Discovery Island

By Platform Administrator · Submitted Sep 30, 2026

Content Area: Science and Technology/Engineering
Grade: 2

Students will be creating a map of an island that they "discover" which will include landforms and bodies of water of their choice. They will be taking on the role of a cartographer. The student will have a list of landforms and bodies of water to choose from that they may use in their creation. They will also create a man-made element that demonstrates how humans interact with their environment. The audience is their second grade peers. Their problem is that they discovered an island and need to create a map that outlines the important physical features of it. Then, they need to create a 3D model that matches their map.

MA Standards

2.ESS.2.2

Map the shapes and types of landforms and bodies of water in an area. Clarification Statements: Examples of types of landforms can include hills, valleys, river banks, and dunes; Examples of water bodies can include streams, ponds, bays, and rivers; Quantitative scaling in models or contour mapping is not expected.

HSS.2.T1.01

Explain the kinds of information provided by components of a map (e.g., compass rose/cardinal directions, scale, key/legend, title) and give examples of how maps can show relationships between humans and the environment (e.g., travel, roads, natural resources, agriculture, mining).

Resources

Task Template (PDF) PDF · 146 KB
Task Template (Word) DOCX · 1.59 MB
Student Directions DOCX · 18.6 KB
Rubric DOCX · 1.54 MB
Student Checklist DOCX · 771 KB
Flags PDF · 62.1 KB

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