GPS, GIS and topo maps: High school people & places
Geospatial tools: topographic maps, GPS, GIS, and maps that solve problems. A free High school 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: geospatial tools: topographic maps, GPS, GIS, and maps that solve problems.
Hook (5 min)
- Ask the class: How does a phone know where you are?
- Take two or three answers and write them where everyone can see them.
Teach (15 min)
- Say the big idea in one plain sentence: gPS, GIS and topo 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: Reading a Topographic Map (https://peabody.kids/world/geography/geography-topographic-maps)
- Learn: How GPS Finds You (https://peabody.kids/world/geography/geography-how-gps-works)
- Learn: Layers of Data: GIS (https://peabody.kids/world/geography/geography-gis-layers)
- Read: The Broad Street Pump (https://peabody.kids/library/the-broad-street-pump)
Exit ticket (5 min)
- On a slip or aloud: one thing I learned about gPS, GIS and topo 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.