Oregon Map Activity
A printable Oregon map worksheet: color the state, label Salem and its major cities, and draw in the rivers and higher ground.
5 questions · Map activity · Application
Oregon is one of the fifty states, and its capital is Salem. 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 Oregon 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.
Oregon
Capital: Salem
Oregon Map Activity
This is a map of Oregon. Use the facts in the box and the star on the map to finish all five tasks.
Remember
- The capital of Oregon is Salem.
- Three of its largest cities are Portland, Eugene and Bend.
- Rivers in Oregon include Columbia River, Willamette River and Snake River.
- Its higher ground includes Cascade Range and Coast Range.
Your tasks
Work down the list in order. Everything is done on the big map below.
- 1.
Color the whole state of Oregon 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: Portland, Eugene and Bend.
- 4.
Draw and label these rivers: Columbia River and Willamette River.
- 5.
Shade where this higher ground is and label it: Cascade Range and Coast Range.
★ marks Salem, 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.Salem - the capital of Oregon. The star is printed where the city is.
- 3.Portland, Eugene and Bend - each marked with a dot and labeled. Portland is the largest of them.
- 4.Columbia River and Willamette River - drawn as a wiggly line and labeled.
- 5.Cascade Range and Coast Range - shaded and labeled in roughly the right part of the state.
What this sheet teaches
- Find Oregon on a map of the United States.
- Name and locate Salem, the state capital.
- Locate Portland, Eugene and Bend within the state.
- Draw the main rivers of Oregon and say roughly where they run.
Notes for the adult
- Colored pencils are enough — nothing on the Oregon 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 Salem is, so a child who writes another city has read the map rather than the fact box.
- Portland and the Columbia River are placed by eye. Mark them on whether they are in the right part of Oregon relative to Salem, not on whether they land within a mile of the truth.
What is on the page
Oregon 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 Oregon rather than answered in writing.
Oregon on this sheet
The star is printed on Salem, in the north-west of the state, at roughly 44.9°N, 123.0°W. Of the 50 state capitals this site has a map sheet for, that makes it the 6th furthest north and the 3rd furthest west. The nearest other state capital is Olympia, about 145 miles away in Washington — 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 Portland, Eugene and Bend. Three rivers go on next — Columbia River, Willamette River and Snake River — drawn in by hand rather than traced. Higher ground is shaded last: Cascade Range and Coast Range.
The outline of Oregon 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 Portland on whether it is in the right part of Oregon, not on whether it lands within a mile of the truth.
What it asks of the student
Oregon 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 Oregon 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
Oregon 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 Minnesota Map Activity (grade 4) and Mississippi Map Activity (grade 4). If Oregon 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