Map Reading
X marks the spot…
By Sergeant Greensill
Why do I need to know how to map
read?
Within Cadets
-Duke of Edinburgh Award
-Field Craft Training
-Classifications within cadets
Out Of Cadets
-Geography (and basic Maths) In School
-Driving
-Finding your way around in general (so you don’t
get lost.)
What is a map?
-A Map is a birds eye view of the
surrounding area to help guide us from
one place to another.
-It includes lines of Longitude
-And Line of latitude
Lines of Longitude
The
POLES
DO NOT
ROTATE
The prime Meridian runs
NORTH TO SOUTH
THROUGH GREENWICH
A line of
Longitude is
also referred to
as a Meridian
• Lines of Longitude run parallel to the
Prime Meridian at Greenwich
Lines of Latitude
• Lines of Latitude run parallel to the Equator
Co-Ordinates
Across the hall and up the stairs
1:50000
4 figure grid reference of A
=(13,34)
To find a four figure grid
Reference, you need to
Locate the bottom
left corner (the SW corner of the square)
that A is in.
A is 13 across, and 34 up.
1km
Co-Ordinates
Across the hall and up the stairs
1:50000
6 figure grid reference of
A=(13?34?)
To be more precise in
mad reading, we need to
be able to use 6 figure
grid references, so we
break the box into
100 squares.
1km
Co-Ordinates
Across the hall and up the stairs
(on a real map, symbols are smaller, so they are
more accurate then our map, hence the
35
remarked A)
9
To work out your 6 figure grid reference
work from the bottom left hand corner 8
of the large square.
For your first 3 digits take the start number 7
going across (13) and place a number 6
from 0-9 (depending on the positioning
5
of the feature) to the end of our first 2
digits. E.g. 135 34?
4
For the second 3 digits take the first 3
3
digits, then the start number going up
(34) and place a number from 0-9
2
(depending on positioning) to the end
1
of the end of our second 2 digits.
E.g. 135 345
34 0
13
A
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
14
Co-Ordinates
Across the hall and up the stairs
So to find A, we went 13 and 5 minisquares across (135), and then 34 and 35
5 mini squares up (345).
9
So the 6 figure grid reference of A would
8
be
0.1km
7
6
135345
A
5
4
3
2
1
34 0
13
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
14
The key
Just like a key to a door, the key on a map helps you to unlock the information
stored in the colours and symbols on a map.
The key will help you to identify types of boundaries, roads, buildings,
agriculture, industry, places of interest and geographical features.
Scale
The scale is very important. It helps you find
the size, height and dimensions of the
features shown on a map.
Explorer maps are 1:25,000 (1 cm = 250 m).
These are useful for walking and other
outdoor pursuits. This is the type we use
for D of E.
So for every 1cm on a map, its 250m. So 4
cm is 1km.
M726 Map
-It is a 1:50,000 map
So for every 1cm on the map, you are
looking at 500m.
Every grid square on an M726 map is 2cm
by 2cm, So how big is one square?
Each Square is 1km.
- This map is TEPOGRAPHIC meaning that
the map shows the shape and surface
detail of the land. This includes natural
and man-made features.
Using a Compass
This is why we
use degrees of
travel (bearings).
360° 0°
90°
270°
For this reason we
break it down into 16
directions of travel,
but still this isn’t very
accurate when
reading a map and
you’re trying to get
somewhere specific
When referring to a
compass directions you
will already know that
the compass can be
broken up into
Directions..e.g North,
South, East and West
This is only accurate to
four directions of travel
180°
Using a compass
What’s the point? It just points north…
A compass can help you find your way as it can be
used to set BEARINGS.
You set a bearing so that you can travel from one
place to another, and is useful to check you are
travelling in the right direction.
Contour Lines
-A contour line is a reddish brown line drawn on the map joining all points of
equal height above mean sea level (MSL)
-Each line is a 10 metre interval on the M726 series.
-The closer the lines are together, the steeper the gradient (either up or down)
-1:1 is a steep gradient
-1:20 is not so steep
-If there are many line together at the base of a slope, we say the shape is
convex
50