Identify basic landforms and bodies of water, such as mountains, valleys, rivers, and lakes, and find examples of each on a real map.
Maps are drawn as though you are looking straight down from way up high. On a map, blue usually means water, like an ocean, lake, or river, while the rest of the land has its own shapes called landforms: a mountain is tall and rises high, a valley is low ground between higher land, and an island is land completely surrounded by water.
Learning to spot these shapes on a real map is like learning a new kind of reading. Once you know what to look for, a map tells a whole story about a place, even one you have never visited.
Mastery looks like: They correctly name at least four landforms or water features and identify a real example of each on an actual map.
Common stumbles: Confusing a lake, which is still and enclosed, with a river, which flows and connects to other water; not realizing maps are drawn as if looking straight down from above.