Compass and Cardinal Direction Compass – an instrument used to show direction. The cardinal directions are North, South, East and West

Longitude Vertical lines on the globe Known as meridians Run North and South Middle point is the Prime Meridian

Latitude Horizontal or parallel lines Run East and West around the Earth Equator is the middle point

Hemispheres 4 Total Hemispheres: Northern, Western, Southern, and Eastern

Continents Continuous land mass North America South America Africa Europe Asia Australia Antarctica

Countries A nation with its own government, within a continent 196 countries today

States Part of countries in some countries 50 states within the U.S.

Capital The most important city or town of a country Illinois-Springfield U.S.-Washington, D.C.

Counties Part of states within the U.S. 3,143 counties in the U.S. 102 counties in Illinois We live in Sangamon County

Cities Part of counties in U.S. Roughly 20,000 cities in the U.S.

Oceans There are 5 major oceans on Earth: Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic, and Southern Southern Ocean may not be on all maps since it has only been an ocean since 2000.

Landforms Natural features of the landscape on earth’s surface Mountains Valleys Plateaus Plains Water Hills Glaciers

Water

Grand Canyon, Great Lakes, and Hawaiian Islands formed by glaciers formed by running water formed by volcanoes

Map Grid

Map Key A legend or small chart included on a map that gives descriptions of what symbols are used and what they stand for.

Distance Scale

Types of Maps-Political Political-shows boundaries between states

Types of Maps-Physical Physical-shows landforms and water

Types of Maps-Elevation Elevation map-shows elevation of area in comparison to sea level

Type of Map-Population Population Map-Shows area of high and low population

Types of Maps-Natural Resources Natural Resources-shows where resources of an area can be found.

Types of Maps-Climate Climate Map-shows climatic conditions in the world according to temperature, precipitation, and climate.

Regions Classified in many ways: landforms, vegetation, how people change the land, language, population, economics, natural disasters, etc.