Map studies at the Boxberry School

OXFORD — Students at The Boxberry School have been learning all about maps. Earlier this year they went on a day trip to Robert’s Farm in Norway, where they learned to read and look at maps while hiking on the trails.

They also built fairy/gnome houses and marked their house locations on their maps. On a future trip back to Robert's they will use their maps to relocate their houses.

On Tuesday, October 16, the entire Boxberry School took a fun and educational trip to the Osher Map Museum at USM in Portland. The students from the Green Room (K-second grade) looked at maps, enjoyed a reading of "My Map Book" by Sara Fanelli, and were able to color their own maps.

The students from the Periwinkle Room (third-fifth grade) took a tour of Osher's globe collection, including celestial and terrestrial globes from the early 1700s. Periwinklers also learned about different kinds of maps by looking at a slide show.

Their guide led them through an activity in which the students created their own planet with symbols and drew it onto a flat map, cut that out and prepared to glue the segments onto a globe (plastic ball). Periwinklers learned a lot about the history of maps and how to transform a 2D map into a 3D globe.

After lunch the children continued their learning adventure with a trip to the Delorme Map Store in Yarmouth.

Photo:

AT DELORME — No trip to Delorme would be complete without admiring Eartha. Eartha is the largest revolving globe in the world. Students posed for a photo from the top deck at the map store with Eartha in the background. From left, in front, are Makyah Camous,Tia Beaulier, Sophie Billings, Sam Klinedinst, Isaiah S., Willa Anderson, Veda Person, Abby Toohey, Emi Camous, Mina Kazimierczak, Oliver Barrett and Cole Cummings. From left, in back, are Emmett Grover, James Gosnell, Myles Barrett, Ian S., Calvin Grover, Jake Domegan and Whyse Cummings.