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1st grade · Social Studies · Unit 6 of 10

Maps

Symbols, directions, near and far

What your child practices

Reading a simple map with north at the top, using north, south, east and west, map symbols and legends, and near and far.

Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards benchmark: 1.3.13.1 · sketch maps, positional words and addresses

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. A map shows where places are.
  2. The legend (or key) tells what each symbol means.
  3. North, south, east, west. The sun comes up in the east.

Example: What tells you what the symbols on a map mean? Look in the map's corner box. It is called the legend, or key. Answer: the legend (or key)

Maps in Minnesota

In the Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards, this is unit 6 of 10 in 1st grade Social Studies, after My Roles & Responsibilities and before Our Land.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Minnesota Department of Education (MDE)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    What is the opposite of east?

    🧭
    • ⬆️north
    • ⬅️west
    • ⬇️south

  2. Question 2

    On most maps, what color shows water?

    • 🔵blue
    • 🟡yellow
    • 🔴red

  3. Question 3

    What tells you what the symbols on a map mean?

    🗺️
    • 🏷️the title
    • 🎨the colors
    • 🔑the legend (or key)

  4. Question 4

    On most maps, north is at the…

    🗺️
    • ⬇️bottom
    • ⬅️left side
    • ⬆️top

  5. Question 5

    Look at the map. What is south of the house?

    ⬆️ North is up

    🟩 🏪 🟩

    🚒 🏠 🏫

    🟩 🏊 🟩

    • 🏫school
    • 🚒fire station
    • 🏊pool

  6. Question 6

    Look at the map. What is west of the house?

    ⬆️ North is up

    🟩 🏊 🟩

    🏫 🏠 🏪

    🟩 🌳 🟩

    • 🏊pool
    • 🌳park
    • 🏫school

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