Massachusetts Map Activity
A printable Massachusetts map worksheet: color the state, label Boston and its major cities, and draw in the rivers and higher ground.
5 questions · Map activity · Application
Massachusetts is one of the fifty states, and its capital is Boston. 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 Massachusetts 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.
Massachusetts
Capital: Boston
Massachusetts Map Activity
This is a map of Massachusetts. Use the facts in the box and the star on the map to finish all five tasks.
Remember
- The capital of Massachusetts is Boston.
- Three of its largest cities are Worcester, Springfield and Cambridge.
- Rivers in Massachusetts include Connecticut River, Charles River and Merrimack River.
- Its higher ground includes Berkshire Hills and Taconic Mountains.
Your tasks
Work down the list in order. Everything is done on the big map below.
- 1.
Color the whole state of Massachusetts 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: Worcester, Springfield and Cambridge.
- 4.
Draw and label these rivers: Connecticut River and Charles River.
- 5.
Shade where this higher ground is and label it: Berkshire Hills and Taconic Mountains.
★ marks Boston, 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.Boston - the capital of Massachusetts. The star is printed where the city is.
- 3.Worcester, Springfield and Cambridge - each marked with a dot and labeled. Worcester is the largest of them.
- 4.Connecticut River and Charles River - drawn as a wiggly line and labeled.
- 5.Berkshire Hills and Taconic Mountains - shaded and labeled in roughly the right part of the state.
What this sheet teaches
- Find Massachusetts on a map of the United States.
- Name and locate Boston, the state capital.
- Locate Worcester, Springfield and Cambridge within the state.
- Draw the main rivers of Massachusetts and say roughly where they run.
Notes for the adult
- Colored pencils are enough — nothing on the Massachusetts 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 Boston is, so a child who writes another city has read the map rather than the fact box.
- Worcester and the Connecticut River are placed by eye. Mark them on whether they are in the right part of Massachusetts relative to Boston, not on whether they land within a mile of the truth.
What is on the page
There are one part to Massachusetts 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 Massachusetts rather than answered in writing.
Massachusetts on this sheet
The star is printed on Boston, close to the middle of the state, at roughly 42.4°N, 71.1°W. Of the 50 state capitals this site has a map sheet for, that makes it the 15th furthest north and the 49th furthest west. The nearest other state capital is Providence, about 40 miles away in Rhode Island — 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 Worcester, Springfield and Cambridge. Three rivers go on next — Connecticut River, Charles River and Merrimack River — drawn in by hand rather than traced. Higher ground is shaded last: Berkshire Hills and Taconic Mountains.
The outline of Massachusetts is about 1.7 times as wide as it is tall, so the widest labels are the ones that need planning before the pencil goes down. 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 Worcester on whether it is in the right part of Massachusetts, not on whether it lands within a mile of the truth.
What it asks of the student
Massachusetts Map Activity puts about 118 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 Massachusetts 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 75 words.
Where this one sits
Massachusetts 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 Kentucky Map Activity (grade 4) and Louisiana Map Activity (grade 4). If Massachusetts 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.
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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