School and Group Programs
Post-Trip Curriculum: Geography and Writing
Grades: 3 - 6
Subjects: Geography, writing
Time: 1 hour
Title: Mapping it Out
Objectives: Students will demonstrate an understanding of the distance and elevation traveled during the field trip and can identify the major features they observed.
Materials
- Journals used during the visit to Yosemite Institute
- A large piece of butcher paper
- Markers
- Tape or glue sticks
- Students' photos
- Trail map of Yosemite Valley
Procedure
- Ask the students to review their journals and explain one of the highlights of their trip.
- Discuss as a group each student's favorite place.
- On your dry erase board or chalk board, have students sketch a rough map of Yosemite Valley, placing the important features in their proper places.
- When they have finalized the map, have students copy it onto butcher paper. The map should include prominent features, such as Half Dome, El Capitan, etc.
- Ask students draw the trails they hiked and the approximate distance of each. Color-coding the trails makes the map more useful.
- In small groups, have students select a highlight for each day of their trip and write it on the map near where it occurred.
- Ask students select trip photos that include them, not just the scenery, and attach them to appropriate locations on the map.
Extended Activity
- Share the map at your school's open house or with your local school board.
California Standards
6th grade
Language Arts: Listening 1, Speaking 2
Science 7f
This lesson plan was created by teacher Sue Campbell of Livingston Middle School in Livingston, California.
