By using salt dough to form maps of their home state or nation, students can mold the dough into representations of mountain ranges, lakes, rivers and coastlines. Create the dough by mixing 1 cup of salt, 1 1/4 cups of warm water and 3 cups of white flour. After kneading the dough, form it into the desired shape and mark out various physical features, using your fingertips and a toothpick. Paint the map once it dries and add little flags to signify state capitals and historic landmarks.
Before students use topographical maps, review the nature of topography with a face-painting activity. Mix 4 1/2 teaspoons of cold cream, 1 1/2 teaspoons of water and 1 tablespoon of cornstarch to make the face mask. Using this mixture, the students will paint a mask onto a partner's face, transfer the mask onto a double sheet of tissue paper and study the facial features on the mask transfer. While referencing a topographical map, the students can paint geological formations on their three-dimensional face masks.
Globes provide an accurate visual of Earth's round nature and the geographic features that create it. As the most common three-dimensional map, globes provide students with a vast amount of information, while giving them a solid object they can manipulate. Create paper-mache globes with students by covering balloons with strips of newspaper and a paste made with equal parts of flour and water. Once the globes dry, allow the students to paint land and water features onto them, mimicking a real globe.
Students create story maps to track events while reading stories, and to outline plots when preparing to write their own stories. These activities enhance students' reading comprehension by allowing them to recall and review characters, plots and themes in stories. Students make a three-dimensional story map by summarizing events of a story with illustrations on six small squares of paper and then assembling them to form a cube. The students can use the story map cubes as references when reviewing stories in class.