A Map for the Solar City Project
Solara is a fictional desert city where clear skies help scientists study sunlight. For a school solar-city project, a student team made an atlas map of the United States. They grouped states into five broad regions so readers could find places more easily. A region is a group of places that share a location or other features; the regional groups on this classroom map are used for organization.
The map key lists three states and their capitals in each region. In the Northeast are Maine—Augusta, New York—Albany, and Pennsylvania—Harrisburg. In the Southeast are Virginia—Richmond, Georgia—Atlanta, and Florida—Tallahassee. The Midwest includes Ohio—Columbus, Illinois—Springfield, and Minnesota—Saint Paul.
The map key places Arizona—Phoenix, New Mexico—Santa Fe, and Texas—Austin in the Southwest. The West includes California—Sacramento, Oregon—Salem, and Nevada—Carson City. The key uses a dash between each state and its capital. A capital is the city where a state's government is based.
The team checked each label before printing the map. If a visitor knows a state but not its capital, the key can help. If a visitor knows a capital but not its state, the key works in the other direction. Grouping labels by region also makes it easier to compare nearby parts of the country, even though a region can contain many other states besides the ones shown on this classroom map.