Teacher's Guide for FACES ^® Mapmakers

Extended Response: Comprehension & Critical Thinking

The questions below can be used as written, simply answered in complete sentences, or easily transformed into longer essay (ELA) style questions, or even research topics. In any case, have the students support their answers with details from the text or use critical thinking skills to create a thorough and interesting answer. Consider the level of your students when deciding how to use the questions. The questions for each lesson can be found under the article's title below, and the answers for the short response questions are on the last page of the guide.

A High Tech Compass p. 6-7

1. Before maps were invented, what kinds of things did people use to find their way?
2. What is a GPS? Who developed it?
3. Explain how a GPS functions.
4. How many GPS satellites are there and how fast do they travel?
5. How does a satellite produce its own power?
6. Explain how a GPS is able to tell you your location.

Creative Writing: What other fairytale would have had a different outcome with a GPS? Why? Rewrite a brief version of this tale incorporating this technology.

Finding Your Way p. 8-13

1. Why don't we have many maps from ancient times?
2. List some of the ways that different cultures used maps in ancient times.
3. What important new tool did mapmakers gain in 1187?
4. Why was the invention of the printing press so important in the history of maps?
5. What was the mapmakers' answer to the need of quicker production methods and more accurate information?
6. Define the following types of maps: terrestrial, celestial, physical, topographical, climate, geological, mobility, political, economic/resource, migratory, nautical charts, and aeronautical.

Speak Like a Mapmaker p. 14-15

Match the definition on the right with the correct term on the left.

1.______ atlas	A. a model of the sky showing stars and constellations.
2.______ globe	B. the most common type of map that appears on a flat sheet of paper.
3.______prime meridian	C. An imaginary line that goes all the way around the Earth, halfway between the North and South poles.
4._______equator	D. The line of latitude farthest north of the equator at which the sun can shine directly overhead.
5.______latitude	E. Any map that focuses on one theme or topic.
6.______longitude	F. The earliest known maps used by sea captains for navigation.
7.______Tropic of Cancer	G. The line of latitude farthest north of the equator at which the sun never sets for at least one day in the summer and at which the sun never rises for at least one day in the winter.
8.______Tropic of Capricorn	H. The line of latitude farthest south of the equator at which the sun can shine directly overhead.
9.______Arctic Circle	I. A spherical model of the Earth, moon, sun or other objects in the sky.
10._____Antarctic Circle	J. Line of latitude farthest south of the equator.
11._____Celestial Globe	K. The starting point for numbering longitude on maps and globes.
12._____Mercator projection	L. A collection of maps that is often made into a book.
13._____Thematic map	M. Imaginary lines drawn around the Earth on a globe or map parallel to the equator.
14._____Portolano Charts	N. Imaginary lines drawn around a globe or map that go through the North and South poles.

Meet the Mapmakers p. 16-17

Read the description of the mapmaker below, and then fill in the correct name.

Joe Gugliotti | George Hastings | Linda Brewster Rodgers | Felicia Bechtel

1. This person is a geographic information system coordinator and works for the Department of Environmental Services in New Hampshire. The maps he makes are used to plan how the land will be used and to protect the environment.
2. This person is a geophysicist and president of Enviroscan, a company in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, that creates maps of things underground or in the water.
3. This person is the director of computer-aided design and design at the John T. Boyd company in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. This company works for people who need maps of mines.
4. This person is a mapmaker who works for Edward B. Walsh Associates in Exton, Pennsylvania. This company works for is an engineering company that makes maps for developers, schools, towns, and state governments.

Orienteering p. 18-21

1. Imagine that you have the opportunity to take part in an Orienteering Adventure. Would you go? Why or why not? Support your answer.
2. Write a journal entry as an Orienteer. Include the following: a. What supplies you took b. Which part of the expedition you liked most and least and why c. What is your feeling upon completion?

It's a Big World p. 22-25

Finding Facts:

1. What is Eartha?
2. Who constructed it?
3. How big is it?
4. How long did it take to construct?
5. Besides its size, what are some of the unique features of Eartha?

Project: Work with a partner to construct your own model of the Earth. Include some unique features in your model.

Mapping our Changing Earth p. 26-27

1. List some common reasons why new maps are needed.
2. Why have maps become so much more accurate in the past 300 years?
3. What are the tools used today for mapping quickly and accurately?
4. Explain the following terms: infrared, photogrammetric, annotated.
5. Maps are created for many reasons. How do they help us live more safely?

Mapping Quakes and Shakes p. 28-29

Mark each statement either True or False. If False, provide the correct response.

1. ______ Because maps can be used to determine where an earthquake is likely to happen, they can help protect people and property.
2. ______ The National Seismic Hazard Mapping Project of the United States Geological Survey has created 'hazard maps' to help us avoid areas that are prone to flooding.
3. ______ Scientists who gather information about past earth movements are called paleoseismologists.
4. ______ Other information that is used to create hazard maps comes from satellites.
5. ______ There is no greater chance of earthquakes happening again in areas with faults.
6. ______ On hazard maps, areas in white are the more earthquake-prone; areas in blue are less likely to have earthquakes.
7. ______ The Hazard Mapping Project is just another useful tool for living safely on what can sometimes be an active and changing earth.

Sounding Out the Seas p. 30-33

1. Why is it useful to take measurements form space to make a map of the seafloor?
2. Explain how radar altimetry functions.
3. What are sonars and what are some of their uses?
4. Explain the advantages of multibeam sonars.
5. What do scientists use when they need an even closer look at the seafloor to make a map?
6. Explain why each of the following need to know the specifics of the seafloor: Ships, mining companies, fishermen, geologists
7. What was Marie Tharps' contribution to science and why did it take so long for her work to be credited?

Mapping Our Drifting Continents p. 34-36

1. Explain the process of plate tectonics.
2. What are some clues that led mapmakers and geographers of the past to focus on the possibility of one giant land mass?
3. Read the ideas of Abraham Ortelius, Antonio Snider-Pellegrini and Alfred Lothar Wegener. Which idea seems most plausible to you? Support your answer.

Mapping Martian Mysteries and More p. 38-41

1. What is a space probe?
2. Why is it difficult to land a probe on a planet?
3. What information can a space probe landing on a planet provide?
4. How do instruments get electricity to make them work so far away from the Earth?
5. How did scientists make a 'photomosaic' map of Mars?
6. Why is mapping faraway planets much harder than mapping Earth?

Answer Key:

"Speak Like a Mapmaker"

1. L

2. I

3. K

4. C

5. M

6. N

7. D

8. H

9. G

10. J

11. A

12. B

13. E

14. F

"Meet the Mapmakers"

1. George Hastings

2. Felicia Bechtel

3. Joe Gugliotti

4. Linda Brewster Rodgers

"Mapping Quakes/Shakes"

1. True

2. False, earthquake prone

3. True

4. False, past earthquakes

5. False, is greater chance

6. False, red, white

7. True

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Updated: 11/21/09 07:17 am
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