Read a map of California to locate its major rivers, its capital, and its largest cities.
Two rivers do most of the work draining California's Central Valley. The Sacramento River flows south through the northern half (the Sacramento Valley), and the San Joaquin River flows north through the southern half (the San Joaquin Valley). They meet in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and flow together into San Francisco Bay and out to the ocean. Along the state's eastern edge, the Colorado River forms part of the border with Arizona.
California's capital is Sacramento, named for the river beside it -- capitals are not always a state's biggest city, and Sacramento is not. Los Angeles is California's largest city by far, followed by San Diego, San Jose, and San Francisco. A good map reader can find all of these using a legend, a scale, and a compass rose.
Mastery looks like: They can locate the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers, name the capital, and name at least two of the state's largest cities on a map.
Common stumbles: Confusing the capital with the largest city; reading a river's flow direction backward.