Classroom Activities
Introduction
As preparation for this unit, I will assign the students a homework assignment in the preceding class period. I will ask them to go into their favorite room in their home andwrite a description of it in their sketchbooks. I expect that they will write in terms of where they are sitting i.e., ". . .there is a window behind me and a sofa to the left and a large painting over my shoulder to the right. . .", etc. We will then be able to see how many people wrote their descriptions that way and talk about how they orientated the description around themselves and how that was their perspective. Later, we will be able to make the connection with earlier mapmakers who were also just as self-centered in their descriptions of their world, orienting themselves (their country/city) in the center of the world.
Day One
To begin the class, I will have the students take out their written room descriptions to use as a reference to draw a map of the room in their sketchbooks. I will not give any specific instructions and will let them draw their maps based on their understandings of what a map is. As the continuation to introducing this unit, I'll ask them then to write directions to their house. I will elicit how many described the path by using buildings or other landmarks and how many used distance measurements. I expect that the large majority, if not all, will use buildings and other visual landmarks to communicate their sense of place. Next, I will ask the students "How do we know where we are?" In the following discussion, I hope to have the students understand that people sense their surroundings in terms of images/pictures of landmarks. I want them to understand that humans think of places in terms of images and in terms of other places. For instance, one thinks of where one lives in relation to the store one frequents, one's place of work, the railroad station, etc.
Then I plan on having the students write a definition for "map" in their sketchbooks. After a minute, I will ask them to write the definition of "landscape." As they are doing this, I will write "what is a map?" and "what is a landscape?" on the board. Then, as a group, I will have the students brainstorm everything they know about the characteristics of maps and landscape. I will write their responses on the board. From the information on the board, I will have the students create a Venn diagram comparing and contrasting maps and landscapes. Just when they are feeling comfortable with the delineation between maps and landscape, I will show a panoramic map and ask them to classify it as a map or a landscape. I expect that there will be some discussion as to which category as to how it should be categorized. I will then pose the question as to whether it is possible for an image to be a combination of both, i.e. an image that reads as a landscape and is motivated by aesthetics, as well an image that can be used as a tool to help find someplace. I will then query "what is a portrait?" and pose the question- Can maps and landscape be perceived as portraits of place? At this point, I will have the students take out their written room descriptions again. I will ask how many wrote their descriptions with themselves being at the center of the room. As I have said earlier, I expect the most to have done this. Next, I will ask why they think everyone did it. I will then have a slide show ready that shows a variety of maps from different times and places that depict the specific country or city in the center of the map. For homework, the students will draw a map of the school from memory.
Day Two
In the next class period, I will quickly review what was discussed in the previous class and proceed onto a postcard sorting activity. I will give each table 40-50 postcards and ask the students at that table to sort the postcards into three groups, a pile of pictures of landscapes, a pile of pictures of people, and then a pile of all the other images. Then, the students will create a list of similarities and differences between the pictures of people and the pictures of land, using the postcards as visual references. At this point, I will show a PowerPoint that I will develop on the history of maps (focusing on maps of cities) and portraits and how there is a close connection between the two.
Since 6th graders are learning how to take notes, at this point I will help them decide what is important to include in their notes. I will write what needs to be included on the board but they will give me the information through my questioning techniques. I want them to think of both maps and landscapes as pictures of places with each having a different purpose. I want them to understand that many different maps and/ or landscapes can show the same place and yet neither maps nor landscapes can show everything about a place. Different maps and different landscapes show different aspects of places. They will need to list the main common characteristics of maps: a title (which often includes information about when the map was made), the orientation, the source (who made it and/or who commissioned it), the legend, which explains the symbols used in the map, the scale, and a grid to show longitude and latitude. (www.memory.loc.gov/learn/features/maps/introduction.html) These six items are quite common in many maps, although not every map has all six.
I will also want the students to consider the role or function of maps. While it is often assumed that maps serve one purpose, I want the students to question whether they might serve more than one and whether or not they have hidden messages or even inadvertently communicate about who made the map and the time period in which it was made. The students will need to have the 6 common characteristics of maps and the previous information about the function and hidden meanings of maps in their sketchbook. For homework, the students will create a sketchbook page around theses required information.
At the end of this class, using a LCD projector, I will show the students maps from the Library of Congress website. http://memory.loc.gov/learn/features/maps/unusual.html. This website shows unusual maps and we will look specifically at the 1868 book, Geographical Fun. A sister of an ill boy created it for his amusement. This book has 12 maps of European countries that are done as caricatures. I believe that this activity will broaden what the students perceive as maps.
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