Free / Grades 3-5, with reading and multiplication support
Mapmaker Studio
Can someone follow my map without guessing what I meant?
4 flexible sessions / about 140 minutes including practice / geography, math, reading and art
Suggested rhythm: two sessions a week for two weeks. Week 1: orientation and grid locations. Week 2: route distances, testing and revision. Pause or spread sessions out as needed.
Reading, watching and paper activities are free. Parents and instructors can save a collection; scheduling it for a student requires Plus or Lifetime. No upload is required.
Before you begin
Read letters A-E and numbers 1-5. Count moves, add small whole numbers and multiply by 100 with support. Read aloud, point or dictate whenever helpful. The two videos introduce grids and map scale.
Fictional paper maps only. Stay indoors and use the invented places. Do not include a real home, school, address or travel routine. No location permission, GPS, outdoor trip or physical compass is needed. This is not instruction for navigating outdoors; a paper route does not establish a safe or accessible real journey.
Materials
- 4 sheets per learner: Project journal
Print four pages or copy the headings into a notebook.
- 2 sheets per learner: First and revised maps
Use clean scrap paper; keep the first version rather than erasing it.
- 1 per learner: Pencil
Point, dictate or use an accessible writing tool.
- 1 shared, optional: Ruler and calculator
Use a paper edge or labeled table. Count printed intervals, not centimeters on a resized screen.
- 1 shared: Browser with audio or transcripts
Read the existing transcripts together. Separate worksheet printing is optional.
Choose the support that fits
- More support: keep the north arrow and place list visible. Move one step at a time while an adult reads the directions. Count groups of 100 together.
- More challenge: compare different routes of equal length, then change every grid interval from 100 m to 200 m. Explain what changes and what stays the same.
- Access options: use labels and shapes instead of color alone. A list of locations and spoken directions is an alternative to precise drawing. No upload, recording or public presentation is required.
What good evidence looks like
- Use a north arrow rather than assuming the top of every map is north.
- Read the declared column/row order and trace a route to its stated destination.
- Count intervals, apply the given scale and keep distance units visible.
- Distinguish route length from travel time, safety and real-world accessibility.
- Keep the first map, test an instruction, and explain a specific revision using evidence.
These are discussion criteria, not a new automatic score. Existing lesson and worksheet records keep their own subjects. Checking off a planned task does not demonstrate mastery or add a second grade.
Session 1 / about 35 minutes
North does not live at the top
Goal: Use a north arrow and a symbol key to explain a turned fictional map.
Preparation / about 6 minutes of adult support: Have journal 1 and a first-draft sheet ready. Let the learner keep uncertain ideas in the draft; later sessions give them evidence for revision.
A north arrow tells how a map is oriented. Turning the paper does not move the places. Keep the clockwise order north, east, south, west around the arrow. In our worked picture, north points left, so east points toward the top. A legend, or key, explains symbols; the same symbol must keep the same meaning. Use names or patterns too, so a reader need not distinguish colors. A triangle might mean a tent, a mountain or a very pointy bakery. The key must settle it.
Turn an imaginary map so north points toward the bottom. Ask where the other directions now point on the page. Which clue is more reliable: the arrow or the edge nearest your hands?
- Orient the turned map / about 15 minutes
- Write a symbol key / about 10 minutes
- Keep a first map draft / about 10 minutes
Fun fact: Real topographic maps can distinguish true, grid and magnetic north. Our fictional paper model uses just the stated north arrow; it is not a compass reading. Source
S3U / Mapmaker Studio / Journal 1 of 4
Follow the arrow, not the page edge
This investigation is different from the worked picture: north points toward the bottom of the page. Write top, bottom, left or right for each direction. Save a first map and a first explanation on a separate sheet.
| Direction | Page edge when north points down |
|---|---|
| North | |
| East | |
| South | |
| West |
My first explanation: what would a visitor need to understand my map?
Choose one symbol for an invented place. Write its meaning and one possible misunderstanding without a key.
Session 2 / about 35 minutes
Give each place an address on paper
Goal: Read a declared letter-number grid and trace routes from a shared starting point.
Preparation / about 5 minutes of adult support: Have journal 2 and the first map draft ready. Read the row-order rule before moving. Letter-number addresses here belong only to this fictional grid.
Our project grid has columns A-E from left to right and rows 1-5 from bottom to top. North is up. Give the column letter first, then the row number. Each move goes one interval between neighboring locations; diagonal moves are not used. For a smaller worked example, start at A1, move east one and north one, and finish at B2. Count the moves, not the number of locations you touch. A map address is useful only when the reader knows the grid rule.
Ask why B3 and C2 are not interchangeable. Then compare east-one, north-two with north-two, east-one from the same start. Can different directions still arrive at the same place?
