Lesson #2: Constructing a map of Africa, Egypt, and the Nile River
Created by Rachel Felix
Audience: 2nd grade
Standards: VASOL
 Geography 2.4 – The student will develop map skills by a) locating the United States, China, and


Egypt on world maps.
Geography 2.5 – The student will develop map skills by a) locating the equator, the seven
continents, and the five oceans on maps and globes; b) locating selected rivers (James River,
Mississippi River, Rio Grande, Huang He, and Nile River), mountain ranges (Appalachian
Mountains and Rocky Mountains), and lakes (Great Lakes) in the United States and other countries.
Geography 2.6 – The student will demonstrate map skills by constructing simple maps, using title,
map legend, and compass rose.
Materials/Time/Space:
Document Camera, World map, Africa Map, and Egypt map from
http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/world.htm, handout of Africa from
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/africa/rivers/outlinemap/ including a map key and compass
rose, handout of Egypt from http://www.enchantedlearning.com/africa/egypt/outlinemap/
including a map key and compass rose, interactive notebooks, crayons, glue, scissors,
construction paper, cardboard, fabric, toothpicks, cotton balls, tissue paper, any other materials
you have sitting around for use.
50 minutes
Whole group (~20 students); takes place in the classroom
Anticipatory Set:(5 minutes)
Tell students to use clues on the board to discover where they are located. Have a map of the
world and a map of Africa projected for all students to see. The clues are: I am south of the
Mediterranean Sea, I am West of the Red Sea, I am East of the Atlantic Ocean, I am North of the
South Ocean, I am in North East Africa, I am West of Asia” Possible answers could be Egypt,
Nile river, a pyramid, a mummy, etc. Have students write their answer in their Interactive
notebooks. Once everyone has written something, allow several students to share their answer
with the class and discuss why they chose it.
Objective and Purpose:
After teacher modeling and guided practice, students will be able to construct a map of Egypt,
including the 6 key features; the Nile River, Red Sea, and Mediterranean Sea that includes a title,
compass rose, and map legend
Instructional Input & Checking for Understanding: (5 minutes)
Review the three important components of a map: the title, compass rose, and map legend.
Project a map of the world and point out these features. Then point students’ attention to Africa
explaining that it is a continent, and then to Egypt explaining that it is a country. Use “Northern
Hemisphere” “North East” and other directional vocabulary to explain where Egypt is. Project a
map of just Egypt that includes the Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea, and Nile River. Tell students
that these are the three main features of Egypt that they must know because water is important to
survival. Explain how Egypt is mostly desert, so most people lived near these bodies of water in
order to live. Then show students the deserts in Africa, again emphasizing how Egypt is mostly
desert. Explain that they will learn more about the importance of all of this in the next week, but
that they must first know where they are located.
Modeling: (5-8 minutes)
Pass out a blank map of Africa and Egypt, and explain to the students that they will be labeling
and coloring the important aspects of Africa and Egypt. On the left page, model gluing the map
of Africa. Title the map Africa, and label the Pacific Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, Egypt, the Nile
River, and the Equator. Tell the student to look at the map key to know what to color the
different place: the bodies of water blue, Egypt orange, and the equator red.
Guided practice: (5-8 minutes)
Project an image of Egypt, and tell the students that they will practice with the map of Egypt.
Tell them to glue the map of Egypt of on the right page. Remind students to look at the map key
to know what to color the different places: the bodies of water blue, desert orange, and the
capital a red star. Ask students where the Mediterranean Sea is, and what color they are supposed
to color it. Repeat this with each item on the map key, by first having the students think about it
and look for where the different aspects are located, while still guiding them through each step.
Independent practice: (15 minutes)
After coloring and labeling maps of Africa and Egypt, pass out a quiz with questions about
Africa and Egypt. Read aloud each question and give time for students to answer.
Closure: (5 minutes)
Review the quiz by reading each questions and calling on students to point to the item on the
map and explaining their answers.
Evaluation:
Formative: Observe students during instruction and guided practice, and check for understanding
by asking questions.
Summative: Answers to a quiz about Egypt and Africa.
Background Information/context:
When learning about Ancient Egypt or any place, it is critical to understand where it is
located in the world, as well as the important geographical features unique to this place. Maps
are the best way to visualize this information. All maps include a title, map legend, and compass
rose. The title describes what it is a map of, the map legend presents the symbols and their
meanings, and the compass rose orients the direction of north, east, south and west.
Unique to Egypt, three bodies of water are critical in understanding the geography and
culture of the region. They are the Nile River, Red Sea, and Mediterranean Sea. Egypt is located
in the far North East corner of Africa, which is in the Northern Hemisphere and just south of
Europe and West of Asia. The climate and environment of Egypt, which is covered the next day
in this Unit, is critical information about any place. Egypt is arid and mostly desert, which
explains the importance of the Nile River and other bodies of water, in terms of the divide among
Egyptian people, population locations, technologies, and more (Baines, 2011).
Bibliography
Baines, J. (2011). The story of the nile. Retrieved from
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/egyptians/nile_01.shtml
Enchanted Learning. (2002). Outline map. Retrieved from
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/africa/rivers/outlinemap/ and
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/africa/egypt/outlinemap/
Name:
Date:
Egypt Map Quiz
1. What are the three important parts of a map?
a. Compass, oceans, and map legend
b. Countries, map legend, and title
c. Title, map legend, and compass rose
d. North, South, East, and West
2. Egypt is located in
a. Europe
b. America
c. Asia
d. Africa
.
3. What are the three important bodies of water in Egypt?
a. Nile River, Red Sea, and Mediterranean Sea
b. Mediterranean Sea, Atlantic Ocean, and Southern Ocean
c. Nile River, Atlantic Ocean, and Southern Ocean
d. Egypt river, Mediterranean Sea, and Red Sea
4. Egypt is located North of the Equator?
a. True
b. False
5. Egypt is mostly desert?
a. True
b. False
Map Key
Nile River
Mediterranean Sea
Egypt
Desert
Pacific Ocean
Equator
Map Key
Nile River
Red Sea
Mediterranean Sea
Cairo
Desert