Teacher Resources from Ball State University Libraries

Teacher Resources from the Ball State University Libraries

Today is National Teachers Day, and as the school year ends, what better time than to plan new activities for next year?  The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) provides cartographic resources and lesson plans for use by K-12 teachers. 

The GRMC has created lesson plan guides that describe maps and lessons for teachers of social studies (including cultures and gender studies), science, art, English/literature, foreign language, and economics.  The lessons range in scope and including using topographic maps, understanding time zones, latitude and longitude, and using historic maps and online diaries to teach American history.

The GRMC has also created custom maps for use in classroom research projects or for bulletin board exhibits.  The GRMC published a collection of custom Indiana history maps in celebration of the state’s bicentennial in 2016.  And the GRMC creates custom map posters for the Ball State University International Center weekly culture exchange program that can be reused in the classroom or other exhibits.  Students in social studies methods classes at Ball State have also worked with the GRMC to create maps based on children’s books.

The GRMC has also created scores of classroom games, worksheets, cartographic tutorials, and other lesson plans for use by the K-12 teacher.  Some of the lessons are made to use with the historic collections in the Libraries’ Digital Media Repository.  These resources are all available for download for educational purposes, so teachers around the world with access to the Internet can use these cartographic resources.

For more information about using these classroom materials or to request a custom map for the classroom, please contact the GRMC at 765-285-1097.