Maps

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Glossary of Terms / Concepts

A aerial photography
  • photographs taken from the air by a plane
  • shows what the land looks like
  • often used to show urban areas (cities) and rural areas (farms)
  atlas
  • a book of maps is called an atlas
  • In mythology, Atlas was a Titan who was defeated in battle by the Greek gods. His punishment for loosing was to hold the world on his shoulders. Since many of the old books of maps had drawings of Atlas holding up the world, these books of maps became known as atlases.
B base map
  • base map shows the basic shape of the area or its borders
  • mainly a simple outline map that can be used to add other information to
  birds eye view
  • what something would look like when looked at from above - like a bird flying over something
  • most maps are drawn as if seen from above - they are flat - or 2 dimensional
  boundary
  • a boundary is the line that separates one area from another
  • the boundary of a country or a province is called a border
  • boundaries and borders are found on political maps
  • borders are often shown on all maps so that people can figure out who owns what land
  • through history, country borders change as the size and shape of countries change due to war or peace agreements
C cardinal directions
  • the main directions are north, south, east and west
  cartographer
  • a person who makes maps is a cartographer
  • the science of making maps is called cartography
  city map
  • shows the streets in a city
  • has an index that lists the street names in alphabetical order
  • location shown with grid coordinates
  • symbols used for common buildings like schools, libraries, museums, churches
  climate
  • climate is what the weather is like over a long period of time
  • precipitation (rainfall, snow), temperature, sunshine, wind
  compass rose
  • a compass rose shows the cardinal directions of north (N), south (S), east (E) and west (W) as well as the intermediate directions of northeast (NE), northwest (NW), southeast (SE) and southwest (SW)
  contour map
  • contour maps show how high the land is
  • lines are drawn along areas of equal height, usually about 1000 meters apart
  • different colours in the key show what the height of the land is
D directions
  • when talking about directions on a map, people use the terms north, south, east and west
  • when giving directions over a short distance, most people use left, right and straight ahead
E Earth
  • the proper name for our world, notice that it is capitalized
  equator
  • the imaginary line that wraps around the middle of the the globe
F floor plan
  • the name of a map of a room
  • used for the inside of buildings
  • what the room layout looks like as seen from above
G geographic information
  • information about the land such as physical features, vegetation (plants), animals, climate (weather), land use, where people live
  globe
  • a model of the earth
  • a 3-D map of where the land and water is on earth
  • usually also shows the borders / boundaries of countries
  grid coordinates
  • some maps use letters and numbers to find different things on a map
  • grid coordinates are used on street maps, in the game Battleship and on treasure maps
H    
I imperial measurement
  • in the United States, the imperial or English system of measurement is still used
  • inch (in), foot (ft), mile (mi)
  • since many books are printed in the US, maps often have distances on them in imperial measurement
  • since Canada used to have imperial measurement before 1970, and since the laws to convert Canada fully to the metric system are not in place, many people and businesses in Canada still use both imperial and metric units
  • a ruler is about 30 cm or 12 inches long
  • 1 mile = 1.6 kilometer
  index
  • an index in an atlas is found at the back
  • it is an alphabetical listing of place names which often tells what kind of thing the place is (city, capital city, country, province, lake, mountain, river etc)
  • in the index it states the page the map is on as well as the grid coordinates or latitude and longitude location
  intermediate directions
  • these are the directions between N, S E, W - namely northeast (NE), northwest (NW), southeast (SE) and southwest (SW)
  isometric map
  • this is a map that is drawn with some 3-D features to make the map feel more like a picture than a flat drawing
  • it looks like you are half way up a tall building looking sideways and down at the area of the map
J    
K key
  • a box on a map that has symbols in it showing items on the map
  • like a legend
L label
  • labels on maps need to printed only
  • printing should mainly be horizontal, though a few vertical labels are acceptable
  • rivers can be labeled along the natural line of the river
  latitude
  • imaginary horizontal lines on a globe that are parallel to the equator
  • lines of latitude run east to west on maps
  • the equator is the longest line and is at 0°
  • the North Pole is 90°N, the South Pole is 90°S
  • every line going north and south are shorter than the equator
  • some special latitude lines are the: equator (0°), Tropic of Cancer (23°N), Tropic of Capricorn (23°S), Arctic Circle (66.5°N), Antarctic Circle (66.5°S)
  legend
  • a box on a map that has symbols in it showing items on the map
  • like a key
  longitude
  • imaginary vertical lines on a globe that go from the North Pole to the South Pole
  • lines of longitude run north to south on maps
  • all lines of longitude are the same length
  • the Prime Meridian is at 0° and runs through Greenwich in London, England
  • The International Date Line is opposite the Prime Meridian, is at 180° in the Pacific Ocean and this is where the date changes
