Kōkiri Learn

Week 3 of 5

Reading real maps: contours, grid references and stars

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  5. 5

Session 1 · SOLVE: Link Ideas

Hills on flat paper

  1. 10 minLook at a Topo50 map. Find the scale bar, the grid lines and the brown contour lines. What do they tell you?
  2. 25 minContour box: build a clay hill in a clear tub, pour in water 1 cm at a time, and trace the waterline from above onto a plastic sheet each time. You have drawn contour lines.
  3. 10 minLink: where the lines are close together the slope is steep. Where would rain run? (Water flows straight across the contour lines, downhill.)
  4. 5 minWrite a six-figure grid reference for one feature on the Topo50 sheet.

Session 2 · SOLVE: Link Ideas

The star compass: a circle of houses

  1. 10 minRead 'Directions, angles and the star compass'. Look at the Science Learning Hub diagram of the kāpehu whetū.
  2. 20 minMaths of the circle: the star compass has 32 houses. How many degrees is each? Compare it with the 8-point and 16-point compass roses you drew. Make a paper version with a protractor.
  3. 15 minTransformations treasure hunt: translate, reflect and rotate a shape on a grid to find a hidden treasure square. Swap with another group.
  4. 5 minLink: how are the star compass, a Topo50 grid and our field grid the same? How are they different?

Getting started

Start with a two-layer clay hill and a ready-drawn contour example to match.

Stretch

Find the steepest and flattest part of the Topo50 sheet by measuring the gap between contour lines. Explain how you know.

Checkpoint

Students can explain what a contour line, a grid reference and a map scale each tell you.

Activities for this week

Useful this week