Finding Our
Place in the World
The Field Museum Education Department Presents
Educator Guide & Walking Map
The Field Museum’s Education Department develops educator guides to provide detailed
information on field trip planning, alignment with Illinois State Learning Standards, as well
as hands-on classroom activity ideas to do before and after your visit to the Museum.
Maps: Finding Our Place in the World is organized by
The Field Museum and The Newberry Library.
This exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the
Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.
Presented by
Teacher’s Note
MAPS: Finding Our Place in the World
November 2, 2007– January 27, 2008
Maps: Finding Our Place in the World is a once-in-a-lifetime journey through the landscapes of time and space,
science and imagination. This unique exhibition of more than 100 of the world’s greatest maps features exquisite
works of art and engaging, high-tech interactive displays. You’ll see maps created by traders and navigators, by
scientists like Ptolemy and Leonardo da Vinci, and by dreamers from J.R.R. Tolkien to Internet pioneers. You’ll
learn how early maps were made, see how technology has changed over the centuries, and discover the latest
advances in digital mapmaking.
Maps consists of seven sections. Before you visit, spend some time viewing the information on the Web site to
begin planning your field trip. We also recommend our quick fun facts and pre-activities to introduce your students
to the complexities of the exhibition and focusing on one or two sections within the exhibition to study in depth.
This guide introduces each section and provides related guiding questions, answers to guiding questions, suggested
pre-activities, field trip activities, and post-activities to help guide your students’ experience.
For more information about Maps visit us on-line at www.fieldmuseum.org/maps.
To learn more about the City of Chicago’s Festival of Maps visit www.festivalofmaps.com.
This Educator Guide is organized in four parts:
I. Introductory Notes
• Teaching and Learning About Geography
• Corresponding Illinois Learning Standards (ILS)
• Words to Know
II. Exhibition and Activities
• Introduction
• Sections and Activities
III. Resources for Teachers and Students
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Mapping Skills
Related Field Museum Research
Related Destinations at The Field Museum
Related Programs at The Field Museum
The Harris Educational Loan Center
Books for Teachers and Students
Web sites for Teachers and Students
IV. Noteworthy Information
• Fun Facts
• Walking Map
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31–33
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40–41
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This educator guide was developed by The Field Museum’s Education Department and Judith K. Bock,
Geography Education Consultant.
Cover image Courtesy of The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore
The Field Museum • Maps Educator Guide
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Part One: Introductory Notes
Teaching & Learning About Geography
As educators, it is important for us to remember that geography includes far more than just maps. Geography is the
study of Earth’s surface—the distribution and interaction of its physical, biological, and cultural features. Geographers
are always asking: Who and what? Where and why? And so what?
In 1994, a group of educators, parents, and other concerned citizens joined together to write Geography for Life:
National Geography Standards. Eighteen standards were identified as being critical to the development of a high degree
of geographic literacy and were organized as six essential elements of geography education:
1) the world in spatial terms
2) places and regions
3) physical systems
4) human systems
5) environment and society
6) the uses of geography
These six essential elements help us to develop an understanding of what geography is. However, we can also begin
thinking about geography in relation to skills, perspectives, and tools.
Geography requires us to apply scientific inquiry skills. Geographers are constantly asking questions, gathering
information, organizing and analyzing that information, and reaching new conclusions as a result of their studies.
When teaching geography, we should engage our students in exercising these same skills, exploring the physical and
human worlds through inquiry.
Further, various geographic perspectives frame our interpretation of the world. A spatial perspective engages us in
considering the location of things and the reason they are there. An environmental perspective encourages us to ask
questions about the relationship between Earth and its inhabitants, while an economic perspective helps us to identify
relationships between goods, services and their distribution. And finally, a historical perspective allows us to look at
how geography plays an integral role in the shaping of history.
So far, you will note, maps and mapping skills have not been mentioned. Maps, globes, and the technologies that
create them are the tools of the geographer. Cartographers, the mapmakers themselves, combine science with art to
create images that help us understand, interpret, analyze, and evaluate our world. Globes, maps, and atlases are tools
of the geographer most commonly found in classrooms. However, newer technologies such as the Internet, GIS,
GPS, and remotely-sensed data are becoming more accessible for use as teaching tools.
Mapping skills help students analyze and interpret globes, maps, and images. Their ability to read and comprehend
information through symbols, direction, and scale is essential to basic understandings. By having students create maps
from field data, they begin to appreciate the cartographic skills needed to display spatial information. And finally,
practice in interpretation, analysis and extrapolation of information from maps helps students conceptualize the
real-world. Appropriate skill development will enhance student ability to gain a better understanding of our local
and global world.
The Field Museum • Maps Educator Guide
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Corresponding Illinois Learning Standards (ILS)
The Illinois Learning Standards (ILS) define what students in all Illinois public schools should know and be able to
do in the seven core areas as a result of their elementary and secondary schooling. Performance descriptors and ILSaligned classroom assessments were developed to enhance the ILS and to serve as resources to help teachers determine
local performance expectations at each grade level. For more information on the ILS and to locate corresponding
performance descriptors or assessments, visit www.isbe.state.il.us/ils/Default.
Use of this educator guide in combination with a field trip to the Museum will help you link learning experiences
to the following Illinois Learning Standards (ILS). Teachers will need to identify descriptors and benchmarks for
individual lesson plans, larger units of study, and specific subject areas. Maps, while suitable for all students regardless
of grade level, aligns closely with concepts studied in later elementary, middle school, and high school.
English Language Arts:
Goal 1: Reading
Goal 2: Literature
Goal 3: Writing
Goal 4: Listening
Goal 5: Research
Mathematics:
Goal 6: Number sense
Goal 7: Estimation & measurement
Goal 9: Geometry
Science:
Goal 11: Inquiry & design
Goal 12: Concepts and principles
Goal 13: Science, technology, & society
Fine Arts:
Goal 25: Language of the arts
Goal 27: Arts in civilizations
Social Science:
Goal 14: P
olitical systems
Goal 15: Economic systems
Goal 16: E
vents, trends, individuals and
movements shaping history
Goal 17: World geography and its effects
on society
Goal 18: Social systems
Geography (found within Social Science ILS):
Goal 17: Understand world geography and the
effects of geography on society, with an
emphasis on the United States.
A. Locate, describe and explain places, regions
and features on the Earth.
B. A nalyze and explain characteristics and
interactions of the Earth’s physical systems.
C. Understand relationships between geographic
factors and society.
D. U
nderstand the historical significance of
geography.
Foreign Languages:
Goal 29: C
ustoms, arts, literature, history and
geography associated with the target
language
Social/Emotional Learning (SEL):
Goal 1: Self-awareness & self-management
Goal 2: Social-awareness & interpersonal skills
Goal 3: Decision-making and responsible behavior
in community contexts
The Field Museum • Maps Educator Guide
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Words to Know
Absolute location: An exact location, such as an address or latitude/longitude.
Aerial view: A perspective from directly above a site looking down, so as to only see the tops of
buildings and objects.
Altitude: The vertical elevation of an object above a surface.
Astrolabe: An instrument used to observe and calculate the position of celestial bodies before the
invention of the sextant.
Atlas: A collection of maps often including illustrations, informative tables, or textual matter.
Azimuth: Horizontal direction expressed as the angular distance between a fixed point and the
direction of the object.
Bird’s-eye view: A view of Earth from above but at an angle that provides a three-dimensional
perspective, so as to see the tops and sides of buildings and objects.
Cartography: The science or art of making maps.
Choropleth map: A map using four or more colors to show and compare statistical information, such as
population or gross national product.
Chronometer: An instrument designed to keep time with great accuracy.
Compass: A device for determining directions by means of a magnetic needle or group of needles
turning freely on a pivot and pointing to the magnetic north.
Coordinate: Any of a set of numbers used in specifying the location of a point on a line, on a
surface, or in space, such as latitude and longitude.
Cordiform projection: A heart-shaped projection of Earth.
Direction: The line or course on which something is moving; also known as cardinal (North,
South, East, or West) or intermediate (NE, SW, NNW, etc.) direction on maps.
Distortion: Twisted out of the true meaning or proportion.
Equator: A great circle of Earth (0o latitude), dividing Earth into northern and southern
hemispheres and from which latitude is measured.
Geographic Information Digital mapping technology supported by large geographical databases allowing for
Systems (GIS): analytical querying of a map.
Global Positioning Technology that uses satellites to provide an absolute, coordinate location.
Systems (GPS):
Geography: The study of Earth’s surface–the distribution and interaction of its physical, biological,
and cultural features.
Geologic map: A map showing the surface distribution of different rock types.
Globe: A spherical representation of Earth, a celestial body, or the heavens.
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Words to Know (continued)
Grid: A series of lines drawn on a map, usually crossing at right-angles, to help readers locate
specific points on the map.
Hemisphere: One-half of Earth, typically the northern and southern halves of Earth as divided by
the equator or the eastern and western halves as divided by the Prime Meridian.
Hydrologic map: A representation of the properties, distribution, and circulation of water on and below
Earth’s surface and in the atmosphere.
Itinerary map: A representation of a route or journey.
Key: An explanatory list of map or chart symbols.
Land grants: A grant of land made by the government especially for roads, railroads, or agricultural
colleges.
Large-scale map: A map that shows a small area or region, providing an up-close view of features and
details.
Latitude: An imaginary line that measures angular distance north or south of Earth’s equator (0o
latitude); also known as a parallel.
Legend: An explanatory list of the symbols and degrees of intensity on a map or chart, such as
various sized dots for city population.
Long lot: A land division of long narrow lots, typically used by the French, so that all property
owners have access to a river or road.
Longitude: An imaginary line that extends from pole to pole and measures angular distance in
o
degrees, starting from the Prime Meridian (0 longitude); also known as a meridian.
Map: A graphic representation of a place, real or imagined.
Map projection: A method of representing the earth’s three-dimensional surface as a flat twodimensional surface.
Mercator projection: A projection that preserves the direction between any two places on Earth, used for
navigation; causes distortion of continents.
Metes and bounds: A traditional English method for defining the size and shape of a property by
measuring a series of straight boundary lines between landmarks.
