First Grade · History · week 16

Land and water on maps

Identify land and water on a map and name basic landforms and bodies of water.

Maps show two big kinds of surface: land and water. Water is usually colored blue. Land is usually colored green or brown.

Some words for water: an ocean is huge and salty, a lake is smaller and surrounded by land, a river is a long moving stream of water. An island is land completely surrounded by water.

📋 For the teacher
Teach it (10–15 min):
  • Look at a world map or globe together and point out oceans, at least one big lake, and a long river.
  • If you live near a real body of water, talk about what kind it is (ocean, lake, river) and why.
  • Practice coloring a simple drawn map: blue for water, green or brown for land.
  • Ask your child to find or imagine an island and explain why it counts as an island.
Talk about it:
  • What color usually means water on a map?
  • What is an island?
  • Name a body of water near us or one you have learned about.

Mastery looks like: They can identify land versus water on a map by color and correctly name at least two landforms or bodies of water.

Common stumbles: Mixing up the names ocean, lake, and river, or forgetting that an island must have water on every side.

Homework for this lessonType it, write it with a stylus, or print it for pencil & paper.open →
Records attendance + 15 min of History for this learner.
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