Michigan Map Activity
A printable Michigan map worksheet: colour the state, label Lansing and its major cities, and draw in the rivers and higher ground.
5 questions · Map activity · Application
Michigan is one of the fifty states, and its capital is Lansing. 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 Michigan sits. The five tasks move from colouring the state in to placing its cities, rivers — the same order an atlas builds a map up in.
Michigan
Capital: Lansing
Michigan Map Activity
This is a map of Michigan. Use the facts in the box and the star on the map to finish all five tasks.
Remember
- The capital of Michigan is Lansing.
- Three of its largest cities are Detroit, Grand Rapids and Ann Arbor.
- Rivers in Michigan include Detroit River, Grand River and St. Marys River.
- Michigan has no mountain range — the land is low and mostly flat.
Your tasks
Work down the list in order. Everything is done on the big map below.
- 1.
Colour the whole state of Michigan lightly in one colour, 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: Detroit, Grand Rapids and Ann Arbor.
- 4.
Draw and label these rivers: Detroit River and Grand River.
- 5.
Michigan has no mountain range. Write "no mountains" in a corner of the map and say what the land is like instead.
★ marks Lansing, the state capital. Write its name on the line.
Answer key
Your tasks
- 1.The whole outline is coloured in, and the colouring stays inside the border.
- 2.Lansing - the capital of Michigan. The star is printed where the city is.
- 3.Detroit, Grand Rapids and Ann Arbor - each marked with a dot and labelled. Detroit is the largest of them.
- 4.Detroit River and Grand River - drawn as a wiggly line and labelled.
- 5.No mountain range. Michigan is low and flat, so the answer describes plains, coast or lowland.
What this sheet teaches
- Find Michigan on a map of the United States.
- Name and locate Lansing, the state capital.
- Locate Detroit, Grand Rapids and Ann Arbor within the state.
- Draw the main rivers of Michigan and say roughly where they run.
Notes for the adult
- Coloured pencils are enough — there is nothing here that needs paint or a printed atlas.
- Task 2 is the one to check first: the star is printed exactly where Lansing is, so a child who writes another city has read the map rather than the fact box.
- The city and river positions are for the student to estimate. Mark on whether a label is in the right part of the state, not on whether it is within a few miles.
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