Network map: A representation of an entire system of routes or pathways, such as Interstate highways
or shipping routes.
Oblique view: Neither perpendicular nor parallel; provides a “bird’s eye view.”
Orientation: Direction, especially in relation to the points of a compass; often refers to which
direction is at the top of a map.
Plane: A flat or level surface.
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Words to Know (continued)
Planimetric map: A large-scale map showing a locality from directly above and to scale.
Plot map: A map using dots to show location, spatial distribution, and density of a phenomenon,
like the number of cholera deaths in a neighborhood.
Portolan chart: Hand-drawn navigational chart made in Mediterranean ports and used by
Mediterranean sailors from the thirteenth century to the seventeenth century and
characterized by a grid of intersecting rhumblines (or loxodromes) and scalloped
coastlines with the names of landmarks and ports written at right angles to the coast.
Prime Meridian: A major meridian (0o longitude), dividing the eastern hemisphere from the western
hemisphere.
Profile: A representation of a side or sectional elevation.
Quadrangle: One of a series of sheets forming part of a systematic topographic map of entire region
or country, usually showing a combination of physical and cultural features.
Range: One of the north-south rows of townships in a United States public-land survey that
are numbered east and west from the principal meridian of the survey.
Reference systems: Any one of several systems that provide absolute location, such as the latitude/
longitude grid, township and range, a house address.
Relative location: A location in relationship to another feature, such as Milwaukee is north of Chicago.
Relief: The elevations or inequalities of a land surface.
Remote sensing: The use of cameras to record information sensed from the electromagnetic wave
energy reflected from Earth to a sensor, such as those on satellites.
Scale: The ratio of the distance measured on a map to that measured on the ground between
the same two points.
Small-scale map: A map that shows vast expanses of land, such as a world map.
Survey: The process of gathering information to determine form, extent, and position of
features by taking linear and angular measurements.
Symbol: A picture, letter, number, or other arbitrary sign used to represent some thing.
Thematic map: A map that shows the spatial extent of selected features, such as climate or vegetation
or roads.
Topography: The configuration of a surface including its relief and the position of its natural and
man-made features.
Township: A division of territory in surveys of United States public land; usually 36 square miles
in extent.
Tributary: A stream feeding a larger stream or a lake.
The Field Museum • Maps Educator Guide
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Part Two: Exhibition & Activities
Introduction to the Exhibition
Maps: Finding Our Place in the World takes you on a journey through time and culture, geography and
imagination, art and technology — to discover how maps help us understand our world, our history, and
ourselves. The exhibition explores innovative mapping technologies from the past, present, and future, and
presents maps from cultures around the globe.
The spectacular and rarely opened “Atlas of the Great Elector” is an apt beginning to the journey. Standing
almost seven feet tall, weighing 275 pounds, and bound in fine leather and gold with brass fittings, it is obviously
more than a geographic tool. It is a symbol of its owner’s learning and worldliness, of the power and wealth of
the Prussian state, of national pride— and an early hint that the maps you will see in this exhibition will tell us
more than how to get from “here” to “there.”
Section One: Finding Our Way
Discover that diverse approaches to wayfinding reflect the
scope of human experience. Follow a thirteenth-century
map that guided pilgrims on an imagined spiritual journey
to the Holy Land, see a low-tech ancestor of today’s in-car
navigation systems, and learn how digital navigation works.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of The Newberry Library
Section Two: Mapping the World
Explore how maps structure our world. Come face to face
with the famous Mercator projection that is still used to
navigate the seas and see how diverse cultures have sought to
visualize not only the physical earth but spiritual realms.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of the University Library, Basel, Switzerland
Section Three: Mapping Places
Maps of communities, cities, nations, and specific regions
cast light on what was important to those who made them.
Examine what maps can tell us through the mapmaker’s
choice of materials and representational styles.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Newberry Library
The Field Museum • Maps Educator Guide
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Part Two: Exhibition & Activities (continued)
Introduction to the Exhibition
Section Four: Mapping History
Maps shape history. The “red line map” is one of several
maps in this gallery that not only document history but
played a role in shaping it. Such maps reveal both what was
and what people aspired to.
Photo Credit: Used by permission of The British Library
Section Five: Visualizing Nature and Society
Encounter maps that reveal patterns and phenomena that
are otherwise difficult to see or understand. Also see several
interactive displays illustrating how Field Museum scientists
use maps and mapping technologies in their research.
Photo Credit: Private Collection, Virginia
Section Six: Mapping the Imaginary
This gallery is devoted to maps of places that have been
traveled by countless readers, though they exist nowhere
on earth. From Lilliput to Middle Earth, from Utopia to
Yoknapatawpha County, delight in maps from favorite
literary works.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of The Newberry Library
Section Seven: Living with Maps
Through a variety of interactive displays discover how
leading-edge map technology is being used and try out
the high-tech, multi-purpose maps that will be a part of
our everyday lives tomorrow.
Photo Credit: Reproduced by permission of The National Archives of the
United Kingdom
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Section One: Finding Our Way
Maps help us find our way
What maps do you use? A mass transit map, an in-car navigation system, a museum floorplan? Myriad wayfinding
maps exist, but they all address three basic questions: Where am I? Where do I want to go? How do I get there?
And virtually all wayfinding maps organize the geographical information in one of two ways: The itinerary map
shows a single route or corridor or movement, the network map describes an entire system of routes or pathways.
Beyond these similarities, wayfinding maps suited to a particular context: who will use them, the purpose for
their wayfinding, the technologies available, and the physical environment.
In this section of the exhibition, you will discover that diverse approaches to wayfinding reflect the scope of
human experience. For example, you can follow a thirteenth-century map that guided pilgrims on an imagined
spiritual journey to the Holy Land. You’ll see a “Photo-Auto Guide,” a low-tech ancestor of today’s in-car
navigation systems, with its turn-by-turn pictures taken by a camera. And you’ll see an Inuit carving that
represents part of Greenland’s sinuous coast.
Guiding Questions
1.What is an itinerary map?
2.What do network maps represent?
3.What are common features of maps?
Technology Connections
I ntroduce Global Positioning Systems (GPS) as wayfinding technology. Discuss the application of GPS and use
a GPS device to locate points along a route. Upload the points to GoogleEarth.com. Add digital photographs to
enhance the points.
Courtesy of The Newberry Library
The grandfather of today’s
modern in-car navigation
systems, this auto guide
featured turn-by-turn photos.
The Field Museum • Maps Educator Guide
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Section One: Finding Our Way (continued)
Maps help us find our way
Pre-Activities
1.Using a local road map, ask students to trace a route from school to The Field Museum. Discuss different
routes, parks/buildings/landmarks passed, and how various map elements were used.
2.Share an Illinois Road Map with students. Discuss network maps and ask students to identify networks that
appear on the Illinois Road Map. Why are network maps useful? This can also be done with a Chicago Metra
or Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) Map.
3.Use a globe to chart the shortest distance route between two cities, like Chicago and Tokyo (use a piece of
string to trace the route). What modes of transportation would you have to use to get there? What shape is
this travel route? Trace the same route on a flat map. Is the distance different? Why or why not?
Field Trip Activities
1.Challenge students to find and identify examples of different maps in the exhibition: itinerary map, portolan
chart, scroll map, network map, navigation map.
2.A sk students to compare the symbols used on “Road from Edo to Kyoto” to “Road Network of Japan During
the Edo Period.” How are the maps similar and different?
3.A sk students to summarize techniques used in making maps and innovations in mapmaking. How did each
innovation make map usage easier?
4.A fter viewing Maps, visit Africa. As students walk through the regions of Africa, ask students to design a scroll
or itinerary map of this visit.
5.At the Field, you can also visit Traveling the Pacific. Use the Experience Box Ocean Highways, Ocean Harvest from
the Harris Educational Loan Center and use the model of an outrigger canoe and the stick map to discuss
ocean navigation. On the large floor map at the entrance of the exhibition, ask students to point out islands.
How would people travel between them? What obstacles would they face? How is this different than how we
travel in Chicago?
London Transport Museum, © Transport for London
The Field Museum • Maps Educator Guide
This first poster-sized
map of the London
Underground from 1933
was groundbreaking in its
graphic simplicity.
Page 11
Section One: Finding Our Way (continued)
Maps help us find our way
Post-Activities
1.Recall the “Itinerary from Chicago to Lake Geneva” map with photographs oriented to points on the map.
Ask students to recreate a Chicago, Illinois, or neighborhood map that shows a travel route. Ask students to
draw, use a digital camera, or capture images from the Internet to highlight various points along the route.
2.Trace the shoreline of Lake Michigan from an Illinois map from Gary, Indiana to Milwaukee, Wisconsin onto
paper. Cut the profile of the shoreline out to create a strip map that resembles the shoreline. Ask students to
identify key points along the shoreline (cities, parks, etc.).
3.Use compasses to do school yard orienteering. Create an outline map of the school yard and ask students to
navigate from one location to another.
Answers to Guiding Questions
1.A n itinerary map shows a single route or corridor of movement. It has an origin and a destination. In between
are identifying features, shown as sketches or as actual photographs, to identify the route to take and what
features might be encountered along the way.
2.Network maps show connections between places. Road maps and railroad maps are examples of network maps.
They show junctions and intersections, usually identifying key stopping locations along the route.
3.A ll maps show a spatial distribution of Earth’s features. They may be small scale, showing large regions or
the entire world, or they may be large scale, showing smaller regions, towns, and neighborhoods. Besides the
typical physical-relief and political maps, there are many thematic maps that focus on one topic. Common
to most maps are title, north arrow or a reference system to show directionality, symbols, and a scale.
Cartographic maps often also include a legend, date that map was made, name of the cartographer, and the
source of information.
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Section Two: Mapping the World
Maps structure our world
How do you define “world?” Is it limited to the planet Earth or does it include spiritual realms? Because the
definition varies among cultures and across time, so do maps of the world. While modern ones typically show
the grid of latitude and longitude, more traditional maps may blend the geographical and mythical. To make
sense of this variety, a useful place to begin is at a map’s center and edges. These do more than structure the
map, they hint at how the cartographer understood the world. The center often represents the focal point of the
cartographer’s world. The edges often convey what is less important or less understood, such as the contours of a
distant land.
