Objectives
- The students will learn the meaning of the term country.
- The students will use map symbols to determine the boundary of a country.
- The students will be able to locate the United States on a globe and a World Map.
Vocabulary
country, country boundary symbol, map legend.
Materials Needed
globe, World Map, two post-it-notes with the following written on them:
"______________is a country" "_________________ is a continent."
Lesson
Pull down the World Political Map. Review with the students that the continents are the very largest land areas. There are smaller land areas. These are called countries. A country is an area of land where people live under one government.
Tell the students they will learn how to tell on a map where the territory of one country begins and another ends. They will do this by decoding symbols shown in the map legend. A map legend is used to tell the meaning of the symbols used on the map.
Locate the map legend on the World Political Map. Review with the students the meaning of the word country. Brazil is the example used in the legend. Have a student locate Brazil on the map and another student locate Brazil on the globe.
Tell the students that a map symbol is used to show the boundary of a country. A boundary is a line drawn on a map showing where the territory of one country begins and another ends. Ask a student to describe what the country boundary symbol looks like.
Emphasize the difference between a country and a continent. Have one student write the name Brazil on one of the post-it-notes (___________is a country.) Place the post-it-note at the correct location on the map. Ask the students on which continent is Brazil located. Write South America on one of the post-it-notes (____________ is a continent.)
Ask the students the name of our country. Discuss what they know about the United States. What are our flag, national anthem, and national bird? Ask a student to find the United States on a globe. Make sure the students include Alaska and Hawaii. Have a student locate the United States on the World Map. Use the country and continent post-it-notes to identify the United States as a country and North America as a continent.
Locate the boundary symbol between the United States and Canada. Don't forget the Alaska/Canada border. Emphasize that the boundary symbol shows where the territory of the United States ends and Canada begins. Use the post-it-notes and label North America as a continent. Look at the globe and map. Which country is larger? (Canada)
Have a student locate the boundary symbol between the US and Mexico. Use the post-it-notes to label Mexico. Have a student place the post-it-notes at the correct location on the map.
Emphasize that Mexico, Canada, and the United States are countries all located on the continent of North America.
There are other countries that are part of North America. Have the students decode the country boundary symbols to determine the location of other countries. Use the remaining post-it-notes to label these countries.
Lesson .pdf file (Printable Lesson)