Lesson Two

Map Skills and The Compass Rose

Instructional Objectives:
The students will understand what a compass rose is and what it is used for.
The students will practice the orientation of the cardinal directions.
The students will know the difference between a drawing compass, a "hiking" compass, and a compass rose.
The students will apply their previous knowledge of different angles of perspective to map making.
The students will create a map of an imaginary island.

Time Required:
3 half hour to 45 minute sessions

Advance Preparation and Prerequisite Knowledge/Skills:

• know how to use Internet
• Have the materials/resources ready. Make sure you have many samples of the compass rose either in a sample sheet or as bookmarked sites.

Materials/Resources Needed:

• examples of three kinds of compasses: a compass for finding directions, a compass rose from a map and a compass for drawing circles
• 8 1/2 x 11 in. white bristol board
• ruler
• drawing compass or circular object for tracing around
• pencil
• watercolors, markers and/or other art materials
• social studies book (I used From Sea to Shinning Sea, Houghton Mifflin Social Studies. Third Grade, 21st Century Edition.Pages G4,8,9.) with map skills or a map skills unit
• computer with Internet
• digital camera

Vocabulary:
Compass, compass rose, directions, cardinal directions,

Procedures:
Session 1 - book and compass rose work page
Book and compass rose work page

1. Use a Social Studies book or other available materials (worksheets or maps)   to introduce the compass rose
2. Show an example of a compass rose on a map
3. Complete the compass rose work page compass rose work page

1. Show the students different examples (styles) of compass roses by going to sites that feature them. A lot of these sites are travel sites or other commercial sites, but the purpose is for the children to identify the characteristics that make a compass rose a compass rose. Following is a list of possible sites (I lead a search on compass rose):
   For creating a compass rose   http://enchantedlearning.com/geography/printouts/compassrose.shtml
   Origins of the compass rose   http://gisnet.com/notebook/comprose.html
2. Show the students the collection of clip art compass roses and talk about style, colors, texture and other elements

Session 3 - drawing
Drawing

1. Remind students of previous sessions and what they discovered about compass roses
2. Give the students the materials they will need to create their own design for a compass rose (I let my students use drawing compasses, so I explain that the word for naming the two different objects   is a homograph).
3. Discuss the possibilities of styles, colors, etc,
4. Talk about the elements that are necessary for the artwork to be complete, in other words.an acceptable compass rose
5. Show the tools that are useful for creating a compass rose: ruler-how to use it to make straight lines, for measuring, finding the center of a line to make a crossing (intersecting) line perpendicular to the first; a compass for making circles; traceable objects for making circles. (I teach my students how to .
6. Allow the students time to design their own compass rose
7. After they have completed the design in pencil I allow my students to chose any media they want for coloring their design. The choices in my classroom are: color pencils, crayons, markers, watercolor pencils or watercolors.

Extensions or Follow-up (related Special Projects, events):
Make a collection of compass roses by acquiring graphics from free clipart sites; print them and make a "Compass Rose Album"
Photograph with a digital camera the compass rose to print, cut out and use on map (lesson three).
Using a ditto of a map of your local county find different places and identify in what direction they are from each other.
My sample

Homework:
Explain what a compass rose is to one or more of your family members.
Try to find examples of compass roses around you and note where you found them.

Evaluation:
Compass Rose-Does it have the following:

Main four cardinal directions: N, S, E, W	10 points
Secondary Cardinal directions: NE, NW, SE, SW	10 points
Clear, neat pencil drawing with good use of tools (ruler, compass)	10 points
Colored carefully	10 points
Creativity	10 points

50 points = 100% = A

Illustrative Materials (worksheets, handouts, graphic organizers, photos, maps, and answer keys):
Compass Rose print out
Compass Rose Clip Art

Student Work Samples: