Camden Local Study - Maps

This week we are starting a unit on local geography and history. Our first stops were Camden council offices and the tourist information centre. At the council we looked at the maps on display in the foyer and discovered that Camden local government authority covers lots more than just Camden the town. We use the maps to find out which places come under the control of our local council. We also looked at and discussed the flood danger map and the land use maps. At the tourist information centre we collected information about Camden's history and local attractions. We also got some free maps of the area.

At home we used out free maps to locate our house and other places that we regularly visit. The children made up symbols for each place; for example a book for the library, a piano for the music school and a pizza for the restaurant. We made tiny flags using cocktail sticks and decorated them with our symbols. We then located the places on the map and stuck them on.

We played a few games involving questions like: "How far is it from our house to the pool?", and "What building is to the south-west of the park?" The children used the key, scale and compass rose.

Later we looked through the brochures, and the council and tourist board websites for new places to visit in the local area. We'll visit some of them and add their flags to the map.