In this section, you’ll come face to face with Gerard Mercator’s 1569 world map, the famous projection that
is still used to navigate the seas…and now, outer space. Mercator’s projection is one example of the scientific
approach to mapmaking that began with Ptolemy, whose map is exhibited here as well. This is displayed along
with Captain Cook’s chronometer and an astrolabe, inventions that, along with the compass, allowed navigators
to keep track of their latitude and longitude at sea.
Courtesy of the University Library, Basel, Switzerland
Gerard Mercator, a mathematician and cartographer, spent years
developing this projection, first printed in 1569, which remains
the essential projection for sea, air and space navigation.
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Section Two: Mapping the World (continued)
Maps structure our world
Guiding Questions
1.W hat navigational tools helped early cartographers map the world more accurately?
2.W ho is credited with starting modern mapping (use of latitude and longitude)? What is latitude and longitude?
3.How were religious belief systems blended with geographic knowledge?
Technology Connections
sing ArcView, ArcExplorer (AEJEE), or other Geographic Information Systems (GIS) mapping software, ask
U
students to explore different map projections. For free downloadable software, visit
www.esri.com/software/arcexplorer/download-education.html.
Pre-Activities
1.Find different representations of Antarctica: polar view, Mercator or Robinson map, globe. Ask students to
explain why Antarctica looks differently on each. Which is most accurate? In what situation would each be
most useful?
2.Teach students the three main projections: conical, cylindrical, and azimuthal (flat) and how they are made.
Discuss distortion and how each of the projections causes distortion.
3.Find a Mercator projection map of the world and compare to a Peterson or Robinson projection. Have
students identify distortions that are evident in the Mercator map. Ask students to speculate as to why the
Mercator projection is seldom used in classrooms today.
4.Have students make a paper maché globe. Check out the Cool Globes Web site for ideas and paper maché
recipes: www.coolglobes.org/ckpapermache.htm.
Field Trip Activities
1.Challenge students to answer the following questions as they visit Maps: Finding Our Place in the World. Find
and identify one map that is based on a religious viewpoint. What religion underlies its creation? Who drew
the first modern map and what makes it “modern?” What is the most common orientation (direction at the
top) of religious maps? Of modern maps? What does a cosmological globe/map show? How are the “Medieval
Christian World Map” and “Earth from Space” image alike?
2.A sk students to sketch either the chronometer or astrolabe. Ask students to identify the tool, what it was used
for, and provide instructions for how the equipment was used to find direction in a caption.
3.Have students select two maps to analyze using a Venn diagram. How are the two world views similar? What
is unique to each? What was known about the world at the time each was drawn? What distortions and/or
inaccuracies does each have?
4.A fter viewing Maps: Finding Our Place in the World, visit the Tibet gallery (Upper Level) to explore Tibetan
culture and how religion is represented in the collections.
Post-Activities
1.Have students construct their own astrolabe and use it to find the latitude of their school.
Visit http://cse.ssl.berkeley.edu/AtHomeAstronomy/activity_07.html for instructions.
2.Challenge students to draw the continents and oceans on various two-dimensional (e.g., cloverleaf, rhombus,
etc.) and three-dimensional (cube, prism, etc.) shapes. Have each identify distortions that occur due to shape.
3.Have students recall the “Celestial Globe” made in 1698. Show them globes of the moon and of Mars. Discuss
what more we have learned about space since 1698 and tools and technologies that have been developed to
enable us to learn about space.
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Section Two: Mapping the World (continued)
Maps structure our world
Answers to Guiding Questions
1.The chronometer was used to record time; combined with knowledge that Earth rotated 15 degrees every
hour, navigators could determine whether they were in the eastern or western hemisphere by marking time
and direction of sailing when leaving a port. This provided information regarding longitude. Latitude could
be determined by using an astrolabe, which measured angle of the Sun above the horizon. Correlated with the
time of day, the latitude could be determined. The compass was also used to chart direction of travel and could
be used to outline shorelines.
2.Modern geography is considered the time when latitude and longitude were first widely adopted to locate
places. The Father of Modern Geography is, ironically, an ancient Greek scholar, Claudius Ptolemy, who
wrote Geographia in which he explained the use of mathematics to determine how latitude and longitude could
be used to locate places. Ptolemy’s book was the means by which this ancient idea was passed on to the modern
o
world. Latitude and longitude lines are based on 360 . Latitude measures distances in degrees north and south
o
o
of the Equator, the Equator being 0 . The farthest north or south that can be measured is 90 . Longitude
o
measures distances east and west of the Prime Meridian, which is 0 . The farthest east and west you can go is
o
180 . The International Date Line straddles this longitude line.
3.Religious maps often had the center of the faith as the center of the map with land, belief hierarchies, and
people radiating out from the center. Christian maps often had Jerusalem at the center with land areas and
understandings about other people indicated on them, e.g. Muslims indicated. Hindu and Buddhist maps had
Mt. Meru as their center with hierarchies of beliefs encircling it. The Muslim maps had the Arabian Peninsula
as the center of faith, but included scientific understandings, like climate zones, on the map. East was at the top
of the maps, and often these religious maps were circular.
©V & A Images/Victoria and Albert Museum
This 19th century Hindu globe from
Orissa, India, has the sacred Mount
Meru as its axis.
The Field Museum • Maps Educator Guide
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Section Three: Mapping Places
Maps describe important places
Zoom in on the world to a place that is important to you, perhaps a neighborhood or worship site. Such familiar
geographies may be easy to navigate without a map, from memory. Still an astounding array of local maps
exists. They commemorate a sacred place, satisfy our geographical curiosity, help us defend or manage territory,
or document a place for others. But, who the map is intended for is also significant. A cartographer may use
different symbols for cultural insiders or may intentionally distort features for an outsider.
This gallery, the largest and most diverse in the exhibition, shows what maps can tell us through the mapmaker’s
choice of materials and representational styles. Whether made using plaster, papyrus, wood, or watercolor, the
objects in this gallery stretch the idea of what a map can be.
This stunning engraving of
Venice by Jacobo de Barbari
from 1500 set a new artistic
standard for urban views.
Courtesy of The Newberry Library
The Field Museum • Maps Educator Guide
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Section Three: Mapping Places (continued)
Maps describe important places
Guiding Questions
1.Why are maps made?
2.What materials are used to make maps?
3.What is the difference between small-scale and large-scale maps?
Technology Connections
1.Download a free version of Google Earth at http://earth.google.com/. Encourage students to explore Google
Earth. Move from small-scale (full Earth view) to large-scale (to your community) by zooming in on the
globe. Have students describe how the detail changes with scale. Navigate to Chicago to show the aerial view,
using the controls, shift the image to the 3-D oblique views of the city.
2.For advanced students, introduce topological (quadrangle) maps that are produced by the U.S. Geological
Survey (USGS). Visit www.terraserver.microsoft.com to explore topological and aerial photograph views. Ask
students to identify advantages of each type of view and how each is important to interpretation of Earth’s
surface.
Pre-Activities
1.Examine the difference between small-scale (world, continent, country views) and large-scale maps (city,
neighborhood, classroom). Have students sketch a series of ascending views from large-scale to small-scale:
classroom they are in, building, block, city, county, state, country, continent, world, universe. What happens
at each level of ascent?
2.To help students understand aerial, oblique (bird’s eye), and eye-level views, use doll house furniture or toy
vehicles to compare the different perspectives. For aerial, look directly down on the artifact. Trace around it
for its iconic shape. For oblique, view from an angle; sketch showing at least two sides. For eye level view, look
directly at an artifact from the side; sketch this pictorial view.
3.Locate maps that have cartouches and designs on them on the Internet. Discuss why cartographers put
cartouches and small pictures on their maps. Using a map of the school grounds, have students create a
cartouche and small pictures for the map.
4.Using the Ocean Highways, Ocean Harvest Experience Box from The Harris Educational Loan Center at The
Field, encourage students to discover how Marshall Islanders used a stick map to navigate the ocean.
Field Trip Activities
1.A s students look at the various maps in Maps: Finding Our Place in the World challenge them to find and make
a list of at least ten different materials used to create maps, name at least one map that has an aerial perspective
and one that has an oblique (bird’s eye view perspective), describe at least three reasons maps are made, find a
map for each orientation (N, S, E, W is at the top of the map).
2.A ssign small groups of students to various oblique maps in the exhibition. Have them analyze the maps and
make a list of cultural features. Ask them to “become a visitor” to that region and to write a story about their
travels there based on cultural features indicated on the map.
3.A fter viewing Maps: Finding Our Place in the World, have students identify the various ways maps are used in
the Museum. Some exhibitions have small maps showing location or spatial distribution, such as in Mammals of
Asia exhibition, Bird Habitats exhibition, and Plants of the World exhibition, others display thematic maps, such
as in the Africa exhibition.
4.A fter viewing Maps: Finding Our Place in the World, sketch planimetric views of cities of Indigenous peoples of
the Americas using the three-dimensional models in The Ancient Americas exhibition.
The Field Museum • Maps Educator Guide
Page 17
Section Three: Mapping Places (continued)
Maps describe important places
Post-Activities
1.Have students recall the “Lukasa” map from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Ask students to use symbols
and beads to create their own memory board map of a trip they have made. Students can then share their
memory boards and the reason why the trip represented is memorable.
2.Have students recall the “Landscape Vessel” made by the Moche peoples of South America. Discuss how
shapes on the vessel represented major features; some physical features were given animal characteristics,
while lines and colors held different significance. Have each student design a landscape vessel from clay for the
U.S.
3.Recall how maps were made using locally available materials. Using the Living Together: Shelter Experience
Box from the Harris Educational Loan Program, discuss how people use local materials to build shelters.
Have students speculate how trade and technology affect dependence on the local environment.