M map
  • a flat drawing that show where things are
  • it doesn't show exactly what is there - like a drawing
  • a map is much smaller than the real thing
  metric measurement
  • in Canada we use the metric system of measuring distance
  • centimeters (cm), meters (m), kilometers (km)
  • since Canada used to have imperial measurement before 1970, and since the laws to convert Canada fully to the metric system are not in place, many people and businesses in Canada still use both imperial and metric units
N natural resources map
  • natural resources are things found in nature that people use to make things
  • some natural resources are things like forests, minerals, building stones, fish
  north
  • the top of maps are north
  • the top of a globe of the Earth is the North Pole
  • north is always up on a map
O outline map
  • an outline shows the boundaries of something like a country, province or region
  • the lines that make up the outline are not visible on the land unless someone built a fence there
  • these boundary lines on a map are political boundaries or borders
  • boundaries show who controls or owns what land
P physical map
  • a map that shows physical features such as the shape of the land, rivers, lakes, mountains, valleys
  • also known as a topographic map
  • different kinds of physical map are: relief map, contour map
  political map
  • a map that shows borders between countries or provinces
  • the lines show what land belongs to what area
  • political boundaries are international (between countries), national (the borders of a particular country), provincial (borders of a province)
  population map
  • population is the number of people who live in an area
  • population density refers to how crowded the people are - how many people live in a certain area
  product map
  • a product map shows where people make things in large quantities that other people use, manufacturing activities
  • some activities are farming, mining, pulp & paper
Q    
R relief map
  • using colour, a relief map shows where the mountains and valley are
  • brown shows mountains
  • a kind of physical map
  residential
  • an area where there are many houses that people live in
  road map
  • a map that shows the roads and highways in an area
  • used to find your way around when driving in a car
  rural community
  • a place where people live close to farms and the countryside
  • rural communities have small populations and are called villages, hamlets, communities, counties
S satellite photography
  • photographs taken from space taken by a satellite
  • shows what the land looks like, often has clouds showing
  • used daily for weather forecasting
  • shows large areas of land
  • often country borders are drawn on the photograph to help people figure out where things are
  • since satellites circle the globe continually, these photographs work well to show changes over a period of time
  scale
  • scale is a line that represents a certain distance
  • helps you figure out how far something is away from somewhere else on a map
  • some scale lines are metric, some are imperial and some scale lines show both
  • a ruler is used to read scale on a map and to figure out the distanc between 2 spots
  site plan
  • the name of a map of an outdoor space like a park or house property
  symbol
  • a small picture that stands for something on a map
    • eg weather symbols like clouds, sun, raindrops, snowflakes
  • some symbols are shapes like circles, triangles, squares
    • eg the size and colour of dots tell you something about the cities they represent
  • some symbols are colours
    • eg blue for water, brown for mountains, green for forests or valleys
    • different countries side by side are often different colours
  • some symbols are lines
    • lines can be different colours, dotted lines, or different thicknesses
T table
  • a chart or graphic organizer that lists some information in columns
  • many maps have a table on it with lists of cities showing other information about the cities as well
  thematic maps
  • maps are created to give different types of information, are on different themes
  • each map needs a title which tells the view the main point of the map
  • each map needs a date so that one can tell when that information was accurate
  • each map needs an author to indicate who drew it
  • when information was used to create a thematic map, then the source of the information used to make the map should also be indicated
  three-dimensional
  • 3-D, has a shape like a globe
  • something that takes up space, has length, width and depth
  time zones
  • since it takes 24 hours for the Earth to rotate on its axis, there are 24 hours in a day
  • since noon is when the sun is at its highest point in the sky, the Earth is divided into 24 time zones
  • although the globe could be sliced into 24 "slices" like an orange, the time zones go zig-zag in places to follow political boundaries
  • each time zone is one hour different from the one next to it
  transportation routes
  • routes: rail (trains), roads (cars, trucks), water (ships, boats), air (planes)
  two-dimensional
  • 2-D, flat like a map
  • something that has length and width
U urban community
  • a place where many people live close together like a city or a town
V    
W water bodies
  • lake, sea, ocean, bay
  waterway
  • river, creek, inlet
  weather map
  • a map that shows what the weather is like in a certain area
  • often seen in daily newspaper, on the news and weather channel on TV
  • some weather symbols are clouds, sun, raindrops, snowflakes, wind
  world map
  • shows the whole Earth
X    
Y    
Z    

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