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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 9 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.You are mapping the valley. What must a map have to be read by others?
  • A.A key explaining what each symbol stands for
  • B.A border in gold
  • C.The maker's age
2.Why might two correct maps of one valley look different?
  • A.One is wrong
  • B.They were made to show different things
  • C.Maps must all match
3.What should the title of a map say?
  • A.How long it took to draw
  • B.The paper size
  • C.What place it shows and, if it matters, when
4.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
5.Why show the railway and the canal in different symbols?
  • A.Canals are older
  • B.So a reader can tell one route from the other at a glance
  • C.Railways are longer
6.What does a scale bar on your map tell a reader?
  • A.Which way is north
  • B.How far a distance on the map is on the ground
  • C.Who drew it
7.You are mapping a place you have never seen. What do you use?
  • A.Your imagination
  • B.A blank sheet
  • C.Photographs, other maps and written descriptions of it
8.Why does a map need a compass rose?
  • A.To make it pretty
  • B.So a reader knows which way the map is oriented
  • C.To show the date

LessonPrint · D2.Geo.1.3-5 · Set 9 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Making a Map Others Can Read

Set 9. Prints on its own sheet.

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

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.