Resource: Google Maps

In class, we used Google Maps to identify the different communities we belonged to: our school, neighbourhood, city/municipality, region, province, country, continent, and planet. Students learned to order the communities from largest to smallest.

Students were also able to classify communities based on the way the name was written on the map. For example, the word "Vaughan" appeared larger than the word "Maple", allowing students to deduce that the city of Vaughan was bigger than the neighbourhood of Maple.

At home, you can use Google Maps (http://maps.google.ca/) with your child to improve their spatial awareness.

Suggestions for activities:

• Identify what different colours represent on the map (green for parkland, blue for bodies of water, yellow for highways, etc.)
• Using Street View (Drag the yellow person on the bottom right hand corner and drop into desired location) to take a closer look at places in your neighbourhood/around the world 
• Classifying places as neighbourhoods, cities/municipalities, regions, provinces, countries or continents
• Create a personalized map of your own neighbourhood, highlighting local attractions and landmarks (https://www.google.com/maps/d/ - Google Account required)
• Create a map showing the route taken on a family vacation (https://www.google.com/maps/d/ - Google Account required)