Today’s explorer
challenge presented 5th grade students with their first practice
with the concept of Vujà Dé: seeing a familiar space in a whole new way.
To start the lesson, students first brainstormed the purpose
of maps. The answers were almost all expected responses, like:
“Maps are used for finding directions.” – J.S.
“Maybe you have a question of a country in Europe. You could
look on a map to find where it is located.” – W.D.
“You can track the roads you have traveled” – A.B.
“ If you want to go to a different state, you can use a map
to look that state up.” – A.B.L.
Students were then presented their challenge, which I hoped
would extend their current understanding of maps and they ways in which maps
can document so much more than just roads, cities, states, and countries.
5th grade students were then taken outside to a
very familiar space, the entrance of the school and asked to create a map of
all of the things they have never noticed before about the walkway into the school.
Students were split into groups and 1-inch graph paper, 1/2- inch graph paper,
and blank drawing paper.
The squares of pavement that make up the school entrance
create a natural grid that I assumed would be the starting point for each
group. As usual, the students shattered my expectations in the different ways
that each group approached the challenge.
Here are examples of the approaches taken by Mrs. Tate’s
class:
Group 1
When I first glanced over at Group 1, they appeared to be a
group that was struggling to start the challenge as they sat in a circle around
one square of pavement. As I went over and started observing this group, I
quickly realized that this group had chosen to scale their map to focus on the
previously unnoticed details of one single square of pavement.
Group 2
This group noticed a difference in color in some of the
squares of pavement, which they labeled as the “white pavement”. By first
marking the lighter pavement squares on their grid, they used this area as a
point of reference as they marked unnoticed detailed in reference to the “white
pavement”.
Group 3
This group was attracted a bench on the side of the
entrance, perhaps because it is a large bench that sat under the cool shade on
a warm sunny morning. The group decided that they would create a map from the
perspective of someone sitting on the bench. They used the bench as their
reference point for where to place each landmark on their map.
Group 4
As I watched Group 4 approach this challenge, I questioned
whether they were creating a map or simply exploring the space, but the group
had a focused approach so I sat back and simply observed. I quickly realized
that this group was using texture rubbing to document the various textures that
were present in the school entrance. While the limited work time prevented them
from completing their map, their plan was to arrange the textures based upon
their physical relation to each other .
Group 5
This group approached this challenge focusing solely on the
various objects that they noticed in the space and their relation to each
other. After drawing in various large objects, they used these objects to add
in the gridlines of the pavements and the various details that they noticed.
What’s next?
I am excited to introduce the 5th grade students
to cartographic art, unconventional maps, and challenge students to document
daily experiences through map making.
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