Tutorial - Contour Maps for Kids (Indoor)

[Swallow]

I didn't think much about this when I did it, but I mentioned it to someone on here and they seemed taken with it..... so eventually I've got some photos together for a thread.

Kit List
1 asymmetrical plasticine hill (a shade over 6 cm tall)
1 board (bread board is fine but maybe cover in plastic if you don't like plasticine in your sandwiches)
1 ruler
1 dining knife

Measure 1 cm and place knife.

The hill here already has all the lines in place as I was too lazy to start over for the photos. You can also see that in the time since the hill was made there's been some geological movement with the lines.

With the knife held in place rotate the board with your other hand until there's a line all the way round.

Move 1 cm up and repeat until you run out of altitude.

When looking down from above you will see the contour lines. Hopefully a bit better than the photo.

If the contour lines are as obvious as they could be, then turn the knife blunt side down and go round the lines pushing back the "overhang".

Now you can get junior to look down from above and copy down the lines on to paper adding numbers 10, 20, 30...

Having drawn their own map (and maybe built their own hill) the relationship between the lines and the shape of the hill should be a lot clearer, but it will also be easy to point out the various aspects like close lines = steep incline.

At this point you can see why the hill is asymmetrical, it will actually help with the various aspects and make more sense than an even hill.

 

[welchyd1]

Brilliant I wish I had kids to do this with now. This should be a compulsory lesson in primary schools. Great idea.

 

[Sparrowmax]

Ill use that with my Scout Troop on the next map reading night. Thanks for the idea

 

[Sparrowmax]

Thinking about it Ill turn it the other way round.... Get the Scouts to make a hill based on a set of contours from the map. That will make a good base on the map reading night.

 

[Toddy]

Swallow that's excellent
What a very simple way of showing map details and shedding light on a bit that often stymies folks.

Can we add this one to the good things to make with children thread later on ?

atb,
M

 

[Swallow]

Swallow that's excellent
What a very simple way of showing map details and shedding light on a bit that often stymies folks.

Can we add this one to the good things to make with children thread later on ?

atb,
M

Sure. I didn't know that thread existed.

 

[Toddy]

I started it as a place to put ideas and tutorials of things to make, or do, with children, that are too good to mislay

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=116199

M

 

[Stew]

ah, brilliant. Like that way of doing it.

At Scouts we did it where you cut out sheets of cardboard then stick each layer on top of each other. Effective but took a while whereas this is a lot quicker to show different landscapes.

 

[Swallow]

And given the scouting posts, it's only just occured to me that if you have a squad of kids and they make a hill each (of various types) you can put them on a board and get a whole landscape.

 

[georann]

Used to get our scouts to do a grid square (from the area) each out of stacked carboard, then put them together to make a map as swallow suggested.

 

[SussexRob]

I did an exercise with my explorer scouts where I gave them all a potato with a flat edge I'd cut. Got them to draw around it, then cut a 1cm layer off of the bottom, line it back up, draw around it again. Keep repeating that until the potato is sliced, and hey presto, they have a contour drawing of the shape of the potato!

I hope that makes sense, far easier to talk someone through it, as they do it!

 

[Bowlander]

Good thinking. Will try that one.

Reminds me of a Mike Harding sketch about how contours were invented.

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