Compass Rose Activity
Amy Moriarty
Mount Anthony Union Middle School
Bennington
Looking for a creative way to connect the cardinal directions of the compass with systems of location, landscapes, and maps?
Try this method designed by Amy Moriarty as part of her unit submission for the VGA’s 2007 Summer Institute The Importance of Being Geographic.
Goal: To get students to appreciate location and space and the uses of space. This is a first activity in a series, which involves the development of personal maps, discussions of uses and designs of maps, and a field-based activity involving local historical landmarks, the evolution of places and maps/images of them.
Grade level: Adaptable to all levels.
Vermont GREs: Vermont History and Social Studies Grade Expectation #11.
Image for blackline master (see links below for Powerpoint/PDF printable versions)
Directions
1. Provide each student with a copy of the blackline master. Consider using clipboards if they are available.
[CLICK HERE FOR POWERPOINT SLIDE]
2. Find a space outdoors on the school grounds, and have the students orient themselves to NSEW, either using a compass or from known orientations.
3. Have students note the compass directions in the circles on the sheet.
4. In each box, instruct the students to draw what they see from ground level or what they might see from a bird’s eye view or even a bug’s eye view.
5. Following the activity, have a reflection time. Students might discuss how space is used in a contemporary context, and how it might have been used in the past. Students’ views from different locations could be compared. If bird’s eye views are done, a map or plan of the location could be part of the discussion.
6. Alternate activities: Do the activity as a field activity away from school grounds. Specify the latitude and longitude of the location, and compare the drawings to topographic maps, satellite images, historic maps, or historic photographs. Sketches might be used as the basis for art projects or those involving photography.