Flying Over and Zooming In: Ideas from KidCitizen Teacher’s Guides

Closeup from Ruger, A. (1869). Bird's eye view of Jefferson City, the capitol of Missouri. [Map] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/73693479/.

Each KidCitizen episode has a free, downloadable Teacher’s Guide. This is the first in a series of posts highlighting what teachers can find in these guides

in this post, we’ll draw from the guide for our newest episode:

“A bird’s-eye view: wondering with maps”.

In this episode, children explore a map from long ago and begin wondering about the places where people live. There is so much to see and learn from maps. They are more than just a way to represent a place on paper; maps also are sources that can be analyzed for how they are constructed and what they communicate.

What’s in a KidCitizen Teacher’s Guide?

In each Teacher’s guide, you’ll find:

The Essential Questions that students explore in that episode.

Curricular connections to NCSS Standards and the C3 Framework

Background on the episode, with ideas for classroom exploration

Suggestion for teachers, including lesson plans and specific resources, and related articles and books.

Additional resources including children’s literature

References for all the primary sources used, and bibliography.

Teacher’s Guide Excerpt:

FLYING OVER AND ZOOMING IN

Exploring digital birds-eye view maps students can engage in a map flyover and then zoom in to specific areas to closely observe details, documenting evidence to support their ideas.

From way up high they can see different things than if they looked at the same place on the ground, and a comparison of what can be observed from above and on the ground can yield important insights about the features of a place.

In the KidCitizen episode A Bird’s Eye View: Wondering with Maps children locate the State capitol, railroad station, and major roads, but also can explore these places up close in photos.

You can explore with students how this changes the perspective of the place.

Links to each of the close-up photos is available in the Teacher’s guide, as well as being linked above. You can download each image for use in your class.

You might use a think-aloud to reflect on what it is like to walk around the school community and see the fronts and backs of buildings rather than the roofs. Ask students, what parts of their community would they like to see in a “fly-over”?

When planning a primary source analysis focused on geographic thinking, we draw on an appreciation that geography can be imaginative and creative. Geography is not just focused on learning the names and locations of places. Geographers think about space and focus on themes of location, place, human/environment interaction, movement, and regions. Our daily lives provide us with many rich geographical experiences.

LINKS!

Check out the episode Bird’s Eye View: Wondering with Maps

Get the Teachers’s Guide for the episode here.

Got questions about this episode or teachers guide? We’d love to hear from you. Get in touch here.