A map is a picture of a place, drawn as if you were a bird flying high above and looking straight down. Maps help explorers find their way without getting lost.

Most maps have a compass rose. It points to four main directions: North is up, South is down, East is right, and West is left. Explorers use these words to say which way to go.

Maps also have a key (sometimes called a legend). The key tells you what the little symbols mean — blue might mean water, green might mean a forest, and a tiny tree might stand for a whole park.

Now you have an explorer's two best tools: a map and a compass. Let's see where they can take us!

Every explorer starts from home. Azai lives in Brooklyn, a part of the big city of New York. New York is one of the 50 states in the country called the United States of America.

The United States sits on a giant piece of land called a continent. Ours is named North America. Earth has seven continents in all — huge lands separated by water.

And there is a LOT of water. Most of our planet is covered by five great oceans. That is why Earth looks blue and green from space — people call it the "blue marble."

So Azai lives in Brooklyn → in New York → in the USA → on North America → on planet Earth. From a tiny block to the whole wide world!

Pack your boots — we're exploring a rainforest! It is warm and wet, and rain falls almost every single day. The trees grow so tall and close together they make a green roof high overhead.

That leafy roof is called the canopy. Way up there live monkeys, colorful parrots, and tiny tree frogs. Down on the dark forest floor it is shady and damp, where bugs and big cats like jaguars roam.

More kinds of animals live in the rainforest than anywhere else on Earth! Explorers bring water, wear bug spray, and watch every step — it is muddy, buggy, and full of surprises.

Next stop: a desert — the driest place an explorer can go. Very little rain falls here. The days are blazing hot and the nights turn cold, and sand stretches as far as you can see.

In the deserts of Egypt, people built giant pyramids a very, very long time ago. They are huge pointed buildings made of enormous stone blocks, stacked higher than a tall tree. They have stood for thousands of years!

To cross the hot sand, explorers ride camels. A camel can go a long time without drinking, because it stores fat in its hump for energy. Its wide feet help it walk on soft sand without sinking.

Bundle up! At the very top of Earth is the North Pole, and at the very bottom is the South Pole. These are the coldest places on the whole planet, covered in thick ice and snow all year.

Different animals live at each pole. Polar bears live in the cold north. Penguins live only in the far south — you will never see a penguin and a polar bear together in the wild!

Explorers here wear thick coats, goggles, and boots. In summer the sun can shine even at midnight, so the sky stays bright when it should be dark. It is a frozen, dazzling world.