Map My Planet
Map My Planet
A world map often includes lines, called borders, that show how Earth is divided into continents and countries. Maps sometimes include two imaginary lines called the equator and the prime meridian. The equator divides Earth into a northern half and a southern half. The prime meridian divides Earth into an eastern half and a western half. These lines help people understand where different parts of Earth can be found.
Map My Planet is part of the new “Mapping My World” series from Crabtree Publishing. Author Harriet Brundle has written all four books in the series: Map My Community, Map My Country, Map My Planet and Map My School.
Each book follows a consistent format but uses different illustrations to reflect the content focus. The opening chapters explain what a map is, how to use a map, what a map legend is, and how to use a map scale. Each book in the series then explores a different aspect of a specific type of map.
Map My Planet focuses on world maps with chapters including World Maps, A Globe is a Map, Grids, and How Do We Use World Maps?
Each book concludes with a mapping activity. The activity in Map My Planet is a series of questions for students to work on and then share. These questions will be very challenging for younger students but could be completed as a large group activity with teacher guidance. Older students should be able to work on these independently or in groups by referring to the content of the book.
Each book in the “Mapping My World” series includes a table of contents and a simple glossary and index. The books are very colourfully illustrated and use a large clear text font.
I highly recommend Map My Planet for young readers learning about maps for the first time with assistance, and for slightly older students exploring maps in more depth independently.
Dr. Suzanne Pierson, a former teacher-librarian, is currently instructing Librarianship courses at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario.