Arizona Map Activity
A printable Arizona map worksheet: color the state, label Phoenix and its major cities, and draw in the rivers and higher ground.
5 questions · Map activity · Application
Arizona is one of the fifty states, and its capital is Phoenix. This sheet prints the outline of the state large enough to work on, with a star already marking the capital, and a small map of the whole country in the corner so a student can see where Arizona sits. The five tasks move from coloring the state in to placing its cities, rivers and mountains — the same order an atlas builds a map up in.
Arizona
Capital: Phoenix
Arizona Map Activity
This is a map of Arizona. Use the facts in the box and the star on the map to finish all five tasks.
Remember
- The capital of Arizona is Phoenix.
- Three of its largest cities are Tucson, Mesa and Flagstaff.
- Rivers in Arizona include Colorado River, Gila River and Salt River.
- Its higher ground includes San Francisco Peaks and Mogollon Rim.
Your tasks
Work down the list in order. Everything is done on the big map below.
- 1.
Color the whole state of Arizona lightly in one color, staying inside the outline.
- 2.
Find the star on the map. Write the name of the state capital on the line beside it.
- 3.
Mark and label these cities with a dot: Tucson, Mesa and Flagstaff.
- 4.
Draw and label these rivers: Colorado River and Gila River.
- 5.
Shade where this higher ground is and label it: San Francisco Peaks and Mogollon Rim.
★ marks Phoenix, the state capital. Write its name on the line.
Answer key
Your tasks
- 1.The whole outline is colored in, and the coloring stays inside the border.
- 2.Phoenix - the capital of Arizona. The star is printed where the city is.
- 3.Tucson, Mesa and Flagstaff - each marked with a dot and labeled. Tucson is the largest of them.
- 4.Colorado River and Gila River - drawn as a wiggly line and labeled.
- 5.San Francisco Peaks and Mogollon Rim - shaded and labeled in roughly the right part of the state.
What this sheet teaches
- Find Arizona on a map of the United States.
- Name and locate Phoenix, the state capital.
- Locate Tucson, Mesa and Flagstaff within the state.
- Draw the main rivers of Arizona and say roughly where they run.
Notes for the adult
- Colored pencils are enough — nothing on the Arizona sheet needs paint, and the outline is large enough that a fine tip is not required either.
- Task 2 is the one to check first: the star is printed exactly where Phoenix is, so a child who writes another city has read the map rather than the fact box.
- Tucson and the Colorado River are placed by eye. Mark them on whether they are in the right part of Arizona relative to Phoenix, not on whether they land within a mile of the truth.
What is on the page
There are one part to Arizona Map Activity, five exercises between them. Map work throughout — one kind of exercise, done five times, rather than a page that changes its demand halfway down.
Under "Your tasks" there are five tasks, all of them carried out on the printed outline of Arizona rather than answered in writing.
Arizona on this sheet
The star is printed on Phoenix, close to the middle of the state, at roughly 33.4°N, 112.1°W. Of the 50 state capitals this site has a map sheet for, that makes it the 44th furthest north and the 8th furthest west. The nearest other state capital is Santa Fe, about 380 miles away in New Mexico — a useful thing to say out loud to a student who assumes every state is the size of their own.
The cities to mark are Tucson, Mesa and Flagstaff. Three rivers go on next — Colorado River, Gila River and Salt River — drawn in by hand rather than traced. Higher ground is shaded last: San Francisco Peaks and Mogollon Rim.
The outline of Arizona is close to square on the page, which gives roughly equal room in every direction for labels. It is drawn from the same vector data as the map on this page, so what prints on paper is what is on the screen, and a photocopy of it holds up. Positions are estimated by eye: mark Tucson on whether it is in the right part of Arizona, not on whether it lands within a mile of the truth.
What it asks of the student
Arizona Map Activity puts about 120 words of reading in front of the student — the fact box, the directions, every question, and every printed option. That is the number worth checking against a class before it goes out, because a sheet that is pitched right on the history and wrong on the reading fails for the same child either way. The longest single prompt on it runs to 18 words.
Nothing on Arizona Map Activity is answered on ruled lines — every response goes onto the map itself, or on the short rule beside a task — so the whole of it fits on one side of paper and the full answer key runs to 76 words.
Where this one sits
Arizona Map Activity is one of 61 US States & Capitals sheets on this site and one of 59 written for grade 4. 53 of them share its topic, the fifty states, which is worth knowing before printing two that overlap.
The closest things to it are Georgia Map Activity (grade 4) and Hawaii Map Activity (grade 4). If Arizona Map Activity lands well, those are the ones to reach for next; if it lands badly, the application sheets a grade either side are usually the adjustment rather than a different topic altogether.
More like this
Two-Letter State Abbreviations Practice Worksheet
Grade 8 worksheet on USPS two-letter state abbreviations, drilling easily confused pairs like MN/MS and AR/AZ through matching, analysis, and recall.
US States by Region
Grade 6 worksheet on US regions: students match, analyze, and explain which states belong to the Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Southwest, or West.
State Capitals — Matching and Analysis Worksheet
Drill state capitals with matching, multiple-choice, and short-answer questions focused on states whose largest city is not the capital.
The Fifty States at other grades
This sheet: Grade 4, 5 questions — map activity. The same topic is also written for:
- Recognizing the Fifty US States Worksheet — Grade 3 · 12 questions, matching, fill in the blank, multiple choice · application work
- Identifying the Fifty U.S. States — Grade 4 · 15 questions, matching, fill in the blank, multiple choice, short answer · application work
- Label the States on the Map — Grade 5 · 49 questions, map activity · application work