Grade 4 Lesson plan
Placing Bellwood's New Water Tower: A Topographic Map Lesson
A grade 4 lesson where students read an elevation table standing in for a topographic map of the fictional town of Bellwood and find elevation differences.
NGSS · Grade 4
4-ESS2-2 Interpret maps to describe patterns of Earth's features
Analyze and interpret data from maps to describe patterns of Earth's features.
Clarification statement: Maps can include topographic maps of Earth's land and ocean floor, as well as maps of the locations of mountains, continental boundaries, volcanoes, and earthquakes.
Why water teaches this standard well
Topographic maps are how students discover that water always runs downhill into rivers, and rivers into basins, which is the core idea behind watersheds. Tracing ridgelines and drainage patterns on a topo map of their own region shows students exactly where their community's water comes from and goes.
Materials tagged with this code are written to the full standard , including its clarification statement , and each carries a written note explaining the alignment. See how we review materials.
7 materials aligned to 4-ESS2-2
Lesson plans
Grade 4 Lesson plan
Storm Drain Guardians: Designing Water-Protecting Drain Markers
A 50-minute grade 4 art lesson where students trace a map from a storm drain to a creek, then design a circular marker warning neighbors not to dump waste down the drain.
Worksheets
Grade 4 Worksheet
Tracing Rain to Two Creeks on the Cobden Rise Map
A grade 4 worksheet on a fictional town's elevation map: students trace where rain runs, find the ridge that splits two creeks, and read each creek's direction.
Grade 4 Worksheet
Tracing Runoff with the Mirebeck Ridge Elevation Table
A grade 4 science worksheet where students read an elevation table for a fictional ridge, decide which creek each point drains to, and subtract to find the drop.
Grade 4 Worksheet
Color the Sunfish Creek Watershed: A Map-Reading Worksheet
A grade 4 art-map worksheet where students read a fictional watershed map, mark how water flows, and plan colors and a key for high land and low land.
Classroom activities
Grade 4 Classroom activity
The Denhollow Hill Pipe Route Challenge
A grade 4 activity where teams read an elevation grid, then lay a pipe route from the plant to the tower under token rules that charge for climbs and wet ground.
Reading passages
Grade 4 Reading passage
The Saddlecomb Ridge Map: Finding the Divide
A grade 4 passage built around an elevation map of a fictional ridge, with eight questions on finding the divide and tracing where runoff from two work sites goes.