Answers to Guiding Questions
1.Maps are made for a variety of reasons. They define the local places important to us. They show Earth in a
pictorial form so spatial relationships can be observed. Their symbols may be iconic (pictograms) or abstract,
but their purpose is to inform you about specific features. Maps help us see a particular space in a new way,
sometimes giving it meaning and providing a view of our region to others.
2.Materials used to make maps reflect time and location. Historically, materials on which to construct maps
come from the local area, like clay, stone, bone, bark, or papyrus. Likewise, the image might be drawn using
ink made from local vegetation or chiseled. More modern methods use paper and chemically made inks. And
today, many maps are stored on film, disks, and digitally within a computer.
3.Small-scale maps show large areas, such as world views and entire continents. Only large features are shown
on these maps, e.g., large cities and boundaries of countries on political maps and major rivers and water
bodies, names of mountain systems on physical relief maps. Large-scale maps are those that show a smaller
area, usually in greater detail. These are represented by state, city, neighborhood maps, and even classroom
maps. Current technologies allow us to see up to one square meter clearly in remotely sensed images taken
from satellites.
Used by permission of The British Library
The Field Museum • Maps Educator Guide
A nineteenth century
cartographer used brilliant
blues and greens to create
this visually stunning image
of the Jiangxi Province in
southeastern China.
Page 18
Section Four: Mapping History
Maps shape and bear witness to history
Maps are not passive objects. They are active instruments in the historical events that are important to us as
individuals, as communities, and as nations. In fact, maps shaped the United States. They inspired journeys across
the Atlantic and recorded the exploration of America. Maps encouraged migration across the continent and
defined the patterns of settlement. In times of war, maps helped plan battles, and when peace came, they were
tools for diplomacy. The maps in this gallery reveal what people knew, what they thought they knew, what they
hoped for, and sometimes, what they feared.
In 1782, British and American negotiators met to sign a peace treaty and define the territory of the new
American nation. They used a map drawn some years earlier by John Mitchell, on which they outlined the U.S.
boundaries in red, creating what came to be known as the “Red Line Map.” After the treaty was signed, the map
was presented to King George III, who made his own notes on it. The red line map is one of several maps in the
exhibition that not only document history but played a role in shaping it. In this gallery, you will see how such
maps reveal both what was and what people aspired to.
Used by permission of The British Library.
The Field Museum • Maps Educator Guide
John Mitchell drew this map in 1755
to reinforce British control over North
America. It took a leading role at the
1782 negotiations between American
and British diplomats: Britain drew in
the red line, thereby marking the new
American territory.
Page 19
Section Four: Mapping History (continued)
Maps shape and bear witness to history
Guiding Questions
1.How do maps shape history?
2.In what ways do maps affect migration? Exploration? Land division and ownership?
Pre-Activities
1.Addresses are used to identify buildings and are a method of absolute location. Have students discover the
point of origin (intersection streets) to the system used in their city. They should also determine which sides of
the streets use odd and even numbers. Discuss why absolute location is important.
2.Teach students about the Public Land Survey (Township and Range system). Have them find the township
and range of their school. Discuss how Township and Range is used in property descriptions.
3.Introduce the four systems of land division used in the U.S.: metes and bounds, township and range, land
grants, and long lots. Have students find the definition of each, how each is used in locating parcels of
ownership, and the regions in the U.S. where each is used.
Courtesy of The Newberry Library
ritish settler John Smith laid
B
the colonial foundation with the
publication of this 1621 map of
Virginia.
Field Trip Activities
1.A s students explore Maps: Finding Our Place in the World challenge them to: find which map is considered “the
most important map in American history,” list information that was meant to be helpful to someone following
the Gold Rush route and to interpret what problems and dangers the gold rushers might have faced if they
didn’t follow the advice, identify the four different land division systems shown in maps, identify two U.S.
presidents who were also land surveyors, or describe three changes to Chicago since the “Bird’s Eye View of
Chicago” was published.
2.Have students carefully read and analyze “Gulf of Mexico” and “Tenochtitlan.” Ask students to write notes
to explain how these maps encouraged further exploration of North America. Afterwards, visit The Ancient
Americas exhibition to learn about the peopling of the Americas.
3.A fter viewing Maps, visit The Ancient Americas exhibition to distinguish between the different cultures that
have inhabited this region. Have students design a poster based on information, pictures, artifacts, and maps in
the various displays to encourage migration to one of the cities during the height of one of the cultures.
The Field Museum • Maps Educator Guide
Page 20
Section Four: Mapping History (continued)
Maps shape and bear witness to history
4.Visit the Plants of the World exhibition to discover how trade of agricultural commodities lead to the exchange
of ideas. Direct student’s attention to the large trade/exchange map in the exhibition and the smaller display
maps showing distribution of the specific plants.
Post-Activities
1.Have students recall the “California Gold Rush Route” map and potential dangers along the route. Have
students design a game that follows this route, similar to the “Oregon Trail.”
2.Discuss the “The Pacific War Zone during World War II” with students, including how it presents a bias and
is misleading. Have students design a Newspaper Map for a current conflict along the style of this map.
Answers to Guiding Questions
1.Maps are active instruments that record historical events. They record discoveries and explorations, often
claiming lands in the name of the sponsoring country. They are used to identify boundaries and to record
boundary changes through conquest, agreements, and war. Map elements can encourage or discourage further
exploration. In the past, maps identified new lands that opened and were made available for settlement,
recording changes in land ownership. Maps provide direction of further discoveries and hold hope for
migration to new territories.
2.M igration: Maps provide tools for identifying migration routes, pre and post movement. They provide the
possibility of getting land, jobs, and new opportunities and aid in push-pull factors of regions (why people
leave a region and why they are drawn to a specific new place). Exploration: As maps recorded routes of
discovery, they also recorded regions of the unknown, providing the impetus for further explorations. Land
division/ownership: Maps can identify possibilities for land division prior to ownership. Once parcels are
claimed/owned, maps record the ownership.
This map depicts the thriving
Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan,
based on the eyewitness account
of Hernan Cortes.
Courtesy of The Newberry Library
The Field Museum • Maps Educator Guide
Page 21
Section Five: Visualizing Nature and Society
Maps make the invisible visible
Maps help us visualize the aspects of our world that we cannot see with our unaided eyes. These may be physical—
such as the vertical layers of rock under our feet—or social—the ethnic diversity of Chicago. As our quest
for answers about Earth and its people has turned up new data, cartographers have developed new ways to
visualize it. The maps in this gallery all broke new ground. They exploded the graphic language of maps, using
symbols and color in novel ways to link geography and data. They pushed the selective nature of maps to the
extreme, isolating the themes under study. They revealed something unexpected or unknown about our world,
triggering major shifts in scientific thought or solving practical problems.
In this gallery, you will encounter maps that revolutionized branches of science from epidemiology to plate
tectonics; maps that illuminated issues in linguistics and sociology; and a beautiful drawing by Leonardo da
Vinci that was the first map to use color to show changes in a landscape’s elevation—a technique centuries
ahead of its time.
Guiding Questions
1.W hat types of information can maps help us visualize about the physical world?
2.W hat types of human information can be mapped?
3.How has computer technology impacted mapping?
Technology Connections
1.Introduce Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and geo-caching to students. Have students set up geo-caching
sites for each other, leaving small trinkets or written messages that indicate that other groups have found the
correct site. If GPS units are unavailable, students may use compasses to find specific locations.
2.Visit the Illinois Natural Resources Geospatial Data Clearinghouse: www.isgs.uiuc.edu/nsdihome/webdocs/
st-geolb.html to open various maps of geologic, water, soil, and environmental features. Have students
examine various maps about coal in Illinois and then write a summary about coal in Illinois using the
mapped information.
Private Collection, Virginia
In 1982 the Internet consisted
of only 88 computers, linked as
shown in this diagram-like map.
The Field Museum • Maps Educator Guide
Page 22
Visualizing Nature and Society (continued)
Maps make the invisible visible
Pre-Activities
1.Examine multiple ways that elevation can be shown on maps: contour lines (topological maps), small pictorial
representations of mountains, shaded relief (lines, graying), and color.
2.Using an Illinois state map, have students identify the major rivers in Illinois, tracing the water shed flow.
Have students recall the definition of tributary and identify the tributaries of the Illinois River drainage system.
3.Discuss zones of vegetation related to elevation (altitudinal zonation). Have students sketch a diagram of a
mountain, labeling the various elevation zones: tierra caliente, tierra templata, tierra fria, puna, tierra helado.
Using icons, students should indicate types of vegetation found at each elevation.
4.Introduce remote sensing to students. Older methods of remote sensing included photographs taken from
tethered hot air balloons, while new methods are aided by use of digital sensors located in satellites. Using
Google.com, search for “Landsat imagery of Chicago.” Discuss the use of false colors to indicate various features.
5.Have students use an atlas to identify various types of thematic maps. Categorize the maps as to physical
geography or human geography. Specifically, point out relief/elevation maps, hydrologic maps, geologic maps,
population maps, language maps.
6.To better prepare students to understand the significance of the “Cholera” map, follow the “Fighting Cholera
with Maps” lesson at www.nationalgeographic.com/resources/ngo/education/ideas912/912cholera.html.
Royal Collection © 2006 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
With his map of central Italy, Leonardo da Vinci
introduced the cartographic convention of using
color to indicate changes in elevation.
The Field Museum • Maps Educator Guide
Page 23
Visualizing Nature and Society (continued)
Maps make the invisible visible
Field Trip Activities
1.Challenge students to find answers to the following questions in Maps: Finding Our Place in the World. What
map in the exhibition helped us understand climate better? The seam on the ocean floor supported what
common theory? Why would a map of whale migrations be useful?
2.A sk students to analyze the map “Wage and Ethnicity on Chicago’s Near West Side.” Have them summarize
what they discover in terms of wages and ethnicities. Ask students to share their findings. If you were Jane
Addams, what services would you offer to this neighborhood?
3.For further exploration at The Field Museum, visit Plants of the World exhibition and have students locate and
identify plants grown at various elevations. Or, visit Moving Earth area and have students create a sketch map
or diagram indicating information they find about plate tectonics, the major categories of rocks, and/or forces
that shape Earth’s surface.
