step into my classroom: mountain building

To kick off our study of mountains and maps, my earth science class drew contour maps based on mountains they'd built out of playdough. Thanks to Cindy for the recipe; I made the dough myself! I took this lesson idea from The Science Spot, and it was a very simple activity. First, the students built a mountain out of dough. Next they used dental floss to slice the mountain, tracing each slice on their paper. By tracing each slice, they were drawing the contour lines. After completing their topographic map, they restacked their mountain and hid it. Finally they traded maps with another group and attempted to build a mountain based on the other group's map. Here are a few shots from the activity: