication of their ideas.

VA: Describe ways in which the principles and subject matter of other disciplines taught in the school are interrelated with the visual arts.

In small groups, students can begin the mapping activity with creating a group map of their school. Encourage discussion of how to get to a particular location in the school and use of directional terms in the discussion. Student groups select an undisclosed location and write directions for classmates to follow in finding their chosen location.

Students make use of their geometric knowledge to construct their maps, including angle types. Students compose written directions to accompany their maps. Students use appropriate directional comments such as "north", "south", "east", and "west."

Students build a 3-D model of their school, home, or other significant building in their lives. Students write directions to travel from this location to a central building in their town.