SOL 3.5 states that students should be able to correctly identify each of the seven continents and five oceans. This skill is necessary as students become accustomed to the understanding of where other countries are in the world, in the hopes that they will grow into citizens who can use these skills to better understand international issues.
One basic activity that will help teach this would be giving a blank map for students to label and color code the continents and oceans. Students should be instructed to color each area a different color, as well as labeling them with their proper name. Afterward, these maps could be cut up and made into puzzles, which students can trade and practice putting together. This will reinforce the location of the continents and oceans.
A second element of SOL 3.5 is the need to teach the placement of the Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western Hemispheres. These hemispheres are divided by the equator and prime meridian. A primary activity teaching the location of these imaginary lines would be having students add them to their color-coded maps. When students are competent in arranging their puzzles with the continents and oceans, encourage them to again cut them along the equatorial and meridian lines. This will help students remember how each continent is located in relationship to the two major dividing lines on the globe.
With the addition of the equator and prime meridian to a world map, the teacher should use these lines as the axis of a grid. This gives the opportunity for the teacher to explain lines of longitude and latitude, and how they are used to locate cities and locations on maps. This will fulfill another expectation of SOL 3.5.
By this time, the students will need to have a new world map, and would benefit from it being on grid paper. This allows students to use the grid as a manner of finding important locations. Students should identify their hometown, as well as England, France and Spain, in order to fulfill another element of SOL 3.5.
Students should not only learn where these cities are, but how to follow the grid coordinates to find them. One activity that could teach these skills is to create a "scavenger hunt map." This activity will involve the teacher creating a series of clues that will lead them on a trip throughout the world. At the end, students will have all of the clues needed to solve a problem or find a "treasure." This could be done as a group project, solo project, or after practice could be treated as a race.
The final expectation under SOL 3.5 is that students be aware of the explorations of figures such as Christopher Columbus, Juan Ponce de Leon, Jacques Cartier and Christopher Newport. Students should be able identify each explorer and explain which regions they explored and where they came from. This knowledge will fit both into the geographic knowledge of the students, as well as giving them important historical knowledge regarding the discoverers of America.
One activity that will help students with these ideas would be using a map, possibly the grid map, to trace out voyages and discoveries of each of the explorers. These should be color-coded to make it easier for students to remember where each explorer traveled. Another activity that could help would be for students to create "explorer cards." These are in the format of a baseball trading card, where students draw a picture of the explorer, which "team" or country they worked for, a short biography, and a list of important accomplishments and discoveries. This helps students remember the importance of each explorer, as well as giving them a study aid.