Great Free Map Resource

Since I blogged about Knowledge Quest's free geography e-book, I came across a great map site. Most homeschoolers probably already know about it, but it is new to me, so I'm sharing anyway.

I have used Xpeditions at National Geographic before (another great map resource), but for some reason I never saw their MapMachine Student Atlas.

At the Student Atlas Home Page, you can look up a map by region; look up a theme, such as animals, for a major region; or search for a specific city. This will take you to an Interactive Map page. You can also go directly to the Interactive Map page and search from there.

Tapestry of Grace has a great geography track, and we are always looking for good physical maps to help us visualize "the lay of the land." This will be a great help with that when we have trouble finding something on our home atlas.

The Interactive Map is great, but my very, very favorite area of this site is the Printable Wall Maps page. There is a great selection of political, physical and some regional maps in PDF format that you print out and piece together. The final size is 25 x 30 inches. I printed out the map for the Middle East, and it is beautiful! I've always wanted to stock up on wall maps, but the cost has deterred me. I have nice, big wall maps of the World and the United States that are well-used, and these free printable wall maps will round out my collection unless I get some larger maps as gifts.

Since I'm blogging about free map resources, my oldest son wants me to list Google Earth. If you really want to see what a region looks like, download the free version of this program. You can get so close that you see the houses! Not all computers will run this, so be sure to check the minimum configuration before downloading.

Another great site for printable maps is WorldAtlas.com. There you can find lots of maps, outline maps, country information, flags and even clipart.

There are tons of great free map and geography websites out there, but these are my favorites. I hope you enjoy the resources.