Name ______________________ Date __________
Mapping Your Neighborhood
What are the surfaces like in your neighborhood? Use this activity to find out!
Materials: pen or pencil, colored pencils/crayons, measuring cup, water
1. What is the difference between a permeable and an impermeable surface?
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2. Describe your neighborhood. Does it have lots of grass or trees? Houses? Apartments?
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3. Are there more permeable or impermeable surfaces in your neighborhood?
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4. When it rains, where does the water go?
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Try this: Go outside and walk around your neighborhood. You don’t have to map the whole
neighborhood, but try to do one city block if you can. Look at all the features: trees, sidewalks, houses,
streets, etc. Look for gutters or rain grates on the side of the street.
Try to decide how much of your neighborhood is covered (in percent) by each of the following:
Grass/trees/other plants: _______________
Sidewalks/driveways/streets: _______________
Houses/other buildings: _________________
Other: ________________
Create a map of your neighborhood. Label your drawing carefully and use colored pencils/crayons to
show different types of surface cover. For example, you can use green for all the grass and trees, brown
for the houses, and black for the sidewalks and streets.
Finally, test the different surface types in your neighborhood. Get a measuring cup and fill it with one
cup of water. Pour the water on the different surfaces, one cup per surface. Fill out the chart below
with your results!
Surface What happened to the water? Explain where the water went.
Grass/trees/other plants
Sidewalks/streets/driveways
Houses/other buildings
Other: _______________
Based on the information you collected, where does most of the water in your neighborhood go when it
rains? ____________________________________
