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• George Shrinks - "The More Things Change"
  George and Becky find half of a treasure map in an old comic book and decide to go hunting for buried treasure. After a visit to Russell Copeland's house, they find out that Russell's old friend Edna has the other half of the map. The four join forces to find the treasure and along the way find the true meaning of friendship.
• Reading Rainbow - "My America: A Poetry Atlas of the United States"
  This geographical poetry collection includes poets' descriptions of every region of the United States. LeVar and a troupe of youngsters, who share their part of the USA, bring a map of the United States to life. We visit Erica, age 12, who lives on the family ranch in Montana, and 10-year-old Stephen who lives in New York City - showing how being a kid in America is as varied as the 50 states that form this country.

Do in Class

• Caillou: Trail Blazer! - Practice an alternate way of mapping. Use rocks, pebbles, and sticks to mark your way.
• Cyberchase: Monkey Map - Use the provided map to offer practice in using landmarks and map coordinates.
• Dragon Tales: A New Friend: Mapping & Understanding - Create a treasure map and then to think about a new route to the treasure that would assist someone in a wheelchair.
• It's a Big Big World: Map It! - Create a map of your hometown and discover the quickest way to get to where you want to go.
• Postcards From Buster: Neighborhood Map - Learn more about your community and its resources by drawing a map of your neighborhood.
• Reading Rainbow: The Secret Shortcut - Create a three-dimensional map of an imaginary community, including buildings and businesses found in all towns. Map the route you must take to travel from one site to another.

Play Online

• Arthur: Elwood City Map - Explore a map of Arthur's hometown. Zoom in on the character's houses and favorite hangouts.
• Arthur: Go! George Go! - Map the best route for George to take for his ice cream deliveries.
• Cyberchase: Bike Route - Help Inez get her errands done in this online map game.
• Postcards from Buster: Coast to Coast - Answer geography questions to move your character across the U.S in this interactive board game.
• Postcards from Buster: Where's Buster? - Use your knowledge of geography to find buster in this online game.

Read

• Mapping Penny's World
  By Loreen Leedy
  Published September 2000 by Henry Holt & Company, Incorporated
  Lisa's class is making maps. Her teacher says she can make a map of anyplace so Lisa makes a map of her bedroom and others showing her Boston terrier Penny's favorite hiding places, favorite spots in the park, and how a neighbor dog finds her way when she visits. Readers 4-8 will learn how maps represent the world, how they are made, and how to read them. This picture book would make a good introduction to maps in a social studies class.
• Mapping the World
  By Sylvia A. Johnson
  Published October 1999 by Atheneum
  This introduction to maps and cartography is for readers 9-12 and outlines the science of map-making from one of the oldest known examples, a Babylonian clay tablet from around 500 B.C., to Geographic Information systems (GIS) that make it possible for anyone with a computer to make a map. Anyone who likes to pore over maps and wonder will love this book.

*As most PBS children's programs offer one year extended taping rights for teachers, please feel free to tape them now and save them for use in your classroom during the school year.