A Lump of Clay in the Hands of a Student: Students learn how to create and read a contour line map.

National Geography Standards

Element	Standard ID	Standard
Element One: The World in Spatial Terms	1	How to Use Maps and Other Geographic Representations, Tools, and Technologies to Acquire, Process, and Report Information From a Spatial Perspective

State Standards

Area	Target ID	Target	Indicator ID	Indicator
ESSENTIALS	3SS-E4	Demonstrate understanding of the characteristics, purposes, and use of geographic tools to locate and analyze information about people, places, and environments, with emphasis on:	PO 3	constructing and interpreting maps, charts, and geographic databases using geographic information
			PO 6	interpreting thematic maps, graphs, charts, and databases depicting various aspects of the United States and world regions studied

Other Standards

Science

Adapted or Modified
Washington D.C. 1993 National Geographic Institute

Overview
Many students have had very little experience with topographic maps. As they become campers, hunters, hikers, architects, builders, engineers, etc, the use of topographic maps will become a useful tool in learning about our physical environment. The understanding of how contour maps are created and read gives students another look at what geographers/cartographers do as part of their profession.

Materials
1. 2 sticks of clay (minimum) per student or group

2. colored pencils

3. xerox paper

4. fishing line or dental floss (1 foot per group or student)

Procedures
1. Pass out the clay to the students or groups of students. While you are talking, have them knead the clay to soften it.

2. If possible, show the students an example of a topographic map. Examples can be found in atlases. An especially good source is the Arizona Atlas and Gazetteer: Topo Maps of the Entire State, published by DeLorme Mapping. Cost $20 Let them just explore the maps for a few minutes.

3. Now discuss who might use these kinds of maps: campers, hunters, hikers, architects, builders, engineers, etc. And how do they use them? To plan the best route for a hike, a campsite, for hunting or to determine the best location for an airport, or some other structure.

4. Ask them what the squiggly brown lines represent. These lines tell us that the land is rising or lowering. So each line marks that the earth has gone up or gone down a certain amount of feet: 100 ft, 200 ft, 1000 ft. And the closer these lines are together, the steeper the rise or lowering of elevation.

5. By now the clay should be warm and ready to mold. Have the students create whatever shape they would like for a mountain on a sheet of xerox paper. Encourage some of the students to create a saddleback shape. While they are creating their shape, you should create one also. From this point they will watch you model the process.

6. Use a pencil to draw a cross over the top of the mound. (This will create a base mark so the students can re-align their clay once it is dissected.) Have the students “eyeball” and mark the mound into 4 equal parts (horizontally) with their pencils.

7. Use the fishing line or dental floss to dissect the mountain horizontally into 4 parts. Carefully lay each layer on the original sheet of xerox paper.

8. Take the bottom layer (1) and center it on a new sheet of xerox paper. Draw around the base of the shape.

9. Place the second piece (2) within the outline of the first layer using the base marks to insure correct positioning. Trace around the second piece.

10. Do the same for layers 3 and 4.

11. Tell the students that this will be a mountain. Mountains can begin at any elevation, so the background must be land (not blue—this would be an island) and they should use the following color and elevation code in the legend:

Light Brown = 5000 ft (background color) Dark Brown = 6000 ft (layer 1) Red= 7000 ft (layer 2) Purple = 8000 ft (layer 3) White = 9000 ft (layer 4)

12. Color the layers according to the elevation codes above. Have the students include these essential elements of a map on their drawing: title, orientation, legend, scale.

Remind students that each contour line should have the elevation figure listed. (6000, 7000, 8000, and 9,000 ft) (No 5000 ft will be listed unless the students want to make a contour line for the background.)

Outcome
Strand 4: Geography

Concept 1 The World in Spatial Terms

PO 1 Construct maps, charts, and graphs to display geographic information.

PO 3 Interpret maps, charts and geographic databases using geographic information.

Student Assessment
Geography: The drawings can be evaluated on the following basis: title (5pts), color coding correctly done (10 pts), color coding labeled in the legend (10 pts), contour line symbolized in the legend (10 pts), numbers on the contour lines (10 pts), scale drawn in the legend (10 pts), compass rose present (5 pts), worked cooperatively (10 pts), and neatness (10 pts). Mastery will be considered 64 points or higher.

The Hike to Indian Garden is a sample of an actual topographic map of the Grand Canyon area. Have the students complete the worksheet provided. Mastery will be considered 80% or higher on the comprehension questions.

Extensions
1. Have the students sketch a profile of their mountains. Then have the students look at the contour drawings and match them to the profiles. This can be another form of assessment.

2. Have students visit "Visualizing Topography" to further practice with and think about topographic maps and spatial thinking.

Sources
Washington D.C. National Geographic Institute in 1993