It is now December! Students are gearing up and preparing for finals. It is a busy time of year in the classroom and culminating projects can be a large part of preparing students to better understand complex topics. What better way to challenge students’ understanding of topographic maps than to have students design their own islands! This fun and challenging activity. Which helps students demonstrate their understanding of how to draw contour lines based on a pre-determined set of instructions.

Design an Island using contour lines

The Activity sheets on Topographic maps (Topographic Maps & Drawing Profiles Bundle) are a great introduction to contour lines. Once students practice labeling contour lines and drawing profiles they are ready to Design an Island on their own. And have fun demonstrating their understanding. Creating, or, putting information together in an innovative way, is the highest level of demonstrating an understanding of Bloom’s Taxonomy. In this project, students construct contour lines that show specific elevations and gradients for their island and yet allow them to put their own creative twist on the project. Students make many variations of Topographic Maps using this activity.

Different Levels of Design and Island Activity

In addition, this activity is differentiated to allow students to choose their level of difficulty. Choice gives students buy-in to a class. The simpler version of this activity is very similar to the practice version of the “Design and Island” final project. It is also more closely related to the simpler activity sheets on topographic maps on my website. Whereas the more difficult version of this activity allows students to be challenged with the information on topographic maps. Student examples of both versions are included in the Design and Island activity sold on my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

It is important in the field of education to keep the needs of students first and foremost. This high-level activity is an excellent way to assess the learning of our students; in fact, it can be used as a final exam project……