5. From Maps to Models - Assessments

Assessment

1. Give students a simplified topo map similar to the ones they made and ask them to predict what it would look like in 3 dimensions. Ask them to identify different features: the tallest hill, the steepest part, the flattest part, the elevation of various points, streams, etc.

Going Further

1. Teach students how to create a topographic profile. (See the Geospatial Training and Analysis Cooperative website for detailed instructions for how to do this. Tasa Graphic Arts has a great interactive web tool to illustrate how to make a topographic profile.)
2. Use a topo map in the real world to navigate. Go on a hike with the students and have them identify hills and valleys in the world and orient themselves on a map to figure out where they are and how to get from place to place.