Digital Mapping Instructions
This assignment asks you to create a map on a unified topic. As with the Time Travel, you have
a lot of choice in what you pick! The topic can be anything discussed through the entire course
but it has to have a spatial diminution. In other words, SPACE and PLACE have to matter.
There has to be a reason why things happened where they did. Here are a few examples of
topics done by previous students (with the class in parentheses):
The Battles of Alexander the Great (101)
Viking invasions (101)
The Crusades (101)
Plantations in the US South (111)
Growth of Cities in Early America (111)
The Scramble for Africa (102)
American Imperialism (112)
Important battles in WWI or WWII (102, 112)
Civil Rights protests (102, 112)
The sort of topics you dont really see there are intellectual and social history. Did it matter
WHERE Isaac Newton was when he wrote the Principia Mathematica? Probably not to the extent
that it mattered WHERE the Crusades occurred! Sometimes you can show a geographic pattern
in art, literature, or science, but it will be much easier to do when people are exploiting or
developing physical resources or fighting over territory!
If you arent sure if your topic will work, come to Chat or send me a BB message and
we can discuss it!
In Blackboard you will ALSO find a handout showing you how to use the digital mapping tool.
This may be Heganoo, Scribble Maps, or another site. There will also be video instructions to
help you quickly learn the tool.
No matter what tool we use, your MAP should contain:
YOUR NAME included in the title of the map to show that it is your creation.
Five separate locations (more is OK but not required).
EACH location must have:
o A short description (2-3 sentences) for the location, explaining what it is, why its
location/geography matters, and its significance to your map story.
o An embedded picture or video OR link to a primary source of or relevant to the
location. Its a very good idea to make sure your images are open source. See the
Scribble Maps instructions for how to search for reusable images.
o A link to the reference page where you learned about the site. You do not need a
formal bibliography! Just a link! But your site should be reliable and scholarly.
If you picture comes from a different site, a link to its original site should be provided.
But since YouTube videos contain the option to watch them on Youtube, you dont need to
provide a link for a video.
Your POST should contain:
A share link to your map (make sure you share it and use this link!).
A ¾-1 page (double spaced) description/analysis of the story your map is telling i.e.
what should we learn by looking through all the locations, and why its spatial (why things
happened WHERE they did).
No replies are necessary but they earn Classcraft XP (20 each)
Length: Mapping posts should be about ¾ to 1 page long in Word. The real emphasis is on the
map you create. Remember to always type into Word so that that you dont lose your work if
Blackboard crashes. Upload ALL post Word documents to SafeAssign all at the same time at the
end of the Unit.
Mapping Post Checklist
? You created a digital map using one of the provided tools that has a unified, spatial topic and it contains at least five
(5) locations: 5 pts
? Each location has a 2-3 sentence description with no typos AND a picture or video or link to a reliable primary source.
It also contains a reference link. 10 pts.
? Your post includes a ¾ to 1 page analysis of your map (what you hope we will learn from exploring it and what makes
it spatial) as well as the link to it: 5 pts
? Replies are optional but are worth 20 Classcraft XP each.
Mapping Rubric
Examples
The War of 1812 lasted from 1812 to 1815, the war sadly revealed that the U.S. armed forces
were ill prepared. However, the most important outcome of the war was that it declared
American independence and guaranteed no future battles with Britain over trade or territory. The
invasion of Canada resulted in the British controlling half of the Old Northwest by the winter of
1812-1813. The British Blockade hit American trade hard but at the Battle of Put-In-Bay the
Americans gained control of Lake Erie. Erie was important to control because of trade and access
to ports. Sadly, next the naval troops set the White House to flames burning down the Capital.
My favorite part of my map story is the Battle of Baltimore and how the Americans won. The
Battle took place in the Harbor which is one of my favorite places to go in Baltimore always has
been since my Aunts took me on Taxi boat. Also, because even though my city isn’t the best city
out there I love Baltimore! This harbor was also important to control because of trade. If you
can stop a country from getting products in and out, then you will win the war. I learned that
coasts, rivers, and lakes are geographically important goals to control in any war because of this
reason.
https://www.heganoo.com/node/26025
My map is on Plantations in the South before the Civil War. You can see that all of these were
large plantations and the owners very rich. They got rich on the backs of their slaves, who
farmed and processed the cotton, rice, sugar, tobacco, and other crops. Plantations had to be
located where these cash crops would grow, which meant the south where it was warm enough
for things like cotton to thrive. And most were near a river or later, a railroad. Railroads meant
that plantations could expand beyond rivers and owners could still get their crops to market.
Being near a big city wasnt important, but you had to have some form of transportation. In
fact, being isolated from big towns would make it harder for slaves to communicate, plan
rebellions, or run away. My map shows the impact of these plantations by giving the number of
lives that were enslaved at each. They may look beautiful but they contained a lot of suffering.
https://www.heganoo.com/node/20497 (this student has several more locations than needed!)
And here is an example of a Scribble Map. This is not one that a student created but one I
quickly put together, so you could see what one of these looks like:
