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Making a Map Others Can Read is a free printable Grade 3 to Grade 5 social studies worksheet on constructing maps of familiar and unfamiliar places, aligned to Common Core standard D2.Geo.1.3-5. It prints 8 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two pupils in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.

Set 21 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

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Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.

Making a Map Others Can Read

D2.Geo.1.3-5

NameDate

Circle the best answer.

1.Your map of the valley leaves out the station. Why is that a problem?
  • A.It saves ink
  • B.A reader could not find the place the map is meant to explain
  • C.Stations are small
2.What does a scale bar on your map tell a reader?
  • A.How far a distance on the map is on the ground
  • B.Which way is north
  • C.Who drew it
3.What should the title of a map say?
  • A.The paper size
  • B.What place it shows and, if it matters, when
  • C.How long it took to draw
4.You are mapping a place you have never seen. What do you use?
  • A.A blank sheet
  • B.Photographs, other maps and written descriptions of it
  • C.Your imagination
5.You are mapping the valley. What must a map have to be read by others?
  • A.A border in gold
  • B.A key explaining what each symbol stands for
  • C.The maker's age
6.Why does a map need a compass rose?
  • A.To make it pretty
  • B.To show the date
  • C.So a reader knows which way the map is oriented
7.Why show the railway and the canal in different symbols?
  • A.So a reader can tell one route from the other at a glance
  • B.Canals are older
  • C.Railways are longer
8.Why might two correct maps of one valley look different?
  • A.They were made to show different things
  • B.Maps must all match
  • C.One is wrong

LessonPrint · D2.Geo.1.3-5 · Set 21 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Making a Map Others Can Read

Set 21. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.A reader could not find the place the map is meant to explain
  2. 2.How far a distance on the map is on the ground
  3. 3.What place it shows and, if it matters, when
  4. 4.Photographs, other maps and written descriptions of it
  5. 5.A key explaining what each symbol stands for
  6. 6.So a reader knows which way the map is oriented
  7. 7.So a reader can tell one route from the other at a glance
  8. 8.They were made to show different things

More practice for D2.Geo.1.3-5

Make maps of places you know and places you do not.

Teaching this next? A Map Somebody Else Can Read is the 45-minute plan for it, with the misconceptions to expect.

All Grade 3 to Grade 5 worksheets

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to D2.Geo.1.3-5 of the C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards.