For as long as people have lived there have been maps. Maps evolved in many different places in the world at the same time. Maps have also been made from a wide variety of materials:
- Some societies such as the Marshall Islanders made stick charts for navigation.
- Footprints were used in Pre-Columbian Mexico to represent roads.
- Ivory was used by Eskimos to make maps of the coast.
- Early maps may have only been a picture drawn in the dirt to indicate where to travel to find food.
But all maps have one thing in common. They are pictures of places.
Imagine what the world would be like if we had no maps to guide us.
- How would the bus driver know how to get you to school?
- How would you get your pizza delivered if your favorite delivery service had no map to follow?
- Imagine getting psyched to get your driver’s license but not having a map of how to get to the DMV where you take your test.
- Or go beyond the local community to imagine you are visiting a new city without anything to guide you on how to get to the nearest museum or back to your hotel.
This unit is designed as a way for you to learn more about different types of maps and how they can help you. You will use documents from the digital collections of the Library of Congress to hone your skills as you prepare for your trip as a virtual tourist to a destination of your choice anywhere in the world.
How would you like to take a trip around the world without leaving your home?
Using this Web Quest you will gather the experience needed to prepare for your travel. You will study maps and more. You will write, draw maps, analyze information and complete other activities to show what you know. After gathering the proper stamps or teacher initials by completing required geographic learning activities, you will be granted your passport to travel. Once you get your passport you will become a “Virtual Tourist”. Next you will plan a trip and prepare for a presentation.
Questions to Consider:
- How do you find your way?
- What would the world be like with no maps to guide us?
- What is geography? How does geography apply to your life?
- How can maps and other geographic tools help us to learn more about our lives as well as more about different places around the world?
- What are some recent innovations that have improved our ability to map?