Eco-Mapping After School Science

I noticed a couple years back that map making is part of the academic standards for almost every grade and have been wanting to do a project like this ever since.

We'll be making Eco-maps of Fairview's school property, identifying all the different plants that grow there using leafsnap, an electronic field guide for the school ipods and we'll identify any animals or birds we find living on Fairview's property.  We'll then use leaf pigment chromatography (and inference and observation of course) to predict what color the leaves of the plants will turn.

Should easily take up the first six weeks!


Lesson one - Map making

Here's an overhead shot of Fairview's block.  I'll have full page printouts ready.  Have the kids use rulers to divide the picture into a 1"X1" grid labeled A-F and 1-11.  Like so...  (I''ll have it done already for the 2-3rd).

 

4th through 6th can then divide up into groups.  Each group will measure a large piece of poster board and divide the width by 7 and the length by 11 to decide how to divide the poster board to make the largest possible map.  Then make a grid on their poster board.  

Each 2-3rd grader will receive a 6"x9" square on a piece of paper and a copy of the map with grid in place.  Assign each one a segment of the map.

Both groups will work with pencils and rulers to transcribe either the whole map or the portion of the map they are assigned proportionally to create blown up maps of fairview.  Once both maps are done in pencil.  Kids can work with markers to darken in and color different features.  

Hows that for amateur cartography?

After our initial mapmaking is done, I'll post more on our next steps.