How do Geographers develop miniature
model of earth ?
Answers
Explanation:
Help students understand the concept of a model of something real. Show students miniature items representing things from their daily lives, such as a toy car or animal. Help students to describe the difference between the real objects and their miniature versions. Ask: How are these like a real car or animal? How are they different from a real car or animal? Provide students with sentence starters, such as:
They are alike because ___.
They are different because ___.
Make sure students describe how the miniature version may look like the real object, but people cannot use it the way they use the real object.
2. Activate students’ prior knowledge about why we use maps.
Show students the three provided maps: the Park Map, the Neighborhood Map, and the Community Map. As you project each, read its title aloud. Explain that maps are miniature versions of places on the Earth. Ask students to name what they see on the map. Explain that the small pictures are “symbols.” These are like the miniature version of the real things. Instead of a model of a house, there is a small picture.
3. Zoom out from students’ school and community on an interactive map.
Locate the students’ school using the search feature on a satellite map application such as Google Maps. Point out places on the map as in Step 2. Ask: Where are the roads? Where are the buildings? Where do you see water? Zoom out very slowly. Explain that the views of the land and water students are seeing are getting smaller as we see them from farther away. Have students imagine looking down at the ground from a rocket or shuttle going straight up in space. At different points ask students to describe what they are seeing. Zoom out until students can see the continents.
4. Compare a picture of Earth and a globe.
Show students the picture of Earth from space. Ask them to describe the shape (a ball). Talk about how the details on this image look similar to what they saw on the map before, for example, they may recognize the shapes of the continents and oceans. Next show the picture of the globe, and pass around a globe. Explain that globes are miniature models of Earth. Ask: What shape is a globe? (a ball) How is a globe like Earth? How is a globe different from Earth?
Informal Assessment
Have each student complete the provided Earth Shapes worksheet to check for understanding. Provide crayons for each student and reading assistance as needed for younger students.