- Map grids: letters, numbers and a destination / about 5 minutes
- Find Places on a Neighborhood Grid / about 10 minutes
- Trace four routes from the depot / about 20 minutes
Fun fact: A map can use a key, orientation and scale together: the key tells what a symbol means, while the other information answers different questions. Source
S3U / Mapmaker Studio / Journal 2 of 4
One starting point, four destinations
Use a fictional north-up 5-by-5 grid: columns A-E left to right, rows 1-5 bottom to top. Depot is A1. Write cardinal-direction moves from Depot to each listed destination. Count intervals; use no diagonals.
| Destination / grid address | Directions from Depot A1 |
|---|---|
| Garden / D1 | |
| Library / B3 | |
| Museum / E4 | |
| Pond / B5 |
Give two different routes from A1 to B3. How can I check that they have the same destination?
Add a grid rule to my draft. Which ambiguity did it remove?
Session 3 / about 35 minutes
A short line can stand for a long walk
Goal: Count route intervals, apply a shared scale and avoid claiming distance proves travel time.
Preparation / about 7 minutes of adult support: Have journals 2 and 3 ready. A calculator is optional. Keep the project scale separate from the video and worked diagram scales.
A scale connects a map length with the distance it represents. In our separate worked example, each interval represents 50 m: four intervals stand for 4 x 50 = 200 m. The project uses 100 m per interval instead. Add all route intervals, including turns, before multiplying. A direct-looking line is not automatically an allowed route. A shorter distance also does not prove a faster, safer or more accessible journey; we have no speeds, surfaces or real conditions here. The map cannot promise that the museum has excellent snacks either.
Compare two routes that finish at Museum E4. Ask whether going via Pond B5 changes the destination, the distance, or both. What additional evidence would be needed to compare travel times?
- Map scale: a small line, a longer trip / about 5 minutes
- Plan a Route Using Map Distances / about 10 minutes
- Compare the library and pond routes / about 20 minutes
Fun fact: A printed ratio scale relies on the map being the intended size. Resizing a map changes its measured centimeters, which is why this project counts labeled intervals instead. Source
S3U / Mapmaker Studio / Journal 3 of 4
Same destination, different route lengths
Project scale: every grid interval represents 100 m. Both routes start at A1. Route L: east 1, north 2, east 3, north 1 (via Library B3). Route P: north 4, east 1, east 3, south 1 (via Pond B5). Both finish at Museum E4.
| Route or comparison | Intervals | Distance (m) |
|---|---|---|
| Route L | ||
| Route P | ||
| Extra on Route P | ||
| Route L if every interval were 200 m |
Show one calculation with units. Optional: express each original route length in kilometers; 1 km = 1,000 m.
Why does the shorter route not automatically prove a shorter travel time or a safe real journey?
Session 4 / about 35 minutes
Test the map before opening the museum
Goal: Revise an original fictional map using a traced instruction and an explained correction.
Preparation / about 8 minutes of adult support: Bring all four journals, the first draft and a new sheet for the revision. A private self-check is valid if no listener is available. Nobody is monitoring live.
Make a revised fictional map with five named places, a grid rule, a north arrow, a key and one interval scale. Write a route from one named place to another. Trace it yourself, or ask an available adult to follow exactly what is written. Do not silently rescue an unclear instruction. Record what caused the confusion, improve the wording or map, and try again. Keep the first draft beside the revision. A map is successful when its reader can explain it, not when it wins a neatest-lines contest.
Try the instruction "go over there, then turn." Ask what information is missing. Replace it with a start, a direction, a number of intervals and a checkable destination.
- Make a revised fictional map / about 15 minutes
- Test and rewrite the directions / about 10 minutes
- Explain my map and its limits / about 10 minutes
Fun fact: A north arrow, scale and legend are different map components. Adding one does not supply the information carried by the others. Source
S3U / Mapmaker Studio / Journal 4 of 4
My map and its evidence
Use a separate sheet for the revised map. Keep the first draft. Record what an exact route test showed; if it worked on the first try, improve and explain one useful label rather than inventing an error.
| Evidence to keep | My observation |
|---|---|
| My start and destination | |
| Intervals, scale and represented distance | |
| A confusing instruction or label I improved | |
| What my map does not establish |
Compare my first and revised map. Which specific change made the route easier to check?
Demonstrate the route privately or rehearse it myself. What question would I investigate next?
What changed in your explanation?
Show your evidence, explain one revision, and choose a question to investigate next. You can keep everything on paper.
Optional: record actual offline learning in Learning Records. Keep reported minutes separate from website time. For an assigned pack, use your existing daily tasks; this page does not award additional completion credit.