Grades 5-9
28 activities – 281 pages

A hands-on, integrated experience of math and science awaits students in Through the Eyes of the Explorers, Minds on Math and Mapping. The book shows how the skills of creating maps put geometry into action.

Five sections within the book explore Direct Measure Maps; Maps form Global Position; Indirect Measures; Indirect Measure Maps; and Topographical Maps. Most sections offer real-world data – such as recordings from Lewis and Clark’s explorations, or numerical data from digital images taken from space probes – to be used as a basis of an investigation.

Activities will have students physically doing things such as pacing off the school yard to discover how to make a map when there is not a measurement tool; using a cardboard paper tube as a scope to perform indirect measurements; and studying their shadow at solar noon to determine their latitude and longitude.
Map making provides a mathematically rich situation in which the applications of mathematical skills are used to communicate a visual form. Maps are never made for the demonstrations of mathematical power, but to illustrate dimensions about how far, how high, how big, how much. Mapping deals with a broad range of mathematical topics including proportional reasoning, measurement, and geometry.

Students will be excited as the activities lead them to success in developing maps while also providing an understanding of real-world applications of mathematics.

Teachers will enjoy providing students with activities they would not have otherwise thought to do and will also appreciate the ease of putting the materials together. History, science, and math teachers can all find valuable experiences for their students while helping them to recognize the interwoven nature of their learning.