North Dakota Map Activity
A printable North Dakota map worksheet: color the state, label Bismarck and its major cities, and draw in the rivers and higher ground.
5 questions · Map activity · Application
North Dakota is one of the fifty states, and its capital is Bismarck. 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 North Dakota 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.
North Dakota
Capital: Bismarck
North Dakota Map Activity
This is a map of North Dakota. Use the facts in the box and the star on the map to finish all five tasks.
Remember
- The capital of North Dakota is Bismarck.
- Three of its largest cities are Fargo, Grand Forks and Minot.
- Rivers in North Dakota include Missouri River, Red River of the North and James River.
- Its higher ground includes Turtle Mountains.
Your tasks
Work down the list in order. Everything is done on the big map below.
- 1.
Color the whole state of North Dakota 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: Fargo, Grand Forks and Minot.
- 4.
Draw and label these rivers: Missouri River and Red River of the North.
- 5.
Shade where this higher ground is and label it: Turtle Mountains.
★ marks Bismarck, 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.Bismarck - the capital of North Dakota. The star is printed where the city is.
- 3.Fargo, Grand Forks and Minot - each marked with a dot and labeled. Fargo is the largest of them.
- 4.Missouri River and Red River of the North - drawn as a wiggly line and labeled.
- 5.Turtle Mountains - shaded and labeled in roughly the right part of the state.
What this sheet teaches
- Find North Dakota on a map of the United States.
- Name and locate Bismarck, the state capital.
- Locate Fargo, Grand Forks and Minot within the state.
- Draw the main rivers of North Dakota and say roughly where they run.
Notes for the adult
- Colored pencils are enough — nothing on the North Dakota 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 Bismarck is, so a child who writes another city has read the map rather than the fact box.
- Fargo and the Missouri River are placed by eye. Mark them on whether they are in the right part of North Dakota relative to Bismarck, not on whether they land within a mile of the truth.
What is on the page
North Dakota Map Activity is in one part and comes to five exercises in total. 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 North Dakota rather than answered in writing.
North Dakota on this sheet
The star is printed on Bismarck, in the south of the state, at roughly 46.8°N, 100.8°W. Of the 50 state capitals this site has a map sheet for, that makes it the 3rd furthest north and the 14th furthest west. The nearest other state capital is Pierre, about 170 miles away in South Dakota — 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 Fargo, Grand Forks and Minot. Three rivers go on next — Missouri River, Red River of the North and James River — drawn in by hand rather than traced. Higher ground is shaded last: Turtle Mountains.
The outline of North Dakota is about 1.6 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 Fargo on whether it is in the right part of North Dakota, not on whether it lands within a mile of the truth.
What it asks of the student
North Dakota Map Activity puts about 123 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 North Dakota 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 77 words.
Where this one sits
North Dakota 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 Hawaii Map Activity (grade 4) and Idaho Map Activity (grade 4). If North Dakota 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