Name:________________________________________________ Period:______
Getting to know a map
A compass rose is a design on a map that shows directions. It shows north, south, east, west,
northeast, northwest, southeast, and southwest.
On the compass rose above, only north is filled in. Fill in the rest of the directions on the compass
rose, using the standard abbreviations: N=North, S=South, E=East, W=West. North, South, East and
West are called Cardinal directions. The directions in the middle like Northwest and Southeast are
called intermediary directions, NE=Northeast, NW=Northwest, SE=Southeast, SW=Southwest.
When north is at the top of the compass rose (as it often is), south is at the bottom, east is on the right,
and west is on the left. Northeast is between north and east, northwest is between north and west,
southeast is between south and east, and southwest is between south and west.
Intermediate Directions
Directions: Look at the map of Ashland. Answer the questions.
1. Which direction is the Ashland Shopping Mall from the Jane Street School?___________________
2. If you walked from the library to the Jolly River Inn, which direction would you walk? _________
3. In which direction would you walk to go from the library to the Jewel Park Apartments? _________
4. Suppose you work at the tool factory and live in the Jewel Park Apartments. Which direction is your
home from your job? _____________________________
Map Scale
Maps are not life-size. They show big areas on small pieces of paper. Distance on a map is not the
same as the real distance in a place. To show distance, maps use a distance scale. A distance scale
shows that a certain length on the map equals a certain length in a real place.
?
How many miles does this scale represent?___________________
Most distance scales show distance in miles and kilometers. Look at the map below. Find the distance
scale. On this distance scale, 1 inch = 300 miles. Notice that this map also shows distances in
kilometers. Suppose you want to find the distance from Cairo to the Mediterranean Sea. One way is to
use your pencil. Lay your pencil on the scale, use your finger to show how long 300 miles is, then see
how many times you place your pencil down to roughly calculate how far away something is.
1. On the map, the distance from the city of Aswan to Cairo is about_________ inches.
2. On the map, 1 inch =300 miles. If you were traveling in a car how many miles
would you travel from Aswan to Cairo? _____________
3. Roughly how wide is Egypt east-to-west (measure in the middle):
50 miles, 500 miles, 5,000 miles, or 50,000 miles?
4. Roughly how far is it from the north of Egypt to the southern border?
70 miles, 700 miles, 7,000 miles, or 70,000 miles?
5. How many miles away is Alexandria from Cairo?_____________________
6. In what direction would you have to travel if you were driving from Cairo to
Alexandria?__________________________
Map Keys and Political Maps
The map key helps you find important locations and features on a map. This is a political map. It
shows the boundaries between different countries. The map below shows the political map of the
Middle East. Some of the countries on this map are in Africa (like Egypt and Sudan) other countries
are on the continent of Asia like Saudi Arabia, Israel, and Oman. On this map the country names are
easy to find, because they are all in capital letters. Like IRAN or TURKEY. Cities are shown by
having a dot next to the name like Mecca. The capitals of each country is shown by a circle with a
star in the middle. There are lines on the map as well. The lines that run up and down are called
longitude lines. The lines that run left to right are called latitude lines. Use the map below to answer
the following questions.
1. What symbol shows a countries capital?
2. Draw in the symbol for a canal:
3. Find the symbol of the national capital of Saudi Arabia. Label it Riyadh.
4. What is the capital of Egypt?__________________________
5. About how far is Khartoum (the capital of Sudan) from Muscat the capital of
Oman?_________________
6. What is the capital of Iraq?_________________
7. What is the capital of Iran?_________________
8. How many miles away are the capitals of Iraq and Iran?___________________
9. This map shows lines of latitude and longitude. How many degrees apart are each
line?___________
10. If you put your finger on the left side of the map on the latitude line that goes through Cairo.
What latitude line are you on?
A. 30°N
B. 45°E
C. 15°N
D.20°N
Continents and Oceans
Directions: Color Africa green, Antarctica light blue, Asia yellow (Note: part of Asia lies along and
below the equator), Australia brown, Europe purple, North America orange, and South America pink.
Color the equator red. Then answer the following questions:
1. How many continents are there?__________________________
2. What ocean boarders North and Sough America to the East?_______________________
3. List the continents that have land running along the equator:
4. List the continents that are completely North of the Equator:
5. List the continents that are complete South of the equator:
6. What continents boarder the Indian Ocean?
7. Is the equator a line of latitude or longitude? ________________________________
Name:_______________________________________________________ Period:______
USE YOUR NEW MAP SKILLS!
Before you answer the questions fill in the cardinal and Intermediary directionals on the compass rose.
1. What is the capital of Egypt? _______________________
2. What sea borders Egypt to the north? _______________________
3. What is the name of the canal that divides Egypt from the Sinai? ___________________
4. What is the name of the major river that flows through Egypt? ____________________
5. List the countries that boarder the Red Sea:
6. What is the name of the country that borders Egypt to the west? ___________________
7. What is the name of the country that borders Egypt to the south? ___________________
8. The Aswan Dam is at one end of which lake? _______________________
9. If you travel from Bahariya Oasis to Lake Nasser which direction would you go? _______
Continents and Oceans, PART 2
Write a number from the map on the line in front of the correct continent or ocean
After you have identified the continents and oceans, color in the following countries in
different colors: Japan, China, South Africa, Australia, United States, India, and Egypt.
Create a map key below that says the name of the country and an example of the color you
colored the country on the map.