Despite the fact that we still have almost a month of school left, my students had to turn in their school-issued netbooks today. This left me searching for some blank outline world maps for my special education students to use for a map-based assignment. Finding current maps wasn’t a problem, but finding maps representative of the world in 1939 through 1945 took a little bit of time. In that search I came across the Wikimedia Commons’ Atlas of World War II.

The Wikimedia Commons’ Atlas of World War II contains dozens of maps related to World War II. Some of the maps are blank outline maps, but most are labeled. In the Atlas of World War II you will find maps of battle locations, shifts in control, and posession of territory. The collection of maps is arranged by region.

Applications for Education
My original lesson plan was to have my students create multimedia maps about World War II. When I learned that my students would be losing their netbooks, I decided to have them use the blank outline maps to place information about WWII on the map according to location. In essence they’re making static placemarks on their maps.

Here are some related items that may be of interest to you:
10 Resources for Teaching and Learning About WWII
National Atlas Map Maker
The History Channel’s Guide to the US States
Five Interactive Geography Activities