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Chapter 2

What Are Some Ways People Interact With the Natural Characteristics of Their Community?

How can we show where things are located inside communities?

How can we compare communities?

How do people use the environment of their community?

How do people change the environment of their community?

For Teachers

This second chapter covers the geography standards for second grade. Now that students have a firm understanding of what a community is, we move into the study of communities by getting students into exploring maps. In Kindergarten and First grade we had teachers construct a classroom box. This activity was designed by Dr. Phil Gersmehl and his wife Carol and is based upon some of the work they did in Harlem New York. In this chapter we once again revisit the idea of a classroom in a box, and present to you here instructions for making your own. We use two Michigan based communities for comparison in this chapter. The idea is that you can potentially bring a third to the table. The chapter closes with a discussion on how we impact the environment. We hope you’ll find many good connections to science in this chapter.

Section 1

How Can We Show Where Things are Located Inside Places?

QUESTIONS TO GUIDE INQUIRY

How can we show where things are located inside communities?

How can we compare communities?

How do people use the environment of their community?

How do people change the environment of their community?

TERMS

map: a picture or drawing of a place
symbol: something that stands for something else. For example, a curvy line on a map can stand for a river.
map key: tells what the symbols on a map mean
directions: north, south, east, west

You have learned that communities have places where people live. Communities have places where people work. Communities also have places where people play. How can you find where those places are located in a community? You could use a map!

What is a Map?

A map is a picture or drawing of a place. Maps can show us where things are located in a place. This means maps can show us where to find things. What if you wanted to show where things are in your classroom? What could you do? You could make a map!

ACTIVITY

Now, it is your turn! You probably don’t have a Super Shrinking Machine. You might not have time to make a model of your classroom, however, you can still make a map! Here’s how:

What are the Parts of a Map?

Look at the map below. How do you know it is a map of a classroom? Maybe it is a map of a bedroom?
MAP EXAMPLE
How do you know? It says it is a classroom map! It has a title: My Classroom Map. The title of a book tells you what the book is about.
MAP EXAMPLE
What are the brown rectangles in the map? Are they book shelves? Are they desks? These brown rectangles are called symbols. A symbol is something that stands for something else. The brown rectangles could stand for bookshelves. They could stand for desks? How would we know?

This map needs a map key. A map key tells what the symbols on a map mean. Maps need a title and a map key. 38 Look again at the classroom map. What else does it have? It has compass direction words! You learned about compass direction words when you saw how the class made its map earlier. The class used compass direction words to name the walls in the classroom. Compass direction words include north, south, east and west.