I can't map read well... and I have a test tomorrow. Just blanked, and really need help! Please!?

Question

Hey guys,

I just joined this school, and where I was taught to map read as an "L" shape, they have gone far more advanced and learnt lines of longitude and latitude.

We have a test tomorrow on Topographical map reading, and I have no clue how it works, with the scales on the sides etc.

Would someone PLEASE, PLEASE explain to me? I'm freaking out :(

Thanks!

Answer 1

First, talk to your teacher today.  If you missed a lot on this subject before you got to the school, she'll probably let you stay late or take you aside to teach you what you missed so you are caught up, and may let you take the test later.  It's worth a shot.  I'll give you a breif overview, capitalizing vocab words you should know.

Assuming that the Compass Rose on the map shows you that the top of the map is North, Latitude lines are the ones that run across the page to tell you how far north and south you are, while Longditude lines are drawn vertically to tell you how far east and west you are.  So if someone gives you the exact latitude and longditude, these Coordinates tell you exactly where that place is.  

The Scale tells you how distance is represented on the map.  Basically, a small amount (an inch, a cm) of space on the map represents a much larger distance in real life (a mile, a km, for example).  If you measure the distance between two cities on the map and they are 1.25 inches (one and a quarter inches) apart, you would then go to the scale on the map, and see what distance 1.25 inches represents.  For example, if the scale says 1 inch = 4 miles, then you would know that the first inch = 4 miles, and that the remaining quarter inch = 1 mile, so the cities would be five miles apart.  If you don't have the math yet to understand why, you can do this visually--simply take your 1.25 measurement down to the scale.  If the scale is long enough, it will give you the number right on the scale.  If the scale is shorter than your measurement (say it is only one inch long), you would see that the whole scale is 4 miles.  Write down 4, then find out what the rest (a quarter inch) represents--1 more mile.  Then add them together 4+1=5 miles.  The easiest way is to get a compass (the school supply to draw circles), and put the point on one city and the pencil on the other.  Then, being careful that the compass doesn't slip, move to the scale and see how long the distance is.  If it is a long distance, you can do this backward--open the compass to the full length of the scale, and then see how many steps you have to take with the compass to go between cities.

Now that we are done with map basics, we can move on to topographic maps.  A topographic map shows you the elevation of the land, so that you can use it to see which areas are flat, and which have hills.  In a nutshell, the closer together the topography lines are on the map, the steeper the hill.  Sometimes a topographic map will be color coded so that you can easily see where the tops of hills are, while some aren't--some have numbers on the lines to indicate the elevation, others send you to the map Legend to find out what the colors mean--on one without color, so any place where the topographic lines form the smallest circle will be either the lowest or highest points on a map.  

When drawing a topographic map, the mapmaker (Cartographer) will make a line that shows all the points that have the same elevation.  For instance, he may decide that there will be a line for every ten feet above sea level.   So he would draw a line on his map to show all the places where the land is exactly ten feet above sea level, and another line for twenty feet above sea level, and so on.  So if you are looking at the Rocky Mountains, you'll see lines very close together in the mountains where the hills are steep.  At the part of the map at the bottom of the mountains, you will see that the land is much more flat as it goes toward the ocean, so the lines will be much, much further apart.  If you look toward the desert side of the Rockies, you'll see it get flatter, and can see the elevation continue to drop as you go toward death valley.  

If this sounds confusing, try to find a topographic map online and then read this again.  It would probably make more sense if you look at a map while you puzzle out what I'm saying.