1. 6th Grade Social Studies Unit 2, Lesson 1: How Can Maps Help Us Better Understand the Earth?

2. Where do you think the basketball came from?
Alaska resident Aleasha Hohorst, 18, holds a basketball with ''Kesen Junior High'' printed on it on May 14, Hohorst found the ball on an island near her home in Craig, Alaska.
Alaska Resident Finds Basketball. 22 July
Where do you think the basketball came from?

3. How do you think the basketball got from Japan to Alaska?
According to the school in Rikuzentakata, Japan, the ball belongs to its basketball team. Hohorst has said she wishes to visit the school and return the ball.
How do you think the basketball got from Japan to Alaska?

4. Using your sketch maps from Unit 1:
Find Japan and Alaska on your map. If they are not there, add them.
Draw the route of the basketball’s route from Japan to Alaska.
Add as much detail and as many labels as you can.

6. How did the basketball get from Japan to Alaska?
Tsunamis
A tsunami (pronounced “soo-nah-mee”) is a series of ocean waves caused by any large, abrupt disturbance of the sea-surface. Earthquakes cause most tsunamis, but a tsunami can also be generated by landslides, volcanic activity, or rarely by meteor impact. If the disturbance is close to the coastline, a local tsunami can cause death and destruction among coastal communities within minutes. A very large disturbance, such as the magnitude 9.0 earthquake off the Japanese coast in 2011, can generate waves that cause local devastation and destruction thousands of miles away. .
Source: Tsunamis. 27 July
How did the basketball get from Japan to Alaska?

7. What kind of maps could help us better understand the earthquake and resulting tsunami?

8. Kesen Junior High School 26 July 2012. www.maps.google.com

14. 2011 Japan Earthquake Epicenter. 26 July 2012. http://www

15. Every map serves a purpose. Every map advances an interest.
Remember….
Every map serves a purpose.
Every map advances an interest.
Every map has a story to tell.
(Kaiser & Wood, 2001, Seeing Through Maps, p.4)

16. Thematic or Special Purpose Maps
All maps have a purpose….. All maps tell a story.
Since all maps are created for a purpose, they show particular information about a geographic area.
Examples:
Political Information
Physical Geography
Economic /Agricultural Information
Social/Cultural Information

17. What types of maps could help us learn more about Japan and the story of the basketball?

18. Maps of Japan. 26 July 2012. http://geography. about. com/gi/o. htm

19. Physical Map of Japan. 26 July 2012. http://www. freeworldmaps

20. Maps of Japan. 26 July 2012. http://geography. about. com/gi/o. htm

21. Maps of Japan. 26 July 2012. http://geography. about. com/gi/o. htm

22. Maps of Japan. 26 July 2012. http://geography. about. com/gi/o. htm

23. Maps of Japan. 26 July 2012. http://geography. about. com/gi/o. htm

24. Maps of Japan. 26 July 2012. http://geography. about. com/gi/o. htm

25. Maps of Japan. 26 July 2012. http://geography. about. com/gi/o. htm

26. Railroads and Airports
Maps of Japan. 26 July

27. Maps to help us learn more about the 2011 earthquake and tsunami

28. Tsunami Height. 27 July 2012. http://eternian. wordpress

29. 2011 Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. 25 July 2012. http://serc. carleton

30. Source: Ocean Currents Map. 23 July 2012. http://www. seos-project

32. Tsunami 2011

33. Could there be a tsunami on the Great Lakes?

35. Has there ever been a tsunami on the Great Lakes?

36. Occurrence of Tsunami Worldwide. 25 July 2012. http://www

37. What ever happened to the basketball?
Alaska Resident Finds Basketball. 22 July

38. Michigan Citizenship Collaborative Curriculum
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