The language of maps

The language of maps

Mrs. Gladimar de Jesús

C.E.T. Colegio Myrang

Maps are valuable for the study of geography.

There is a great variety of maps. As you become familiar with them you will realize that they differ by the kind of information they contain or their use.

View the following examples of maps:






What can you observe in this maps?

What they have in common?

Did you think that real distance between places are like this little?

Why the maps needs title?

What information the legend brings?


Thematic maps are maps that offer information about a specific topic. Some kinds of thematic maps are:

Topographic or physical maps show detailed physical aspects of the landscape, such as mountains, rivers, lakes, seas, and oceans.

Climatic maps show weather conditions predominant in one region.

The language of maps;Thematic maps

Political maps show countries, cotoes, and

borders.

Population maps display charavteristics of groups of people who inhabit the Earth. For example, age and gender.

Touristic maps shows places to visit.

The language of maps;Thematic maps

Learning to read a map is an important skill to

acquire, because it will help us to be oriented in our daily lives. That is why cartographers have created a language for maps that allows us to read and interpret them. The most common elements of this language are: Title Legend Compass rose, and Scale



The maps title tells us the name of the region

and what is about. What is the title of this map? What is the subject?

The language of maps;Maps title

The legend or key explains the symbols used

on the map. The symbols may be colors, lines, or others. Can you identify any symbol? What does it look like? What does it mean?

The language of maps;Legend

The compass rose is a drawing that shows the

four cardinal points: north (N), south (S), east (E), and west (W), besides the intermediate points: northwest (NW), southwest (SW), northeast (NE), and southeast (SE). They are called intermediate because they are located between two cardinal points.

The language of maps;Compass Rose

The scale is used to compare and measure the

real distance represented in the map in a reduce size.

Is also known as a graphic scale, is a small ruler that indicates how many units of real distance (in kilometers or miles) are equivalent to each centimeter in the map.

The language of maps;Scale

The following illustration’s graphic scale shows

that each map segment ( ) is equivalent to ten real kilometers. To find out how many centimeters there are in each segment, use a ruler and follow the steps below: Place the ruler on the scale. Place the first ruler mark at the 0 on the scale. Find the number on the ruler closest to the

number on the scale. That number will indicate how many centimeters in the map are equivalent to 10 kilometers.

The language of maps;Finding the distance on the

map

The language of maps;Finding the distance on the

map Look at the

illustration and try to calculate the kilometers between Coloco and Margarita, in the copy provided by the teacher.

Taken from:

Santillana Social Studies 5 textbook; pages 12 – 15

Images from: Google images, Santillana Social Studies 5 text book; page14

and 15

Reference

Technology

The language of maps