To take a measurement, students should insert the dowel just until it meets resistance, being careful not to press down too hard. At that point, students should make a mark on the dowel, remove it from the box, and measure the length from the mark to the end of the dowel to get a distance reading from the box top to the landscape. Taller features will yield shorter measurements, so this measurement will need to be subtracted from the total height of the box to reveal the actual height of the landscape. Once all the measurements have been made, each group should produce a topographic map showing the data points and connecting points with the same measurements. This would allow the map to reveal surface features.
Maps can be color-coded to bring out contrasting features in the landscape.
After the maps are completed, each group should open their box lid and compare the map to the real thing. As a class, discuss sources of error and explain what adjustments could be made to increase the accuracy of the measurements. Back to Top Artificial Satellites Remote Sensing Back to Top Satellites Mary Virginia Fox. Benchmark Books, 1996. This book is a brief overview of the history of satellite technology.