K-3 Students should be able to:
Use maps to describe the natural and manmade environment around them, identifying some of the ways the two affect each other.

1. Make and compare several maps of their community showing:

boundaries, major geographical features, and the names and locations of neighboring communities. Students locate where they live on this map.
transportation systems such as roads, trains, bus routes, bicycle paths, walking routes. Each student identifies and traces her or his route from home to school on this map.
current land use, labeling:
  recreational areas
  stores
  agricultural areas
  industrial areas
  government buildings
  residential areas
  where the students live

2. Find a map illustrating land-use and transportation in at least one earlier era to introduce the concept of change.  Students compare this with current community maps and identify and explain differences.