Grade 3: Learning All They Knead to Know About Colorado
This month in Grade 3 social studies, students learned about Colorado’s five geographic regions: the High Plains, Front Range, Rocky Mountains, Western Slope, and San Luis Valley.
To bring this study to life, third graders headed to the Gates Invention and Innovation Lab to create three-dimensional relief maps. Working in teams of three, they shaped salt dough over laser-cut wooden outlines of Colorado. Each map had to represent all five regions and their defining features, with flatter dough for plains and valleys and higher sections for mountain ranges. Once the maps dried, students used watercolor to show either differences in elevation or the boundaries between regions. They added labels, icons, compass roses, map keys, and natural features such as rivers and the Continental Divide.
By turning their learning into physical models, students strengthened their map-reading skills, applied their geographic knowledge, and collaborated toward a shared goal.
The maps are only the beginning. In the months ahead, projects and field trips will lead Grade 3 deeper into Colorado’s history and the stories of the people who have shaped the state, past and present.
Click here to see photos from the Chief Mountain Hike, where students experienced the Rocky Mountain region up close!
Graland Country Day School
Graland Country Day School is a private school in Denver, Colorado, serving students in preschool, kindergarten, elementary, and middle school. Founded in Denver in 1927, Graland incorporates a rich, experiential learning approach in a traditional classroom setting, emphasizing the development of globally and socially conscious leaders who excel academically.