Post-Activities
1.Have students create a three-dimensional elevation map from clay to show elevation. Different colors of clay
can represent the different elevations.
2.The mid-Atlantic Ridge in “Atlantic Ocean Seafloor” is one of the first to support the theory about tectonic
plates. Today, geologists refer to this as the “mid-ocean” ridge. Have students research to find a map showing
the ridges and to discover more about the technology used to discover and research them.
3.Use Census Bureau information found at www.censusrecords.net to map income by county in Illinois. What
patterns do students discover?
4.Have students create a chloropleth map to show statistical distribution of a phenomenon such as population,
literacy rates, income, etc. using Census data. The U.S. Census can be found at www.censusrecords.net.
5.Have students recall the “Cholera Deaths in London” plot map. Ask students to identify a local or regional
issue or problem in which a plot map might be used to help solve the problem. For example, should more
traffic lights be installed at a particular corner? Challenge students to collect data and create a plot map to
research a local problem.
Answers to Guiding Questions
1.Maps reveal information about the physical world, helping us to see layers of information and distribution of
phenomenon that are invisible to the human eye, such as: geologic layers of bedrock beneath Earth’s surface,
ocean floor, ocean currents, magnetic forces, elevation, water systems and drainage patterns, distribution and
location of animals.
2.A ny statistical, demographic, and/or spatial distribution information, revealing patterns about humans, can
be mapped, such as income, ethnicity, locations and spread of disease, literacy rates, language distribution,
creating political boundaries based on a criteria, military movements.
3.First, photography technology improved the capability of capturing images from remote locations (as from
balloons). Continued advancements in film processing and understanding of panchromatic and color imaging
improved ways in which Earth’s phenomenon could be recorded and analyzed, such a thermal imaging
and remotely-sensed imagery from satellites. Computer technology allows for more complex mapping,
especially with the ability to layer information and create statistical and informational charts of information in
geographic information systems (GIS). Additionally, techniques with Internet and wireless technologies allow
mapped information to be remotely connected in real-time to distant locations, such as with webcams.
The Field Museum • Maps Educator Guide
Page 24
Section Six: Mapping the Imaginary
Mapping imaginary realms
All maps are in some sense a product of the cartographer’s imagination. It requires leaps of creativity to
conceptualize the world as a sphere, to discern geological formations, and to mold a territory into a nation. But
some maps push the limits of imagination, representing realms that exist only in our minds. In this gallery you
will encounter several such fantastical maps created for literary works. They are a clever twist on the mapmaking
process: instead of using imagination to visualize physical places, these maps use practical techniques to represent
imaginary places.
From Lilliput to Middle Earth, from Utopia to Yoknapatawpha County, you will delight in maps from favorite
literary works. Many will consider the star of this gallery to be J.R.R. Tolkien, a man almost as obsessed
with mapping Middle Earth as with telling its characters’ stories. Two of Tolkien’s original drawings are here,
including Thror’s Map, which was published in The Hobbit, and one that he drew only for himself.
Guiding Question
1.W hy do authors create (imaginary) maps to include with their stories?
2.For what stories did J.R.R. Tolkien create maps?
3.How does the setting of a short story or novel provide context for the plot?
Courtesy of The Newberry Library
Pre-Activities
1.Create a literacy unit based on one of the books
featured in the exhibition: Absalom, Absalom!
by William Faulkner, Treasure Island by Robert
Louis Stevenson, Utopia by Sir Thomas More,
Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift, Winnie the
Pooh by A. A. Milne, The Wonderful Wizard
of Oz by Lyman Frank Baum, The Hobbit and
The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien, and
nursery rhymes depicted in a map entitled The
Land of Make Believe by Jaro Hess.
2.Initiate a discussion as to why authors might
include maps in imaginary/fictional literature.
Explore different books without maps and
discuss if a map would have enhanced a reader’s
understanding of the story.
Sir Thomas More’s Utopia is
depicted here in this original
edition of On the Best State of a
Republic and on the New Island
of Utopia (translation).
The Field Museum • Maps Educator Guide
Page 25
Mapping the Imaginary (continued)
Mapping imaginary realms
Field Trip Activities
1.Challenge students to find the answers to the following questions: Can you name at least 5 nursery rhymes
represented in The Land of Make Believe? Who lives in the Hundred Acre Wood? How many “Oz” books are
there? What genre of literature is Gulliver’s Travels?
2.Divide students into groups, assigning each group a different author-created map to examine. Have students
identify the book, the author, and describe the map in cartographic terms (use of symbols, pictorial,
cartographic features, etc.). Discuss how the maps give a sense of authenticity to the story and whether it helps
with the understanding and/or enjoyment of the story.
3.Draw students’ attention to the introduction to this section and focus on the following statement: “They
[maps] are a clever twist on the mapmaking process: instead of using imagination to visualize physical places,
these maps use practical techniques to represent imaginary places.” Ask students to explain what this statement
means.
Post-Activities
1.Have students find one of their favorite children’s
picture books in the school library. Ask students to
create a map for the story. Afterwards, have students
trade maps and try to guess which popular stories
the maps represent.
2.Engage students in creating a fictional map without
a story. Encourage creativity. Illustrate an imaginary
place, map an imaginary route, and label special
locations. Have students trade maps and create a
short narrative reflecting the map’s setting.
3.Using one or many of the imaginary maps featured
in the exhibition, have students create an alternate
narrative based on the original representation(s).
Discuss how authors can interpret space and time in
different ways.
Before taking an imaginary journey
to Jonathan Swift’s Lilliput, visitors
will want to see the map that
accompanies the original 1726
edition of Gulliver’s Travels.
Courtesy of The Newberry Library
The Field Museum • Maps Educator Guide
Page 26
Mapping the Imaginary (continued)
Mapping imaginary realms
Answers to Guiding Question
1.Maps create an authenticity to text, even if imaginary. It resembles a real place to which readers can connect.
Use of cartographic symbols and design add to the realism of fiction.
2.J.R.R. Tolkien created maps for his readers, as well as just for himself, as he wrote The Hobbit and the
subsequent Lord of the Rings series. Tolkien drew a personal map to guide his writing of The Hobbit. For the
Lord of the Rings series, he included maps to help the reader follow the storyline.
3.Setting, imaginary or real, has four characteristics that help to understand the story better: Provides a location,
whether as simple as someone’s house and garden to a specific place on Earth, like Paris, or to an imaginary
island on which treasure is buried, as in Treasure Island; may state or allude to a time: a season, an historical
date, or an era, giving context to the storyline, such as in Gulliver’s Travels; can help the plot development as
in the Lord of the Rings trilogy; supports the theme of the story; i.e., tornadoes in Kansas leading to Dorothy
learning about life in the Land of Oz.
Courtesy of The Newberry Library
Treasure hunters will want to examine
this literary map of Treasure Island
from Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1883
adventure novel before heading off to
claim their fortune.
The Field Museum • Maps Educator Guide
Page 27
Section Seven: Living with Maps
Maps are everywhere
In glove compartments or on office walls, on computer screens, in film scenes, or on the mobile phones attached
to our hips, we live with maps. Although individual maps had been made for thousands of years, the invention of
map printing in the fifteenth century opened up a new world of uses for maps. Printing launched maps beyond
the governing elites. Today digital technologies deliver maps to millions. As users and uses multiply, maps
continue to evolve in ways that were unimaginable only a few years or even months ago. More than ever, maps
help us find our place in the world.
Guiding Questions
1.How are maps and mapping technologies part of your life today?
2.How are twenty-first century maps different than the historical maps, globes, and instruments seen in
exhibition sections one through six?
3.How and why are maps changing?
Pre-Activities
1.Have students brainstorm all the ways in which maps and mapping technologies are used during their day.
2.A sk students to watch the news and tally every time a map is used, recording what information is being
communicated by using the map.
3.Have students find examples of maps in printed news (newspapers, news magazines). Begin a bulletin board
display of maps used in their lives.
4.Demonstrate how to find locations using Google Earth (http://earth.google.com).
Today’s navigation devices
use digital maps that are
continuously updated by
an army of geographic field
researchers.
Courtesy of NAVTEQ
The Field Museum • Maps Educator Guide
Page 28
Section Seven: Living with Maps (continued)
Maps are everywhere
Field Trip Activities
1.Challenge students to find the following: Name at least 5 interesting, high-tech innovations that involve
mapping which are being developed. The world’s first jigsaw puzzle was of which continent?
2.Divide students into small groups, allowing them to explore various technologies displayed in this section of
the exhibition. Ask them to provide a short written summary about their favorite interactive experience –
what the mapping technology was designed to do and why they found it so interesting.
3.A sk students to examine the “London during the Great Exhibition of 1851” map. Discuss the materials used
to create this map and why its construction was appropriate for its time and purpose. Ask students to identify
hand-held technologies used today and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each.
4.If you have additional time to explore, visit a variety of the Museum’s other exhibitions to explore how maps
are used in the Museum to communicate information. How many types of maps are used? What media is used
to display them? Why are there maps in many of the exhibitions?
Fashion and map
aficionados alike will
enjoy this map of London
on a glove created for the
1851 Great Exhibition.
Reproduced by permission of The National Archives of the United Kingdom
Post-Activities
1.Have students create an advertisement to sell a new mapping technology (real or one they would like to see
invented).
2.Use Global Positioning System (GPS) units to map the school or neighborhood.
3.Divide students into groups to research the use of remotely-sensed imagery in agriculture, city infrastructure,
business applications, healthcare, monitoring of weather, forestry and wildfire, environmental monitoring,
military applications, criminal justice, etc.
Answers to Guiding Questions
1.Maps are part of today’s media – TV, computer, radio, and newspapers. They show and report to us the daily
weather and update traffic reports; they communicate where news events occur and sites of sports, business,
and local happenings. Mapping technologies are all around us – satellites communicate constantly with a
variety of remotely-sensed images for purposes of climate/weather updates, terrestrial and oceanic conditions,
military actions, etc. Both vacation and business travelers use GPS units and Map Quest (www.mapquest.
com), as well as road maps.
