Nevada Map Activity
A printable Nevada map worksheet: color the state, label Carson City and its major cities, and draw in the rivers and higher ground.
5 questions · Map activity · Application
Nevada is one of the fifty states, and its capital is Carson City. 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 Nevada 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.
Nevada
Capital: Carson City
Nevada Map Activity
This is a map of Nevada. Use the facts in the box and the star on the map to finish all five tasks.
Remember
- The capital of Nevada is Carson City.
- Three of its largest cities are Las Vegas, Reno and Henderson.
- Rivers in Nevada include Colorado River, Humboldt River and Truckee River.
- Its higher ground includes Sierra Nevada and Ruby Mountains.
Your tasks
Work down the list in order. Everything is done on the big map below.
- 1.
Color the whole state of Nevada 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: Las Vegas, Reno and Henderson.
- 4.
Draw and label these rivers: Colorado River and Humboldt River.
- 5.
Shade where this higher ground is and label it: Sierra Nevada and Ruby Mountains.
★ marks Carson City, 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.Carson City - the capital of Nevada. The star is printed where the city is.
- 3.Las Vegas, Reno and Henderson - each marked with a dot and labeled. Las Vegas is the largest of them.
- 4.Colorado River and Humboldt River - drawn as a wiggly line and labeled.
- 5.Sierra Nevada and Ruby Mountains - shaded and labeled in roughly the right part of the state.
What this sheet teaches
- Find Nevada on a map of the United States.
- Name and locate Carson City, the state capital.
- Locate Las Vegas, Reno and Henderson within the state.
- Draw the main rivers of Nevada and say roughly where they run.
Notes for the adult
- Colored pencils are enough — nothing on the Nevada 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 Carson City is, so a child who writes another city has read the map rather than the fact box.
- Las Vegas and the Colorado River are placed by eye. Mark them on whether they are in the right part of Nevada relative to Carson City, not on whether they land within a mile of the truth.
What is on the page
Printed on one side, Nevada Map Activity runs to one part and five exercises. 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 Nevada rather than answered in writing.
Nevada on this sheet
The star is printed on Carson City, in the west of the state, at roughly 39.2°N, 119.8°W. Of the 50 state capitals this site has a map sheet for, that makes it the 28th furthest north and the 6th furthest west. The nearest other state capital is Sacramento, about 100 miles away in California — 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 Las Vegas, Reno and Henderson. Three rivers go on next — Colorado River, Humboldt River and Truckee River — drawn in by hand rather than traced. Higher ground is shaded last: Sierra Nevada and Ruby Mountains.
The outline of Nevada is about 1.5 times as tall as it is wide, which leaves narrow margins either side for city names. 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 Las Vegas on whether it is in the right part of Nevada, not on whether it lands within a mile of the truth.
What it asks of the student
Nevada Map Activity puts about 121 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 Nevada 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 78 words.
Where this one sits
Nevada 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 New Hampshire Map Activity (grade 4) and New Jersey Map Activity (grade 4). If Nevada 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