CHAPTER 4 ENVIRONMENTS THROUGH MAPS

Learning Outcomes You Will Learn : that maps are graphical representations of the Earth that maps have varied uses how to use an atlas to locate specific places and features You Will Learn : that maps are graphical representations of the Earth that maps have varied uses how to use an atlas to locate specific places and features

Lead-in: Street Directory (Answers) 1.The map is included to give a better understanding of the environment around the building. This information will be important to the potential buyer, as the surrounding environment will influence his or her decision to buy an apartment there. 2.Yes. According to the map, the apartment is near to attractive features like a park and a Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station.

Lead-in: Street Directory Extension Activity If you need directions to any location in Singapore, simply visit or obtain a copy of the Singapore Street Directorywww.streetdirectory.com.sg  you can locate and find helpful directions to the place you want to visit eg motorists who are lost or tourists who need a guide to reach the places of interest they want to visit

What are Maps? Maps are pictures or graphical representations of all or a part of the Earth’s surface and its features Maps are special because they show only the plan or top view of the features Maps are drawn on flat surfaces Maps are usually smaller than the actual areas they represent

Uses Of Maps People have been using maps for a very long time Maps are even more widely used today They are used for several reasons  as sources of information  as a tool used in planning  as records of changes

Uses of Maps: as Sources of Information Maps are valuable sources of information :  they can tell us where we are, how far it is between two places, what direction to take to go to a place, the different ways to go to a place and what we will find there  tourists use maps to find their way to tourist information centres, places of interest and historic landmarks

Uses of Maps: as Sources of Information Different types of maps store and display different types of information:  geological maps  street maps  rainfall maps  topographical maps A geographical map shows the types of rocks in an area

Uses of Maps: as a Tool Used in Planning Maps can be used for planning and decision- making :  eg army commanders make use of maps to plan and decide which areas to invade  eg city developers make use of maps to plan and decide where to build roads and buildings

Uses Of Maps: as Records of Changes Maps are good records of landscape changes:  they show the features of the Earth’s surface at a certain point in time  when new maps of the same area are drawn every few years, the series of maps will give us a record of the changes that have taken place

Basic Elements on a Map Most maps have the same basic elements The first step to learning how to read maps is to know and understand what these elements mean on a map Examples of such elements:  Title  Grid lines  Contours  Names of features  North arrow  Scale  Legend  Symbols

Basic Elements on a Map: Scale Shows the size of the map compared to the actual size of the area that the map represents Helps us to calculate the size of a feature on the Earth’s surface A small-scale map shows a large area of the Earth’s surface with few details A large-scale map shows a small area of the Earth’s surface with many details Small-scale map: a world map Large-scale map: a street map

Basic Elements on a Map: Scale A scale on a map can be shown as a statement  eg 1 cm on the map represents 10 km on the Earth’s surface A scale on a map can also be shown as a line (or linear) scale  eg using the linear scale, 4 cm on the ruler reflects an actual distance of 2 km on the map As a statement 1 cm represents 10 km As a line (or linear) scale KILOMETRES cm

Basic Elements on a Map: Types of Symbols Can be of different shapes and sizes The size or thickness of a symbol shows the importance of a feature Certain colours are used to represent specific features It is important to refer to the legend when reading different maps because symbols may vary

Basic Elements on a Map: Types of Symbols Line (or linear) symbols  Represent line features like roads, railway tracks, rivers and power lines

Basic Elements on a Map: Types of Symbols Point symbols  Represent point-like features like schools, churches, mosques and temples

Basic Elements on a Map: Types of Symbols Area symbols  Represent features that occupy an area such as lakes and forests  Some of these symbols look like the features they represent

Basic Elements on a Map: Types of Symbols Abbreviations  May appear beside other symbols to explain what they are or on their own

Basic Elements on a Map: Types of Symbols Height symbols  Height of places is shown on maps by contours  Contours are imaginary lines joining places of the same height above or below sea level  A bench mark is a mark placed in a rock or wall to show the height of a place  To show the exact height of a physical feature, a trigonometrical station is used  This is a circular disc placed in the ground to show the specific height of the place