The Field Museum • Maps Educator Guide
Page 29
Section Seven: Living with Maps (continued)
Maps are everywhere
2.Maps provide information needed by the user; they serve the needs of the time. In the past, that information
was to discover new lands, chart ocean courses to efficiently use currents, create itineraries for safe travel.
Today’s maps often provide similar information, but updated for modern times. We no longer are discovering
new lands on Earth, but NASA is charting the universe, mapping the moon and planets, and NOAA is
charting the ocean floor. We may no longer need to use the astrolabe and chronometer to navigate, but we
increasingly use land, water, and air routes for travel, exchange of goods, and business, and so maintaining
accurate and up-to-date information about traffic flow and routes is essential. And we still use maps for
travel, whether with GPS technology or a paper road map. So, the primary difference is in the technology
advancements in retrieving and using the information.
3.Technological innovations change maps and map usage. For example, early explorations prompted the need
for more accurate maps for both navigation and of shorelines. Triangulation was used to produce accurate
coastlines. Advancements in printing allowed for the mass distribution of maps. As automobile travel
progressed so did the design and development of detailed road maps. Some of the most dramatic changes have
occurred with the advent of space technologies; computers, digital technology, and use of remote sensing now
allow cartographers to manipulate data to better analyze Earth’s surface. Geographic Information Systems
(GIS) and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) have revolutionized how we can record, analyze data, and use
the data in ways to improve human understanding and response. GIS and GPS are used to create first response
maps, to pinpoint and track progress of environmental issues, and to manage urban infrastructures.
Courtesy of The Field Museum
Digital maps allow us to explore our world in
new ways and in greater detail than ever before.
The Field Museum • Maps Educator Guide
Page 30
Part Three: Resources for Teachers and Students
Mapping Skills
Maps are part of everyday life in both print and visual media. In order for students to truly gain an appreciation and
understanding of maps, they need to develop mapping skills.
Mapping skills include three distinctive teaching components:
1) reading maps and completing outline maps
2) cartographically creating maps from field information
3) interpreting, analyzing, and extrapolating mapped information.
Reading and Completing Maps
There are five specific skills to teach students to acquire (read and comprehend) information from maps and globes.
These skills are developmental and should be taught at the appropriate level of difficulty and complexity at each
grade level. The map and globe skills are:
A. U
sing symbols – Symbols convey information about locations. In this exhibition, you and your students will
find many variations of symbology from iconic to abstract.
B. Finding location – Reference systems (like street addresses, zip codes, and room numbers) and various grid
systems (latitude and longitude and Township/Range) have been developed to locate places. Maps provides
historic and modern methods of defining and locating places using traditional and digital technologies.
C. Orienting and finding directions – Understanding directionality is basic to understanding world views. Look
for maps oriented with a direction other than North at the top.
D. Using scale and finding distance – Scale is the ability to compare map distance to Earth distance. In the
exhibition you will find many examples of large and small scale maps.
E. Selecting media – The ability to select a map at the appropriate scale, using the appropriate projection and
the appropriate theme is important to accurate understandings about Earth. The best representation of Earth
is a globe; all maps contain distortion of some type. Various maps and materials to construct maps in this
exhibition will help students understand the multiple uses of maps and that “one size does not fit all.”
It is also appropriate to mention map elements that students should be encouraged to include and look for on modern
maps, although, as you and they will see, these elements are not found on maps in every historical or cultural context.
Most modern maps have:
• a descriptive title that identifies the topic (and a date if the map depicts a time in history)
• direction, whether a directional arrow or use of a grid system
• scale
• legend and symbols
• cartographer (whoever made the map)
• date map was constructed
• source of information
• neatline (a frame or border) and terrestrial regions in context (not floating in space)
The Field Museum • Maps Educator Guide
Page 31
Mapping Skills (continued)
Creating Maps from Field Work Data
Creating one’s own map from data collected in the field is a very different process than completing an outline map
with information that is gathered from another map. Many of the maps in this exhibition were created from primary
field research. Early cartographers did not use formal reference systems, but once mathematical systems of recording
information were applied, precise and exact maps were designed.
Geography and cartography are dynamic — ever-changing
and responding to new technological advancements.
Globes, maps, and atlas are the traditional classroom
tools used to enhance geographic learning. However, in
an increasingly technology-dependent world, students
should be exposed to uses of technology in cartographic
gathering, design, and display.
1.The Internet can be used to find many historical
and current maps to use in lessons. Additionally,
sites such as GoogleEarth.com provide a global
view of Earth that allows for zooming in to very
detailed, specific locations with high resolution.
2.Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is greatly
impacting the mapping world. GIS allows for the
layering of multiple thematic maps so that analysis
and querying can be more effectively applied to
study issues and to plan.
3.Global Positioning Systems (GPS) are used to
pinpoint locations with simple handheld devices.
4.Remote sensing is the ability to gather photographic and other information from a distance. The technology
has changed rapidly in recent years, using electromagnetic waves of energy to sense thermal energy, to “read”
through cloud cover and forest canopies, to record selected radiated/reflected energy waves, and to give
unique types of information, including the sensing of features beneath Earth’s and ocean surfaces!
The Field Museum • Maps Educator Guide
Page 32
From the collections of the Newberry Library
Interpreting, Analyzing, Extrapolating
Application of the higher level thinking skills, interpreting,
analyzing, and extrapolating maps can be challenging.
In order to do so, we must be able to connect abstract
representations with real-world phenomena. Helping
students interpret abstract symbols and representations
will give greater meaning to the global community. Using
various types of maps will aid in the comparison and
analyzing of information.
Mapping Skills (continued)
What you can do in your classroom
1.Review mapping skills with students, as appropriate for grade level. See Winston, Barbara J. Topics
in Geography, No. 7 - Map and Globe Skills: K-8 Teaching Guide. Indiana, PA: National Council for
Geographic Education, 1984.
2.Review the criteria for analyzing maps using mapping elements. See Anderson, Jeremy. Topics in Geography,
No. 8 - Teaching Map Skills: An Inductive Approach. Indiana, PA: National Council for Geographic
Education, 1986. Practice locating mapping elements various maps, so students realize that these elements may
appear in various locations and that not all of the elements are always included on all maps.
3.Before your field trip to the Museum, conduct one of our pre-activities to engage students in thinking about
maps in new ways. Visit the exhibition with colleagues prior to your field trip to begin planning your trip.
4.During the bus trip to the Museum, engage students in mapping observations. For example, have them
determine the direction that the bus is driving based on the location of the sun and time of day. Watch for
specific street signs, parks, buildings, etc. that will identify their location. Have students bring along the road
map and follow the route taken by the bus driver.
5.Once at the Museum, explore maps in all of our exhibitions. Use our suggested field trip activities for Maps
and other destinations in the Museum. There are countless opportunities to explore geography here!
6.A fter your field trip, connect students’ experience at the Museum with classroom.
The Field Museum • Maps Educator Guide
Page 33
Related Field Museum Research
©The Field Museum, GN90600_033D
Scientists from the ANTHROPOLOGY, BOTANY,
GEOLOGY, and ZOOLOGY DEPARTMENTS at
The Field Museum use maps to inform and guide their
research every day. Discover how our scientists are
mapping the distribution of over 72,000 plant specimens
from the Chicago region, tracking some of the richest
fossil plant deposits in East Greenland, and estimating
the areas of exposed land in the Indo-Australian region
dating back thousands of years. From rapid biological
inventories to mapping cultural assets, geography
concepts, skills, and tools are essential to our exploration
of the Earth and its people. Visit us at
www.fieldmuseum.org/research_collections.
expeditions@fieldmuseum®
Take your students on a scientific journey around the world. Whether they’re fishing for fossils in the Green River
Formation or digging up dinosaur data in Bighorn Basin, Field Museum scientists are conducting research worldwide.
Join them now through expeditions@fieldmuseum! Interactive maps, photos, and video clips bring countless examples of
applied geography straight to your classroom. Visit us at www.fieldmuseum.org/expeditions.
Environment, Culture, and Conservation (ECCo)
ECCo unites and strengthens Field Museum’s existing departments of Environmental and Conservation Programs (ECP)
and the Center for Cultural Understanding and Change (CCUC). ECP translates biodiversity science into conservation
action while CCUC recognizes that valuing cultural difference can promote social change. Within and outside the
Museum, in landscapes as different as urban Chicago and rural Peru, ECCo staff and their community partners literally
put these assets onto the map, showing the places where cultural and natural strengths intersect.
Calumet BioBlitz
Explore the biodiversity of the Calumet area through interactive maps and a database full of biogeographical
information. On-line at www.fieldmuseum.org/bioblitz.
Journey through Calumet!
Explore a snapshot of the people behind the Calumet region’s social assets through photos, video, maps and stories
gathered by Field Museum researchers. On-line at www.fieldmuseum.org/calumet/assetmap.html.
Cordillera Azul
Discover the extraordinarily rich biological diversity of Cordillera Azul, a protected park in the Andean forests, using
maps created from rapid biological inventories. On-line at www.fieldmuseum.org/cordilleraazul.
The Field Museum • Maps Educator Guide
Page 34
Related Destinations at the Field Museum
Maps are useful tools to learn about the relationships between the Earth and its inhabitants, and, as such, you’ll
encounter them in all of our exhibitions. Here are a few suggestions of Museum destinations where you’ll be able to
explore maps and their makers.
The Museum itself is a great tool for teaching mapping skills. Download our PDF floor maps (www.fieldmuseum.
org/plan_visit/floor_plans.htm) for students to create an itinerary and map their route. Many of our exhibitions also
display maps that help visitors determine their location in a specific exhibition. Encourage students to be on the look
out for these too!
< In The Ancient Americas study a three-dimensional map of the early
city of Cahokia. Examine a map of the expansion of the Inca Empire
that shows the distribution of ethnic groups and regions. View a map
of the Society of Teotihuacan, the first city in the Americas using a
grid system. www.fieldmuseum.org/ancientamericas/
< Visit Evolving Planet’s Carboniferous swamp forest to examine fossils
found in Mazon Creek and a map showing their location in Illinois.
