Objectives
The students will identify a map of the United States.
Vocabulary
United States Map, country, state
Materials Needed
United States map, globe, map marker
Lesson
Ask the students the name of our country. Write the name United States on the board. Write the word country on the board. A country is an area of land where people live under one government.
Ask a student to locate the United States on the globe. Outline the shape of the United States on the globe. Locate and circle the Great Lakes and circle Florida. Locate and mark the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans on the globe.
Ask the students if the United States is large enough to be seen well on the globe. Tell the students we want to see a large picture of the United States, therefore we use a map that only shows the United States. This is called a United States Map.
Pull down the map of the United States. Have the globe positioned so that the United States is facing the students. On the map of the United States, locate the same features you located on the globe; the Great Lakes, Florida, and the two oceans.
Tell the students that we will use the United States Map to study about our country. Our country has fifty states. A state is an area of land that is part of our country. Ask the name of the state. Write the name of your state on the board. When we study the states, cities, lakes, and rivers in the United States, we use the United States map because it shows a bigger picture of the United States and is easier to read.
Locate and list the state(s) that touches your state. Use spatial terms. Ask the students to find the state(s) to the right of your state. Which state is to the left?