The Driftwood Beach Map Investigation

Map Layers beside the Tide Pools

On a field trip to Driftwood Beach, a fourth-grade class studies tide pools with a guide. Later, the class gathers at a picnic table above the reach of the waves. Their teacher brings a practice atlas of an imaginary coastal region. Its made-up locations let the class investigate patterns like those scientists study on real Earth maps. The class asks, “How are the locations of mountains, volcanoes, and recorded earthquakes related?”

Step 1: The class checks the map directions and scale. Each map covers the same region at the same scale. North is up, and east is right. Read a position as (eastward position, northward position). Each grid space represents 20 kilometers. Matching positions on different maps represent the same place.

Step 2: The class sorts atlas records onto three map layers. M marks a selected mountain peak. V marks a volcano location. E marks a place where an earthquake was recorded during the study year. The mountain map includes selected peaks, not a complete list of mountains. An earthquake mark identifies a location, not the strength of the shaking.

Step 3: The class divides the region into zones. The mainland coast follows northward position 2. The coastal belt is mainland from northward position 3 through 5. The inland belt is mainland from position 6 through 10. Ocean lies south of the coast. A small island is at (5, 1). Shore and island outlines are omitted from these feature maps.

Step 4: The class compares the completed maps below. Students count marks in each belt, look for shared locations, and check places outside the main groups. They record both patterns and exceptions before deciding which claims the evidence supports.