Spend time comparing the maps that show how Earth’s continents
have moved over time. www.fieldmuseum.org/evolvingplanet/
Stanley Field Hall can be used to practice mapping skills, too!
Examine thousands of fossils in the floor and have students map
their locations.
< Explore Traveling the Pacific to uncover the geography of the Pacific
Ocean and its islands. A gigantic world map located at the exhibition’s
entrance can be used to discuss location and transportation. You can
also examine unique topographic features, how they formed and why
they are essential to the diversity of island life.
www.fieldmuseum.org/exhibits/
< Journey through Africa, a continent home to amazingly diverse
habitats that support a rich variety of plant and animal life, as well as
human cultures. Check out the hands-on maps that allow students
to learn about the size, languages, and habitats of this fascinating
continent. Visit different African habitats and use related maps to
connect animal adaptations with location.
www.fieldmuseum.org/exhibits/
In Messages from the Wilderness, connect ecology with geography
as you identify the locations of protected areas and learn about the
conservation issues facing the animals that live there.
< Examine the relationship between location, habitat and adaptation
using maps found in the Mammals of Asia exhibition.
The Field Museum • Maps Educator Guide
Page 35
Related Programs at the Field Museum
Teacher Programs
Visit us on-line at: www.fieldmuseum.org/education/profess_develop.htm.
Call 312.665.7500 to register!
Maps: Finding Our Place in the Classroom
Saturday, November 3, 2007; 8:30am - 4:30pm
Whatever your own connection to maps, you’ll discover unexpected new dimensions of these remarkable objects
in Maps: Finding Our Place in the World. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see more than 100 of the
world’s greatest maps--from ancient Rome and Babylonia to gorgeous, ground-breaking maps by Leonardo da
Vinci and Mercator. Maps borrowed from the Vatican, Queen Elizabeth II, and the great libraries of the world.
Explore the importance of integrating geography into the classroom--come prepared to think about the world
through a new set of eyes! Adaptable for grades K-12. Light breakfast included.
6 CPDUs
$40, members $28
Discovering the Tree of Life
Tuesday, May 6, 2008, 5pm – 8pm
Learn how scientists classify everything from tulips to tyrannosaurs. Explore the mapping of life’s family tree and
hands-on activities for your classroom! Appropriate for grades 9-12. Boxed dinner included.
3 CPDUs
$20, members $14
Mapping the World
Wednesdays, July 9 – July 30, 2008, 1pm – 4pm
Join fellow educators to merge cultural and environmental studies with geography. Examine relationships
between people, place, and environment in our exhibitions and engage with scientists to learn how “mapping the
world” informs current research. Adaptable for grades K-12. Light refreshments included.
15 CPDUs, 1 CPS Lane credit, 1 National-Louis University graduate credit (additional $120 fee per credit hour)
$150, members $100
Student Programs
Visit us on-line at www.fieldmuseum.org/education/plan_FTprg.htm to register for student programs.
GIS Day 2007
Wednesday, November 14, 2007 from 10am-1pm
GIS Day is an annual event to promote the importance of geographic literacy and geographic information system
(GIS) technology for understanding the world around us. GIS helps answer questions by combining layers of
information into a “smart map” and providing tools to explore both the location (where is it?) and characteristics
(what is it like?) of people, places, and events. A student presentation will explain what GIS is and how it works,
and provides real-world examples of how GIS is used in a variety of settings, including business, public safety,
natural resource management, transportation, and education, to solve problems and improve decision-making.
In addition, staff from NAVTEQ and ESRI will explain what GIS is and how it works through short computer
demonstration in the Museum halls throughout the day.
Free with Basic admission; Pre-registration required for student presentation.
The Field Museum • Maps Educator Guide
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Related Programs at the Field Museum
(continued)
Adult Programs
Visit our calendar of events at www.fieldmuseum.org. Call 312.665.7400 to register!
Maps: Finding Our Place in the World Lecture Series
Chart an extraordinary journey through culture and technology! Explore the world of maps in this lecture series
presented by The Field Museum and the Newberry Library. This six-part series will feature presenters from all
disciplines--including artists, historians, cartographers and anthropologists.
At The Field Museum: Saturdays, November 3, 10, and 17, 2007 at 2pm
Free with Basic admission. No reservation required.
At The Newberry Library: Saturdays, January 12, 19, and 26, 2008 at 11am
Admission is Free. No reservation required.
Featured speakers at The Field Museum:
GPS-Modern Mapping of Ancient Environments
Dr. Ryan Williams, Curator of Archaeological Science, The Field Museum
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Learn how Global Positioning Systems are used for more than just directions. Hear how Field Museum
scientists use GPS technology to see how ancient peoples interacted with their environment and find out if
being “eco-friendly” really is a new trend!
Map Making Today and Tomorrow
Doug Kolom- NAVTEQ Global Maps Product Planning
Saturday, November 10, 2007;2pm
Most people today are accustomed to seeing maps as a collection of streets, landmarks, and basic landscape
features, but new innovations in digital mapping are enabling an exciting array of possibilities...this new type
of map will help you get places quicker and safer, will help you discover and connect with the places you
want to know about, and will help businesses and government operate more efficiently. Through examples
and video demonstrations, this discussion will give you a sneak peak into the next generation of map content
on the horizon.
Bringing Maps to Chicago
Robert W. Karrow, Jr., Curator of Special Collections and James R. Akerman, Director of the Hermon Dunlap
Smith Center for the History of Cartography, The Newberry Library
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Maps: Finding Our Place in the World features more than one hundred of the world’s greatest maps, many of
which have never been seen in Chicago. Join Maps lead curators Karrow and Akerman for a behind-thescenes look at how a diverse team of anthropologists, cartographers and exhibition specialists charted a course
to bring these magnificent maps to The Field Museum.
(Adult Programs continues on next page)
The Field Museum • Maps Educator Guide
Page 37
Related Programs at the Field Museum
(continued)
Featured speakers at The Newberry Library:
(Sponsored in part by the Geographic Society of Chicago)
The Spacious World: Cartography, Literature, and Empire in Early Modern Spain
Ricardo Padron, University of Virginia
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Cartography, the science of making accurate maps, was still in its infancy during the fifteenth through
seventeenth centuries. This meant that one of the great historical endeavors of that period--the discovery
and conquest of the Americas by Spain—was carried out using “maps” that were more often verbal than
pictorial. Padron identifies cartographic sensibilities within sixteenth-century epic poems, explorer’s travel
accounts, and other literary texts and demonstrates how these verbal maps are understood better as extensions
of medieval than as modern ways of conceptualizing and representing space.
Mapping Paradise: A History of Heaven on Earth
Alessandro Scafi, The Warburg Institute, University of London
Saturday, January 19, 2008
When early Christians adopted the Hebrew Bible with its story of Genesis, the Garden of Eden became
a paradise on earth, situated in real geography and indicated on maps. In Mapping Paradise, Alessandro
Scafi explores medieval intellectual conditions that made mapping paradise possible. He also accounts
for the transformations in theological doctrine and cartographic practice that led to the decline of belief
in a terrestrial paradise and to historical and regional mapping of the Garden of Eden, beginning in the
Reformation and continuing today.
The Art of Mapping the Heart
Ruth Watson, University of Auckland, New Zealand
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Ruth Watson is a renowned artist and a prizewinning scholar in historical geography. For more than fifteen
years, her art has focused on how maps construct our ideas of the globe. In an illustrated talk, she will discuss
how from salt, images of her tongue, and other unconventional media, she has created works of art based on
the cordiform, a sixteenth-century, heart-shaped projection of the globe.
Family Programs
Visit us on-line at: www.fieldmuseum.org.
Call 312.665.7400 to register!
Two of Us
Mondays, November 5 - 26; 10am-1am
Maps to treasure! Join us in this four-week excursion through the wonders of The Field Museum! Pirates were
not the only ones who made and followed maps. Come learn about the many different styles of mapmaking
throughout the history of the world. You and your little one will travel the Museum’s exhibition halls, sing
songs, hear stories, touch objects, create art, and do exciting science projects. Ideal for homeschoolers!
$32, members $23; For each 3-5 year old child, one adult chaperone attends for free.
The Field Museum • Maps Educator Guide
Page 38
Related Programs at the Field Museum
(continued)
Cartography for Kids Judith K. Bock, Geography Education Consultant Saturday, November 10, 2007, 10am-11:30am
In this one-day family workshop, families will learn basic mapmaking skills, then use those skills to make their
own map. For families with children 6-12 years old.
$16, members $11
Gallery Programs
Visit us on-line at www.fieldmuseum.org.
Registration is not required.
Map It!
Calling all explorers! Learn mapping skills by navigating your way through the “known world” of The Field
Museum; then set off on an adventure into the unknown! Create a map to take home of what you find along the
way. Geared towards families with children 6-12 years old.
Participants can check out Map It! at the Crown Family PlayLab.
IL State Symbols Scavenger Hunt
Illinois: The Land of Lincoln...you may have heard our state slogan before, but can you find Illinois state symbols
in our exhibitions? Use the clues and map found on our scavenger hunt guide to identify the emblems of the
Prairie State. Note: You will be encouraged to pick up hard copies of the scavenger hunt at the following 3
interpretive stations throughout the run of the Maps exhibition: Horns and Antlers, Terrific Teeth, Owl Pellets.
The scavenger hunt is also available on-line at www.fieldmuseum.org/exhibits/. Available select weekends during
run of the exhibition. Check the kiosk on the day of your visit for a list of the day’s events.
Kraft Story Time in the Crown Family PlayLab
Saturday and Sunday, 1:30pm
Take a seat in the Crown Family PlayLab, hear a story, and make an art project to take home, all in 20 minutes!
Featured titles in December will include Winnie the Pooh and the 100 Acre Wood, by Ernest Shepard; Me on
the Map, by Joan Shepard; My Map Book, by Sara Fanelli; and Mapping Penny’s World, by Loreen Leedy.
