The first chapter in sixth grade science discussed landforms, maps, and globes. The most unfamiliar map for them was the topographic map. We spend a great deal of time interpreting these maps, making our own keys, and understanding what information the map can provide. To enforce the students' understanding, they created their own topographic maps. I provided each group with a clay "landform", a pie pan covered in plastic wrap with a small opening to pour water, a beaker, and water. Students placed their landform in the pie pan and poured water into the pan in intervals of 200mL. Each time they they poured 200mL, they used a dry erase marker to trace the outline of the water around the clay landform. As they continued to do this, they created multiple contour lines showing the elevation of their landforms. From there, student created a key for their map. Here are some of the topographic maps.
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