Indiana Social Studies WG.1.2

Social StudiesGrades 9–12World in Spatial Terms

The Standard

Evaluate the source of particular maps to determine possible biases.

2026 Indiana Academic Standards: K-12 Social Studies

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students find out who made a map and who it was made for. They check its labels, symbols, and missing features to see how the source might shape what readers notice.
What Mastery Looks Like: Given two maps of the same place, students identify each publisher and point to a specific difference. They explain why a publisher might make that choice without treating every omission as dishonest.
Common Misconceptions: Students may treat a map as a neutral picture of a place. They may assume a government map is free of bias, or that every missing road was left out to mislead readers.
How to Assess It: Hand out a tourism-office map showing attractions but no bus routes. Ask: Who published it, what does it emphasize, and how might that shape a visitor's view?

Lesson moves

Print a tourism-office map and a transit-agency map of the same city; students circle the source and highlight features each map leaves out.
Ask students to write: How would a tourism map change if bus riders were its audience? Use two details from the map.
Cover the source lines on three maps; pairs match each map to its publisher, then uncover the lines and check their reasons.
Compare a home listing map with a local flood-risk map; students identify the publishers and note what a buyer might miss using only one.

Free download

A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to WG.1.2, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.

PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.

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