All About Maps
Presented by V. Martinez
Louisiana Testing Requirements
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Describe the characteristics and uses of various types of maps,
for example:
—political
—physical
—elevation/topographic
—population, population density
—natural resource
—precipitation, climate
• Use a map key/legend, symbols, distance scale, and
boundaries to interpret a map.
• Use a compass rose and cardinal or intermediate directions to
interpret a map.
• Identify all U.S. states by shape and position on a map.
What is a political map?
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Political maps are designed to
- Show governmental boundaries of
countries, states, and counties,
Show the location of major cities,
They usually include significant bodies of
water.
Bright colors are often used to help the user
find the borders.
Example of a political map.
What is a physical map?
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country borders
major cities
significant bodies of water
the location of landforms like deserts,
mountains and plains.
On the linked map in the next slide, note the
Pyrenees Mountains, the mountains in
central France and the Alps. These types of
landforms are not included on political maps.
Physical Map
What is an elevation or topographic map?
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The shape of the earth’s surface is shown
with contour lines.
Contours are imaginary lines that join points
of equal elevation on the surface of the land
above or below a reference surface, such as
mean sea level.
Contours make it possible to measure the
height of mountains, depths of the ocean
bottom, and steepness of slopes.
Louisiana topographic map.
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/united_states/louisiana_mo_91.jpg
Can you find Abney on this topographic
map?
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http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/topo/louisiana
/slidell_2005.pdf
You will need to use the zoom tool to locate
Abney in south Slidell.
Louisiana Population Map-What do you
notice?
Another Louisiana Population Map
http://doa.louisiana.gov/census/theme/90pop.gif
What are natural resources?
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This site gives us some answers:
“Natural Resources come from nature and are
used to make things that we need.”
http://www.sfenvironment.com/aboutus/school/resou
rces/natural.pdf
They are “materials or substances such as minerals, forests, water, and
fertile land that occur in nature and can be used for economic gain.” Oxford
Press Dictionary
Natural Resources Quiz: http://dnr.louisiana.gov/enviroquiz2.ssi
LA Department of Natural Resources Kids’ Site
http://dnr.louisiana.gov/teach.ssi
Example of a natural resource map
Natural Resource Map
Another natural resource map
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http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/feature/klamath/images/kb-landcover.jpg
Louisana’s natural resources
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“Louisiana's chief agricultural resources are
fertile soil, plenty of rainfall, and a long
growing season. More than half the state is
forested. The chief commercial trees are
pine in the north-central area and southwest,
oak in the northeast, ash in the east and
south-central area, and cypress in the
southern swamps.”
http://student.britannica.com/comptons/article-204067/Louisiana
Climate Map of the World
Shaded Relief Map of Louisiana
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http://fermi.jhuapl.edu/states/maps1/la.gif
Satellite Image Map of Louisiana
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http://fermi.jhuapl.edu/states/avhrr/LA_213.n14.97feb16_1945.html
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http://fermi.jhuapl.edu/states/1895/la_1895.jpg
Map Legend
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A map legend is like a
Key to the meaning of
The map. It tells what
All the symbols mean
Compose Rose
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/geography/printouts/compassrose.shtml
Learn the locations of all the states and
their two letter abbreviations.
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http://county-map.digital-topo-maps.com/united-states-map.gif
Practice placing the states with Ben.
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http://bensguide.gpo.gov/flash/states_puzzle
_lines2.html