Map reading skills
This is the big exam-skills lesson — in Paper 2 the 1:50 000 topographic map question is worth about a third of the whole paper, so today we practise until it becomes easy. We learn the four essentials every map must have (title, key, scale, direction), then work through real calculations on the board: using the scale to measure distance, calculating area, finding bearings clockwise from north, and working out gradient as vertical interval over horizontal distance. We read contour lines to spot hills, valleys, ridges and scarps, give a place's coordinates with latitude and longitude, and interpret human activity and photographs — settlement, roads, land use and vegetation — linking people to the shape of the land beneath them.
By the end you should be able to (NSSCO Geography 4.2):
- Identify the characteristics of a map: the title, key, scale and direction
- Demonstrate the ability to use the scale to measure distance and calculate area and gradient
- Demonstrate the ability to find direction and calculate bearings
- Identify landforms on maps using contours and symbols
- Describe human activities in relation to the features on a map
- Recognise and interpret horizontal/oblique photographs (landforms, vegetation, land-use and settlement)
- Locate features on a map using the latitude and longitude coordinate system
Mr Thomas and Mike talk through the whole topic — with the figure and working drawn live.