Geography: maps, regions, and people and places (grade 3) · lesson

Map tools

💡 Each map tool has one job: the key explains symbols, the scale shows distance, and a grid helps you find a spot.

The map key, or legend, tells what each symbol means. A tent may stand for a campground. Each symbol stands for one place.

The scale shows real distance. If 1 inch stands for 1 mile, then 3 inches on the map stand for 3 miles.

Some maps have a grid. Letters go across the top. Numbers go down the side. Square B2 is in column B and row 2.

🧠 Let's work it out

Pick the tool for the job.
What does this symbol mean? Use the key.
How far is it? Use the scale.
Where is square C2? Go across to C, then down to 2.
Moving one square to the right changes the letter, not the number.

What do you think comes next?

map key: the part of a map that tells what the symbols mean; also called a legend
scale: the part of a map that shows real distance
symbol: a small picture that stands for something real

🔗 Map · National Geographic Education ↗

Directions

💡 On most maps, north is up, south is down, east is right, and west is left.

There are four main directions: north, south, east, and west. A compass rose on a map shows them.

On most maps, north is at the top. So south is at the bottom. East is on the right. West is on the left.

North and south are opposites. East and west are opposites too.

🧠 Let's work it out

Put your finger at the top of the map. That is north.
Slide it to the right. That is east.
If you face north and turn all the way around, you face the opposite way. That is south.

What do you think comes next?

compass rose: a map symbol that shows north, south, east, and west
opposite: the other way, like up and down

Places and regions

💡 A region is an area where places are alike in some way, like their land, weather, or work.

A rural community is in the country. It has farms and open land. Homes are far apart. An urban community is a city. It has tall buildings and busy streets.

A region is an area where many places share something. A big area of flat, dry wheat farms is a region. A border is different. It is a line between places.

Places fit inside bigger places. Your house is in a neighborhood. The neighborhood is in a city. The city is in a state. The state is in a country.

🧠 Let's work it out

To spot a region, ask what the places have in common.
Every town is flat and dry with wheat farms? Then they share land and work.

What do you think comes next?

rural: in the country, with farms and open land
urban: in a city, with many people close together
region: an area where places are alike in some way

Land and people

💡 People change the land to meet their needs, but they can't change things like the weather.

Land has many shapes. A mesa is high land with a flat top and steep sides, like a table. A valley is low land between hills. A plain is low, flat land. A canyon is a deep cut in the land.

People change the land to meet their needs. They build roads and bridges to travel. They dig ditches to bring water to dry farms.

Some things people cannot change. No one can pick the weather. North on a map always stays north.

🧠 Let's work it out

Ask: can a person really do this?
Building a bridge? Yes.
Digging a ditch? Yes.
Choosing tomorrow's weather? No.

What do you think comes next?

landform: a shape of the land, like a hill or a mesa
mesa: high land with a flat top and steep sides

🔗 Mesa · National Geographic Education ↗