Hills and Valleys on MapsActivities & Teaching Strategies
Hands-on map work helps students move from abstract symbols to real landscapes. Colours and shading on maps come alive when students manipulate them directly, making elevation concepts stickier than passive colour matching. The tactile nature of these activities builds spatial reasoning skills that flat worksheets cannot match.
Learning Objectives
- 1Identify the colours and shading conventions used on a physical map to represent elevation.
- 2Compare the visual representation of a hilly area with a flat area on a given map.
- 3Explain how simplified map symbols suggest the three-dimensional form of land.
- 4Create a simple sketch of a landscape based on a map's colour and shading patterns.
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Layering Activity: Colour a Relief Map
Provide blank outline maps of Ireland. Students add layers of green, yellow, brown, and white paint or crayon based on a key showing height. They discuss choices in pairs, then compare to a real physical map. Display finished maps for a class gallery walk.
Prepare & details
How do maps show us where the hills and valleys are?
Facilitation Tip: During the Colour a Relief Map activity, remind students to start with the lightest green for valleys and progress to darker browns for peaks.
Setup: Tables with large paper, or wall space
Materials: Concept cards or sticky notes, Large paper, Markers, Example concept map
Model Building: Clay Landscapes
Give groups a shaded relief map excerpt. They sculpt clay over a baseboard to match colours: low green valleys smooth, high brown hills peaked. Add toy figures to show scale. Groups present how their model matches the map.
Prepare & details
What do different colours on a physical map usually mean?
Facilitation Tip: When students build Clay Landscapes, ask them to press gently for low hills and firmly for tall mountains to reinforce the tactile difference.
Setup: Tables with large paper, or wall space
Materials: Concept cards or sticky notes, Large paper, Markers, Example concept map
Matching Game: Map to Photo
Print map sections and corresponding aerial photos or landscape images. In small groups, match pairs by colour and shading. Discuss why certain matches work, noting how light and shadow influence perceptions.
Prepare & details
How can we imagine what the land looks like from a map?
Facilitation Tip: For the Matching Game: Map to Photo, have students explain their matches aloud before revealing the answers to deepen their reasoning.
Setup: Tables with large paper, or wall space
Materials: Concept cards or sticky notes, Large paper, Markers, Example concept map
Outdoor Sketch: School Ground Heights
Students walk the school grounds, sketch simple maps using colours for slopes and flat areas. Back in class, share and refine sketches against Google Earth views.
Prepare & details
How do maps show us where the hills and valleys are?
Facilitation Tip: During the Outdoor Sketch: School Ground Heights, provide string and small sticks for students to measure subtle slopes directly.
Setup: Tables with large paper, or wall space
Materials: Concept cards or sticky notes, Large paper, Markers, Example concept map
Teaching This Topic
Teachers should model the gradual shift in colour and shading during demonstrations, showing how light green fades to dark brown across a simple slope. Avoid rushing through the concept of gradients, as students need time to observe and mimic the shading process. Research suggests that pairing physical modelling with visual mapping strengthens spatial memory more than either alone.
What to Expect
Students will confidently explain how map colours and shading show elevation, use gradient shading accurately, and connect flat maps to three-dimensional thinking. They will also distinguish elevation cues from vegetation by pointing to specific visual details on maps and photos. Group discussions and peer reviews will reveal their growing clarity.
These activities are a starting point. A full mission is the experience.
- Complete facilitation script with teacher dialogue
- Printable student materials, ready for class
- Differentiation strategies for every learner
Watch Out for These Misconceptions
Common MisconceptionDuring the Layering Activity: Colour a Relief Map, watch for students using uniform brown across hills. Correction: Guide them to start with light green for low areas and gradually darken brown toward peaks, using the classroom’s scaled shading chart as a reference.
What to Teach Instead
During the Model Building: Clay Landscapes activity, watch for students making all hills the same height. Correction: Ask them to compare their models to the shading chart and adjust the height of one hill to match a darker brown shade on the map.
Common MisconceptionDuring the Matching Game: Map to Photo, watch for students assuming green areas are low because they are green. Correction: Have them cover the green in the photo with a transparency sheet and focus only on the shape and texture to match the map.
What to Teach Instead
During the Outdoor Sketch: School Ground Heights activity, watch for students drawing flat lines for gentle slopes. Correction: Give them a protractor and a simple inclinometer (made from a straw and a string) to measure and sketch the actual angle of the slope.
Assessment Ideas
After the Layering Activity: Colour a Relief Map, collect student maps and ask them to write two sentences describing the elevation changes they represented and one sentence explaining how the colours they chose show increasing height.
During the Matching Game: Map to Photo, circulate and ask each group to explain why they matched a specific photo to a map section, listening for references to colour gradients and landform shapes.
After the Model Building: Clay Landscapes activity, pose the question: 'If Carrauntoohil were on your map, how would its clay model look compared to a valley?' Encourage students to use terms like 'steep,' 'high,' and 'gradient' in their responses.
Extensions & Scaffolding
- Challenge students to create their own mini-map of an imaginary island, using at least five elevation levels and explaining their colour choices in writing.
- For students who struggle, provide pre-printed map outlines with numbered contour lines to trace before shading.
- Allow extra time for students to research real-world examples of valleys and mountains, then add labels to their clay models or map sketches.
Key Vocabulary
| Elevation | The height of a point on the Earth's surface above sea level. Maps use colours and shading to suggest this. |
| Physical Map | A map that shows the natural features of the Earth's surface, such as mountains, rivers, and plains, often using colour to indicate elevation. |
| Shaded Relief | A technique used on maps to create a three-dimensional appearance of the terrain, often by simulating shadows cast by hills and mountains. |
| Cartographic Symbol | A visual element on a map, like a colour or shading pattern, that represents a real-world feature or characteristic, such as land height. |
Suggested Methodologies
Planning templates for Global Perspectives and Local Landscapes
More in Cartography and Spatial Awareness
Map Symbols and Keys
Learning to interpret standard map symbols and understanding the importance of a map key for navigation.
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Understanding Map Distances
Learning that maps are smaller versions of real places and how to use simple methods (e.g., string, ruler with a simple key) to estimate distances on a map.
2 methodologies
Finding Places on a Map
Learning to use simple coordinates (e.g., A1, B2) or directional language (e.g., 'north of the river') to locate features on a map.
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