Natural vs drawn borders: a map investigation for grades 6–8
What it is: a map investigation for grades 6–8 where students sort international and state borders into natural borders (following rivers, mountains or lakes) and drawn borders (straight survey lines). They then explain why each kind exists and what problems each one can cause.
Time: about 30 minutes. Grade: 6th to 8th grade.
Materials: a world map, a U.S. map and a list of borders to find: the Rio Grande (Texas and Mexico), the Pyrenees (France and Spain), the Andes (Chile and Argentina), the 49th parallel (the western U.S. and Canada) and the straight lines around Colorado and Wyoming.
- Ask: "If you had to divide a large area between two groups, how would you draw the line?"
- Students find each border on the list and mark it as natural or drawn.
- For natural borders, discuss: mountains are easy to see but hard to cross; rivers are clear but they can move, which has caused disputes, such as the Chamizal area between El Paso and Ciudad Juárez, settled in 1963.
- For drawn borders, discuss: straight lines are easy to survey and write into treaties, but they can cut across rivers, landforms and communities.
- Students find one more border of each type on their own.
- Each student writes which type they think works better and gives one advantage and one problem.
Differentiation: students who need support classify 4 borders with a partner. Students who are ready research how one border was decided. English learners can use the words border, survey, treaty and dispute.
Quick check: ask a student to name one natural border and one drawn border and a problem with each.
Save this activity to your library so it is ready when you need it.
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About this resource
- Shared by
- @UpOnlyLearning · Curriculum team
- Posted
- Oct 30, 2026
- Type
- Lesson plan
- Grade
- Grades 6–8
- Subject
- Social studies
- Language
- English
- License
- Free for classroom, co-op and tutoring use. Please don't resell.