Round Earth, flat maps: 6th to 8th people & places
Showing a round world: map projections, time zones and how continents are counted. A free 6th to 8th lesson plan with a hook, practice that links to free activities, and an exit ticket. Copy it and make it yours.
Lesson plan
Goal
- Students work toward: showing a round world: map projections, time zones and how continents are counted.
Hook (5 min)
- Ask the class: Why does Greenland look so huge on many maps?
- Take two or three answers and write them where everyone can see them.
Teach (15 min)
- Say the big idea in one plain sentence: round Earth, flat maps.
- Show one example, then one that is not an example, and ask how the two differ.
- Have students tell a partner or a small group the idea in their own words.
Practise (20 min)
- Choose one for the whole class or let groups pick:
- Learn: Maps That Stretch (https://peabody.kids/world/geography/geography-map-projections)
- Learn: Time Zones (https://peabody.kids/world/geography/geography-time-zones)
- Read: How Many Continents Are There? (https://peabody.kids/library/how-many-continents-are-there)
- Read: Seven Is a Choice (https://peabody.kids/library/seven-is-a-choice)
Exit ticket (5 min)
- On a slip or aloud: one thing I learned about round Earth, flat maps, and one question I still have.
- Sort the slips into: got it, nearly, not yet. Start tomorrow with the last pile.
Written by Peabody from its own skill pages. Free, no ads, no sign-in. Children can practise this on Peabody. More from teachers: teacher-shared resources.