first day of maps

Today marked the first day of the Maps arc! What is a map? Why are maps important? Do we only use maps for directions? Are paper maps obsolete in this day of GPS and Google maps? What can you learn about the mapmaker from his or her map?This morning, Gever brought us in for a story about Juan Ponce de Leon and his search for the Fountain of Youth, and his journey to fill in the blank spaces on the map. He sent us off with that mission: to fill in the blank spaces.The Sand Leopards took a leaf out of the Coyotes' book and took a journey across the city on a treasure hunt. They followed a map that took them to Dolores Park and beyond, and eventually to Lili's house, where they ate foods from different countries and explored the world map.The Coyotes made passports for the country of United Brightworks to get ready for all the adventures that this arc is going to take them on. Their first journey was to India, where they read about the culture and learned about the country!The Phantoms explored the different elements of maps and how to read them and orient themselves on one.The Rubber Band headed out into the world with paper maps. Christie loaded her band into her car and blindfolded them, then drove them to a mystery spot in San Francisco. Their task was to use their paper map to both find a place to eat lunch and chart the quickest way back to Brightworks. Though most of them were able to orient themselves with street names and found their way back based on the route they come to school - not the quickest - they were able to get back and map out their path back at school. Their adventure brought up the question: Are paper maps obsolete? We'll have to check their blogs for their pros and cons (sfbrightworks.org/students/[student's name] - isaac, madison, henry, max, quinn).Hooray for maps!