Materials

• Large world map
• U.S. and/or world unlabeled outline maps

1. Review the activity from the previous session.
2. Ask students to share how they mentally “place” distant locations when they hear them mentioned in the news, in television programs, in movies, and in music. Ask them whether they can mentally place such a location on a world map. Ask them whether they can envision the terrain of the location based on their prior knowledge of the location. Ask students on what they base their mental picture (e.g., experience with pictures of the location, a visit to the location, stories/descriptions they have heard or read about the location).
   
3. Tell students to imagine that they are living in Kansas. Have them place this location mentally on a world map: check some of their responses to the question: Where is Kansas? Then ask them to write down, without looking at any map, the cardinal directions (review this term) they must travel in order to fly the most direct route to each of the following locations:
   • Washington State
   • Belgium
   • Cuba
   • El Salvador
   • Canada
   • Pennsylvania
   • Appalachian Mountains
   • Nile River
   • Hawaii
   • Great Britain
   • Japan
   
   
4. Ask the students to check their answers as you point out the directions on a large map of the world.
   
   
5. Distribute an unlabeled outline map of the U.S. or the world to each student. Provide students with a list of 10 to 20 locations to place on their map without looking at any resource. Ask the students to identify for each location some aspect of human culture that would be common in that location, e.g., language, type of housing, dress, recreation, customs, or traditions.
   
   
6. After students have had time to complete the assignment, move them into groups to share their maps and develop one group map on a fresh unlabeled outline map.
   
   
7. After students have completed the group assignment, display a world map with each of the locations identified. Encourage students to compare their individual maps and their group’s map with the display map.
   
   
8. Assign a teacher-selected reading, worksheet, or other reinforcement activity, using available teacher resources.