Eighth-graders at Bemidji Middle School (BMS) recently learned how to read a paper Minnesota road map, thanks to grant support from the Bemidji 31 Education Foundation.
Valerie Olson, the geography teacher at BMS who plans and delivers the lesson, said that while digital mapping systems are widely used nowadays, she wants her students to understand that technologies can fail and they need to know how to use a traditional paper-copy road map.
“I like to teach students that we can’t always rely on GPS, phones or other technology to get to places,” Valerie wrote in her grant proposal.
She noted that many factors can affect GPS and driving, such as extreme weather and road construction. When those occur, the ability to read a paper map becomes particularly important.
During the class, Valerie has the students do a scavenger hunt to find 20 items on the road map and they need to calculate the distance between places. To strengthen their skills, Valerie also asks students to describe the routes they would take to get from one city to another.
“(An example is), what is the distance between Bemidji and St. Paul, and they have to write down what roads/highways they would take get there,” said Valerie.
According to Valerie, students are excited to show the skills they have learned from her class to help their family members who usually do the driving when needed.
