Social StudiesLand and Water on Our Map
Atlas the friendly map explorer kneels on a sunny grass hill, pointing at a big colorful paper map that shows green land and a bright blue lake.
- Name land you can see, like a hill or a mountain.
- Name water you can see, like a lake or a river.
- Point to land and water on a simple map.
- Say which map color usually shows water and which usually shows land.
Key terms
- land
- The hard, dry ground we can walk and build on.
- water
- The wet part of Earth, like lakes, rivers, and oceans.
- hill
- A bump of land that rises gently above the ground around it.
- mountain
- A very tall, rocky piece of land much higher than a hill.
- lake
- A large body of water with land all around its edges.
Land You Can See
Land is the hard ground we walk on, and it comes in many shapes. A hill is a gentle bump of land that rises a little above everything around it. A mountain is land too, but it is much taller, steeper, and rockier than a hill. Both hills and mountains are made of solid ground, so we can climb them with our own feet.
Water You Can See
Water is the wet part of Earth, and we cannot walk on top of deep water. A lake is a large body of water with land surrounding it on every side, and fish love to swim there. A river is water that flows and moves, winding across the land like a long, curving path. Both lakes and rivers are kinds of water, not land.
How Maps Show Land and Water
A map is a small picture of a real place seen from high above, like a bird flying overhead. To help us tell things apart quickly, mapmakers usually color the water blue and color the land green or brown. So when you spot blue on a map, you can think water, and when you spot green or brown, you can think land.
Worked examples
Decide whether a tall rocky mountain is land or water.
- A mountain is made of hard, solid ground.
- We can climb a mountain using our feet.
- Things we can walk and climb on are land.
- So a mountain is land, not water.
Answer: A mountain is land.
Figure out what a big blue shape on a map most likely is.
- On a map, blue usually stands for water.
- The blue shape is surrounded by green land on all sides.
- Water surrounded by land on every side is a lake.
- So the blue shape is most likely a lake.
Answer: It is most likely a lake.
Activity
Put each thing into the land box or the water box.
Practice
Name one example of land and one example of water.
Explain which map color usually shows water and why that helps.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Green on a map means water.Green usually shows land on a map, while blue is the color that usually shows water.
- A hill and a mountain are the same.A hill is a small gentle bump of land, but a mountain is much taller and rockier.
Check your understanding
Which one is land?
On a map, what color usually shows water?
Your friend says the green part of a map is water. Is that right?
A map has a big blue shape in the middle surrounded by green. What is the blue shape most likely?
Recap
Earth has land, like hills and mountains, and water, like lakes and rivers. A map is a picture of a place seen from above, and mapmakers usually color water blue and land green or brown so we can tell them apart easily.
Reflect
Where have you seen land and water near where you live?