The Field Museum • Maps Educator Guide
Page 39
The Harris Educational Loan Center
Whether you are a long-time borrower of Harris materials or just now are becoming aware of the program, you
will find the Harris Loan Program to be a valuable educational resource for your classroom. The Harris Loan
Program has been serving Chicago-area educators and families for over 85 years. Thousands of loans are made to
classroom educators, informal educators and parents each year. You, too, can explore Earth and its people through
four types of educational media available for loan. We have suggested specific materials certain to bring geography
concepts to life in your classroom! Visit us at www.fieldmuseum.org/harrisloan, or call 312.665.7555.
Experience
Boxes
We cover more than 70 different topics with these portable collections of artifacts, replicas, specimens, and many
other resources to provide a broad variety of learning experiences. Below is a list of Maps-related boxes:
Africa: The Land The history of Africa’s people often was shaped by the land itself. Learn about Africa’s
diverse landscapes and natural resources through maps, geological specimens, and a
videotape.
Aztec and MayaExplore early Mesoamerican marketplaces while learning about the daily lives of
Marketplaces Aztec and Maya peoples. This box contains a geography lesson that includes the use of
a large map of Mesoamerica, noting source locations for various resources.
Geology of IllinoisParts of Illinois were once covered with glacial ice sheets. Learn how glaciers and
other Earth processes shaped the land. Kit includes photographs, rock and soil
specimens, and maps.
Lewis and Clark Examine the extraordinary adventures and discoveries of the Lewis and Clark
expedition through a variety of hands-on lesson plans.
Living Together: See how numbers are crunched around the world through this set of activities related
Multicultural Math to multicultural math and its history. Try counting with a Chinese abacus, Egyptian
Napier’s bones, and Maya shells and sticks.
Living Together: Shelter Explore the differences and similarities of homes and shelters around the world
through this collection of activities, games, and maps. Kit includes a video as well as
models of traditional Chicagoan, Native Southwest American, and Masai homes.
Maps and Globes: Improve your map and globe study skills with this kit. Kit includes a map showing
An Introduction landforms, population centers, transportation, and rainfall patterns of New Zealand.
to New Zealand
Ocean Highways,A video, activities, and a model of an outrigger canoe explain how Pacific Islanders
Ocean Harvest sailed vast oceans without modern navigation equipment.
The Field Museum • Maps Educator Guide
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The Harris Educational Loan Center
Exhibit
Cases
We have nearly 900 Exhibit Cases that show plants and animals in natural settings. Visit our on-line catalog to view
a complete list of cases that connect with your curriculum: www.fieldmuseum.org/harrisloan.
Audio/Visual
Chicago Past and Present:See how Chicago has changed over the last 150 years. A map shows the pattern of
Chicago’s vegetation in 1821, and an overlay shows present-day main streets and
boundaries. Slides contrast historic and contemporary views of the city. (Video).
Dive into Darkness:Explore underwater caves in the Bahamas where a scientist has found a previously
unknown crustacean (Video).
EnvironmentalScientists conduct rapid biological inventories in Bolivia for use in targeting
SWAT Team: conservation efforts (Video).
Islands in the Jungle: Field Museum scientists study the ecosystem of Peru’s rainforest (Video).
Mystery of the Lines:An Adler Planetarium astronomer explores the giant figures etched in the Peruvian
desert nearly 2,000 years ago (Video).
Books
(1997). Around the World Atlas of Maps and Pictures. Rand McNally.
(1999). National Geographic Beginner’s World Atlas. National Geographic Society.
(1998). Rand McNally’s Children’s Atlas of the World. Rand McNally.
S ale, Colin. Ed. (1998). The Reader’s Digest Children’s Atlas of the World. Pleasantville, NY: Reader’s Digest
Children’s Publishing, Inc.
Tyler, Jenny, et al. (1993). The World We Live In. Saffron Hill, London: Usborne Publishing Ltd.
The Field Museum • Maps Educator Guide
Page 41
Books for Teachers and Students
Books for Teachers
Akerman, James R. & Robert W. Karrow, Jr., eds. (2007). Maps: Finding Our Place in the World. Chicago, IL:
The University of Chicago Press.
Anderson, Jeremy. (1986). Topics in Geography, No. 8 - Teaching Map Skills: An Inductive Approach. Indiana,
PA: National Council for Geographic Education.
Fromboluti, Carol Sue. (1990). Helping Your Child Learn Geography. U.S. Department of Education. (Available
from the U.S. Department of Education.)
Geography Education Standards Project. (1994). Geography for Life: The National Geography Standards, 1994.
Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society Committee on Research & Exploration.
Gersmehl, Phil. (2006). Learning to Think Spatially. Washington, D.C.: The National Academies Press.
Gersmehl, Phil. (2005). Teaching Geography. New York, NY: The Guilford Press.
Kapit, Wynn. (1991). The Geography Coloring Book. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers Inc..
Linklater, Andro. (2003). Measuring America: How the United States Was Shaped by the Greatest Land Sale in
History. New York, NY: PLUME, The Penguin Group.
Malone, Lyn, Anita M. Palmer and Christine L. Voigt. (2005). Mapping Our World. Redlands, CA: ESRI Press.
(ArcView Desktop Edition).
Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. (2004). “Maps from Illinois History.” Illinois History Teacher Volume 11:2.
Winston, Barbara J. (1984). Topics in Geography, No. 7 - Map and Globe Skills: K-8 Teaching Guide. Indiana,
PA: National Council for Geographic Education.
Books for Students
Beasant, Pam and Alastair Smith. (1993). How to Draw Maps and Charts. London: Usborne Publishing Ltd..
Clouse, Nancy L. (1990). Puzzle Maps. U.S.A. New York, NY: Henry Holt and Company.
Fanelli, Sara. (1995). My Map Book. London: ABC, All Books for Children.
Gerberg, Mort. (1991). Geographunny: A Book of Global Riddles. New York, NY: Clarion Books.
Johnson, Sylvia A. (1999). Mapping the World. New York, NY: Atheneum Books for Young Readers.
Keller, Laurie. (1998). The Scrambled States of America. New York, NY: Henry Holt and Company.
Kenda, Margaret and Phyllis S. Williams. (1997). Geography Wizardry for KIDS. New York, NY: Barron’s
Educational Series, Inc.
Sweeney, Joan. (1996). Me on the MAP. New York, NY: Crown Publishers, Inc.
Taylor, Barbara. (1993). Maps and Mapping. New York, NY: Kingfisher Books.
Young, Karen Romano. (2002). Small Worlds: Maps and Mapmaking. New York, NY: Scholastic Inc.
The Field Museum • Maps Educator Guide
Page 42
Web sites for Teachers and Students
Sites for Teachers
ArcExploer Java Edition for Educators (AEJEE): Free software download of basic Geographic Information
Systems (GIS) software: www.esri.com/software/arcexplorer/download-education.html
The Field Museum: Information on Maps: Finding Our Place in the World, related exhibitions, field trip planning,
and resources for teachers: www.fieldmuseum.org/
The Geographic Society of Chicago: Information and educational resources to support geography education:
www.geographicsociety.org/index2.html
Illinois Geographic Alliance: Events, programs and resources for geography education: www.coe.ilstu.edu/iga/
The JASON Project: Provides high-quality geography-related professional development and curriculum
materials: www.jason.org/jason_home/home_old.htm
National Geographic: Countless resources for educators and students including maps, atlases, lesson plans, on-line
interactives: www.nationalgeographic.com/
National Council for Geographic Education: Geography standards, lesson plans and professional development
opportunities: www.ncge.org/
Newberry Library: Historic Maps in K-12 Classrooms: www.newberry.org/K12maps/
PALEOMAP Project: Maps and teaching materials related to Earth and climate history: www.scotese.com/
U.S. Census Bureau: U.S. census data and maps: www.census.gov/
U.S. Geological Survey: Maps, educational materials, podcasts and more related to Earth’s geology:
www.usgs.gov/
Sites for Students
The Field Museum: Information on Maps: Finding Our Place in the World, related exhibitions, and more:
www.fieldmuseum.org/
Google Earth: Free, downloadable tool for exploring Earth: http://earth.google.com/
Illinois Atlas: An ongoing project of the Data & Mapping Services Division of the Regional Development
Institute at Northern Illinois University that provides downloadable data and maps: www.illinoisatlas.com/
National Geographic Kids: Lots of fun tools and interactives for exploring geography:
http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/
The Field Museum • Maps Educator Guide
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Part Four: Noteworthy Information
FUN FACTS
The nearly 300-pound “Mauritius Atlas” stirred sensation on its only other exhibition in the
United States, the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago.
The road network of the Holy Roman Empire is the oldest surviving printed road map.
When fully unrolled, the road from Edo (Tokyo) to Kyoto scroll reaches 60 feet and shows the
300-mile length of the Road.
The Mediterranean Sea chart is the oldest surviving sea chart and represents an astonishing
breakthrough in the history of cartography by presenting navigational information in visual form.
aptain James Cook tested his chronometer on his second and third voyages; despite the constant
C
rolling of the ship, it never fluctuated more than eight seconds in a day.
The mariner’s astrolabe on display sank with the treasure ship Nuestra Senora de Atocha. It lay lost
off the Florida coast for over 350 years until the wreck was rediscovered in 1985.
The town plan of Nippur bears the oldest known town plan drawn to scale, depicting Nippur some
2500 years ago.
Rosselli’s World Map is the first modern map to show the entire globe.
John Mitchell’s “Red Line” Map has been called the most important map in American history,
used by British and American delegates to negotiate the peace ending the American Revolution.
The Land of Make Believe was submitted to the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair competition and won an
award in the Children’s Literature Division.
The Field Museum • Maps Educator Guide
Page 44
Walking Map
Section Four
Section Three
Section Five
Section Six
Section One: Finding Our Way (pgs 10–12)
Section Two: Mapping the World (pgs 13–15)
Section Three: Mapping Places (pgs 16–18)
Section Four: Mapping History (pgs 19–21)
Section Five: Visualizing Nature and Society (pgs 22–24)
Section Six: Mapping the Imaginary (pgs 25–27)
Section Seven: Living with Maps (pgs 28–30)
Section Two
Section Seven
Section One
Intro
Page 45
The Field Museum • Maps Educator Guide