Imagine what a bedroom would look like if you viewed it from above. How would you draw a floor plan of the room from this point of view?
Have you ever gotten lost in a new place? Chances are you used a map to find your way.
Maps are filled with information to show where things are, how far apart they are, and how to get from one place to the next. There are many kinds of maps, each created to show different kinds of information. If you were in a city and didn't have a car, you might use a subway map. If you were lost in a museum, you could use a floor plan to find the exhibits and the exits. (See some examples in the Floor Plan Gallery below.)
Archaeologists create different kinds of maps. Some show an entire excavation site. Others show sections of a site. To map the layout of the buildings they excavate at a site, archaeologists make maps called plans.
A plan shows the walls of a structure along with everything found there. These plans help archaeologists understand what happened at that site, like where people cooked or slept. For example, imagine that an archaeologist finds a row of houses that don't have kitchens inside. Then a hearth is discovered outside between the houses. The archaeologist might hypothesize that several families cooked together.
Now it’s time to map your own world by creating a floor plan of your room.
What You'll Need
Materials
What to Do
Choose a room for your floor plan.
Try to imagine what your room would look like if you were looking down on it from above. Then draw your room from this point of view. (See some examples in the Floor Plan Gallery below.)
Use your ruler to draw the walls of your room.
Look around and notice all the places where the walls stop, like the windows, doors, and closets. Draw and label these features on your floor plan.
Now look at the large pieces of furniture, like your bed, dresser, and desk. As you draw them on your plan, try to estimate their sizes and shapes.
Add some of the smaller features in your room, like a chair or laundry basket.
Label everything on your floor plan. If something appears more than once or it’s too small to label, create a key. For example, use blue to identify all of the chairs in your room, and yellow for the windows.
Show your map to a friend or family member to see if he or she can use it.
Tips: Map a Room to Scale
Try Next: Map a Bigger World
Bedroom Plan
Museum Plan: Lower Level
Bedroom illustration, © AMNH/Eric Hamilton, all other images courtesy of AMNH