Lesson 1: Finding Our Place

A map is like a drawing of a place from above. It helps people see where things are and how to get from one place to another. People use maps to find cities, mountains, and rivers all across California and the United States. To read a map, one uses special tools. A compass rose shows you the directions: north, south, east, and west. This helps a person know which way to go when looking for a landmark.

A map also has a key. The key explains what the different symbols on the map mean. For example, a star might show where to find the capital city, Sacramento. Sometimes maps use a grid with letters and numbers to help you find an exact street or building in your neighborhood.

Our planet, Earth, is organized into large landmasses and bodies of water. The seven huge land areas are called continents, and the five vast water areas are the oceans. Within each continent, there are different countries, each with its own government. A country is often divided into smaller areas called states, which have their own local governments and capitals.

We can find our own place in the world by using this system like a set of addresses. Your local community, like a city or town, is located within a specific state. Maps show lines called borders to separate these places. Some are political borders, which are imaginary lines drawn by people to separate states or cities. Others are natural boundaries, like a river or a mountain range, that nature created to separate one place from another.