Use Maps to Chart Ideas
The use of maps in teaching history, sociology, social studies, government, and foreign cultures is well established. Students expect to see maps used as visual aids for the study of everything from music history to physical science to religion. All of these maps are charting ideas, not just geography. Anyone can make an idea map, whether for classroom use or for their own amusement or enlightenment.
If they want to understand the exploration and colonization of the Pacific Ocean, they might take a Hawaii Wall Map and mark by hand the different explorers who visited the various islands and the specific routes they took. They could include dates to given them a feel for the region’s evolution through time. This could be repeated for other island chains in the Pacific until they feel they have mastered the subject.
Another example would be taking a map of california and charting the various waves of settlers that came to the state. From early Spanish settlements through the gold rush of the mid 1800s to the rise of the entertainment industry in the early part of the twentieth century and the creation of Silicon Valley at the end of the 1900s. They might include the various waves of immigrants who arrived on the shores in order to create the whole picture.
Other ideas would be charting the lives of famous musicians or artists within a given movement or era or tracing the spread of an idea around the world.