Notes #2(U1)
Name_______________________Per____
Introduction to Map Skills
Important parts of A Map & Globe – thing to look for first 6 Things
that should be on EVERY map
1. Title - should be pertaining to the subject of the map.
2. Orientation - Compass Rose should indicate North.
3. Date - What the date is.
4. Author - Who created the map.
5. Legend - What symbols mean on the map. (key)
6. Scale - The size of space on the map
TODALS!
 What types of maps are there? Physical, Political, Thematic
(Chloropleth and Cartogram)
 What Are Political Maps?
o Show features on the earth’s surface that humans created
o Political Borders – borders decided by Governments
(latitude & longitude)
o Examples?
o National and State Borders, City Limits, capitals
 What Are Physical Maps?
o show types of landforms and bodies of water
o Physical Borders – countries
o Separated by a physical feature
 Ex. Rio Grande River, Ural Mountains
 What Are Chloropleths?
o Thematic map that uses graded differences in shading or
color or the placing of symbols inside defined areas on the
map in order to indicate the average values of some
property or quantity in those areas
 Many different kinds.
o Examples???
 Climate, Vegetation, Natural Resources, Population
 What are Cartograms?
o A cartogram is a map in which some thematic mapping
variable is substituted for land area or distance.
o The geometry or space of the map is distorted in order to
convey the information of this alternate variable.
 The Geographer’s Grid & Latitude/Longitude
o important lines on “Geographer’s Grid”
 Equator - Runs East and West. Divides Earth into
Northern and Southern Hemispheres
 Prime Meridian - Runs North and South. Divides Earth
into Eastern and Western Hemispheres
 What is a hemisphere?
o One half of the Earth.
 The Tropics
o Tropic of Cancer –
 23.5° North of Equator
 Sun’s most northern location occurring on June 21st
o Tropic of Capricorn –
 23.5° South of Equator
 Sun’s most southern location occurring on December
21st
 The Polar Circles
o Arctic Circle –
 66.5° North of the Equator
 begins the North polar region
o Antarctic Circle –
 66.5° South of the Equator
 begins South polar regions
 What is “Latitude and Longitude”?
o It is a grid for finding your location on the Earth.
o Like “X and Y” from the grid in math class, like a football
field, or like the game “Battleship”
 Latitude “Flatitude”
o Run East/ West
o parallel to Equator
o Measures North and South
o Furthest North = 90 degrees North latitude
o Furthest South = 90 degrees South latitude
o Important lines of Latitude:
 Equator
 Tropic of Cancer
 Tropic of Capricorn
 Arctic Circle
 Antarctic Circle
 Longitude
o Run north/ south
o Measures East and West
o There are 180 degrees of East longitude and 180 degrees
of West longitude
o Total = 360 degree circle
o All lines meet at North Pole and South Pole