Crew Review: Knowledge Quest: Map Trek 6-E-book Set

One thing I’ve learned about teaching history is knowing where something happened is just as important as knowing when something happened.  Adding map work to any study of history will add depth to a student’s understanding.  Many history programs even suggest having students locate cities, countries and battles on a map.  Terri Johnson of Knowledge Quest understands this connection between history and mapping.

 

From the Introduction of Map Trek Vol. 4 Modern World:

“It only makes sense to study geography alongside history. In history, we learn about times, places and people. Geography covers the “places” part. Each aspect of historical study is important in its own right, but they cannot be studied exclusively of one another. For example, when you study Alexander the Great, it only makes sense to see the large land area that he conquered by looking at a map. Modern maps will not give you the same information or
perspective as historical maps do.” (p. 5)

The Schoohouse Review Crew had the opportunity to choose between two products: Map Trek 6-Ebook Set or the TimeMaps Collection.  This was a difficult choice to make and I wanted to shout: “BOTH.  I WANT BOTH.”  But I could only choose one so I chose the Map Trek 6-Ebook Set.

This collection includes the four World Map books and the 2 U.S. Edition books for a total of 465 maps!  The Map Trek U.S. Edition includes 53 historical maps and 53 unlabeled maps. The U.S. Edition even includes a map for each state!  According to the website:

“With Map Trek Historical Atlas and Outline Maps, your students can...

1. See the landscape (i.e. the political boundaries, major cities, etc.) from the historical time period - instead of what the region is like today.
2. Label places of historical significance on their outline maps.
3. Color in empires, trace travel routes, draw scales and directional symbols, etc.
4. Maps don't have to be boring... Students should feel free to experiment with colored markers, pencils, paint and even glitter (this is optional, of course!)
5. Finished maps can be posted to the bulletin board or refrigerator or placed in a history notebook”

The Map Trek 6-Ebook collection provides:

• Full color Teacher Answer Key Maps  ~ We didn’t just use these as answer keys.  Sometimes we used these as the resource to verify a location of a city or empire.
• Unlabeled Student Maps ~ This has light shading on the water part so that the student can see water versus land but it is not so heavily colored that it uses so much printer ink or inhibits a student’s creative streak.
• Lesson Plans ~ This is my favorite feature!  These are broken into three levels: A ~ grades 1-4;  B ~ grades 5-8 and C ~ grades 9-12.  I printed out the lesson plans for each of my students.  I love that these didn’t just include “label this or that” but also included items such as “Using the Internet, your history textbook or encyclopedia, research and explain the significance of the 36 degree 30 minute latitude line. Label it with its more widely known name.”
• Grid Maps and Blank Grids ~ Students can use these to learn how to draw the landmasses.

 My Thoughts: These maps are so easy to use.  BooBear has been studying Sonlight’s 20th Century World History so she used maps from Vol. 4 Modern World.  Turtlegirl is using Sonlight’s History of God’s Kingdom.  For her map work we selected maps from Vol. 1 Ancient World and Vol. 2 Medieval World.  Tailorbear is using Sonlight World History In Depth.  She’s focused on the Middle Ages right now so her map work comes from Vo.l 3 Medieval World.  I’ve started using Story of the World Vol. 1 with Supergirl.  Map Trek Vol. 1 Ancient World is perfect.  Map Trek works so well with so many history programs that Knowledge Quest has made available curriculum integration guides.

But Map Trek doesn’t just go great with history programs.  We’ve been using Lightning Literature for English class and we’ve pulled out Map Trek to map out the Roman Empire at the time of Julius Caesar while reading and studying Shakespeare’s tragic play.

Thoughts from BooBear (age 17): “I really like maps in general. I like the visualness of seeing the map change throughout history when you compare maps.  I thought the upper level assignments in the lesson plans could use a little more challenge.”

Thoughts from Turtlegirl (age 14 1/2): “I like that you still get to color the maps even if you are in high school. The assignments were in good chunks. It added to my understanding of history.  It worked really well to work on it once a week.”

Thoughts from Tailorbear (age 13): “I can’t say I like maps. These maps are better then most though! I like how you can do more then just label the maps. Like for one of my maps we could find an encyclopedia and research the topic of the map. Overall a good product.”

The Map Trek 6-Ebook Collection is available as download for $47.  This collection is also available as a 2 CD ROM Set for $49.95.  Each of the 4 volumes are available for download for $14.95.  The U.S. Edition is available for $19.95.  If you scroll to the bottom of this page you will find samples to download.

Be sure to check out the Products page from Knowledge Quest to see all the goodies they offer including my favorite time line set History Through the Ages.

Click on the banner below to read what other Crew Members had to say about Map Trek 6-Ebook Set or TimeMaps Collection

All information is correct and accurate as of the date of this review.

Disclaimer: As a TOS Crew member, I received Map Trek 6-Ebook Collection DOWNLOAD from Knowledge Quest free of charge to review. I am required to write a review but I am not required to write a positive review. This review contains my and/or my daughters’ honest opinion with, hopefully, enough detail as to why I/ we liked or did not like a product so that my readers can make an informed decision. I received no compensation.

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