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Maps (T8)

I use several maps from reproducible map sets that sometimes accompany geography or history textbooks. Maybe another teacher in your district has a set of these maps that you can copy.

If not, here are some maps you can download, but they're in pdf format, so you'll need Adobe Acrobat reader if you don't already have it installed on your computer.

These maps are from the National Geographic Society: (nice maps, big files)
World map
Asia map
Additional maps: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/atlas/index.html

These maps are from the Florida Geographic Alliance:
World map
Cradles of civilization: Egypt, Mesopotamia, India, China
Africa, political
Africa, vegetation (Sahara Desert is prominent)
North Africa and Southwest Asia (the Middle East)
Europe, political
Latin America, political
Pre-Colombian cultures: Aztec, Maya, Inca
North America, political
South America, political with names
Caribbean, featuring the West Indies
Additional maps: http://fga.freac.fsu.edu/maps.html

An extensive set of outline maps is available online from the Arizona Geographic Alliance

Lots and lots of maps are available from WorldAtlas.com at http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/moremaps.htm

The Houghton-Mifflin Company has some nice outline maps that may be downloaded for classroom use at http://www.eduplace.com/ss/maps/. They're in pdf format.

The National Council for Geographic Education (NCGE) sells a packet of quality outline maps for $5.00. The packet includes 26 maps of the world and its major regions; all include political boundaries. NCGE: 206-A Martin Hall, Jacksonville State University, Jacksonville, AL 36265-1602, phone 256-782-5293, fax 256-782-5336, or email Anna Young at byoung@jssucc.jsu.edu.

Generally I rely on three outline maps for student practice and tests: Student's Friend Part 1: world outline without political boundaries, and Eastern Hemisphere without boundaries. Part 2: outline map of the contemporary world with political boundaries. Of, course I display other maps using an overhead projector when discussing regions of the world such as South America, sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East or East Asia, etc.

On my unit tests I provide a copy of the map with the map locations identified by letters. The test gives the name of each location, and students write the letter next to the name. This may not be the best way to do it, but it eliminates the problem of subjectively judging whether the student's identification is close enough to be counted correct; the answer is either right or wrong. I notice the NCGE uses a similar approach on its standardized geography test.

Roman Empire map exercise:
Many, if not most, of the textbooks I have seen include a map of Roman trade routes along with the goods transported. I make a transparency of these maps and the students use an overhead projector to project the image onto large paper for their map projects. From time to time I order free examination copies of textbooks from textbook publishers to use as reference books in my classroom. I might actually purchase a set of new textbooks one day if my school district has to come up with more textbook purchases to satisfy state requirements.