Download GeoMapSkills - Vancouver School Board

Geography
Social Studies 8
Mr. Bausback
Class Notes & Activities
2015
Geography: Defining the Subject
 What
is geography?
 What topics do geographers
study?
 What makes geography
different from other subjects?
Geography:
Defining the Discipline
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Geographia (Greek origins)
 Geo (earth) + graphein (to describe or write)
 To write or describe the surface of the earth
The study of the spatial arrangement and association
among elements on and/or in contact with the earth’s
surface
The study of the earth and all living and non-living things
that inhabit it
Reading and understanding maps, atlases, statistics,
graphs and charts
Making maps
Identifying landform and water features;
Using GPS, GIS, to locate information
What is a map?



A generalized view of an area, usually some
portion of Earth’s surface, as seen from above at
a greatly reduced size
Any geographical image of the environment
A two-dimensional representation of the spatial
distribution of selected phenomena
Why make maps?

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To represent a larger area than we can see
To show a phenomenon or process we can’t see
with our eyes
To present information concisely
To show spatial relationships
5 Themes of GeographyLocation:
Location: the meaning of relative and absolute
position on the earth's surface
 Sample terms: Latitude and longitude, site and
situation, direction, distance, scale
 Skills: Map reading, identification
 Questions: Where is ____? Where is ____ relative
to where I am?
5 Themes of Geography- Place:
Place: the distinctive and distinguishing physical
and human characteristics of locales
 Sample terms: Physical and cultural landscapes,
sense of place
 Skills: Description, compare and contrast
 Questions: What does ____ look like? Why? How is
it different from ____?
5 Themes of GeographyInteractions:
Interactions: the development and consequences
of human-environment relationships
 Sample terms: Ecosystems, natural resources,
environmental pollution
 Skills: Evaluation, analysis
 Questions: What human-environment
relationships are occurring? How do they affect
the place and its inhabitants?
5 Themes of GeographyMovement:
Movement: patterns and change in human spatial
interaction on the earth
 Sample terms: Migration, diffusion, globalization
 Skills: Explanation, prediction
 Questions: How has this spatial pattern
developed? Will it continue to change? What
does it mean for the places involved?
5 Themes of GeographyRegions:
Regions: how they form and change
 Sample terms: Formal vs. functional regions
 Skills: Synthesis, application
 Questions: How has this spatial pattern
developed? Will it continue to change? What
does it mean for the places involved?
Map Types
Pie Chart

Used to show
parts of a
whole or
percentages
Bar graph
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0

East
West
North
1st 2nd 3rd 4th
Qtr Qtr Qtr Qtr
Used to
show items
in relation
to others
Line Graph

Used to
show loss or
gain or
information
over several
time frames
Population Pyramid

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Shows the
population of a
country or region.
Allows you to break
into male and
female and by age
groups
Climatograph
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
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J F M A M J J
A S
Shows precipitation and
temperature averages over a
one year period
The World Political

Political maps show how people have divided
places on the Earth into countries, states, cities
and other units for the purpose of governing
them.
The World Physical

Physical maps show what the surface of the
Earth looks like.
Map Projections

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Three types of map projections
•
Mercator
•
Polar
•
Robinson
All three types have distortion
Map Projections cont.

You can distort area, shape,
distance and direction

A Mercator projection is best
used for ship navigation because
of the nice straight lines
Mercator projection

Nice Straight lines
Map Projections cont.

A Polar projection is best used in
airplane navigation. It is easy to
plot the Great Circle Routes used
to fly long distances

A Robinson projection is best
used for data representation.
Most of the maps in textbooks
are Robinson projections
Robinson Projection

Latitude lines are straight. Longitude lines are
curved.
Map projections

Project a round globe onto a flat surface

Options?
Stretch out some areas
Cut out some areas
Shrink some areas
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Map projections

Three properties to consider
•
Area (equal-area or equivalent)
•
Shape (conformal)
•
Distance (equidistant)
•
Choose two out of three
How large an area?
 Purpose of the map
 Ulterior motives?
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Cylindrical projections
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Shapes are preserved
But not area!
Mercator projection
• Deliberate
distortion?
– Cold War
– Colonialism
Cylindrical projections: Gall- Peters
•
Adjusting Mercator for a more “just” map
 Distorts
shape
differently
 Also
preserves
area
Conic projections
 Area
and shape
only slightly
distorted
 Best for
hemispheres or
small regions
Planar projections
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Equidistant; good
for navigation
Only good for
one hemisphere
Distorts area, not
shape
Other projections
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Based on more
complicated
math
Interrupted,
oval,
combination
Robinson
Goode
Dymaxion
Using an Atlas
Map scale
Ratio of the distance on the map to the
distance on the ground
 Scale is a fraction
 Larger area covered means larger
denominator
 Larger denominator means smaller
fraction
 So a large-scale map covers a small area

Large-scale
Small-scale
Map scale

1.
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Ratio of the distance on the map to the distance
on the ground
Graphic:
Stays the same when photocopied
Might not be right for the whole map
Map scale
2. Verbal:
1 inch equals 10 miles
Easy to understand
 Can change if photocopied

Map scale
3. Representative fraction or ratio:
1:24,000
Units don’t matter
 Can change if photocopied
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Map symbolization
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Symbols are a code instead of text
Three kinds: point, line, area
Consider shape, size, orientation, pattern, color,
value
Oceans of the World
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The world has four major oceans:
Atlantic
Arctic
Pacific
ocean
Arctic
Indian
Pacific
ocean
Atlantic
ocean
Indian
ocean
Global Climates

Students generally associate Arctic and
Antarctic with cold weather, so students could
make the observation that the climate at the
poles is cold. This map shows the general
climate regions of the world.
World Religions

Religious beliefs help define a people’s culture,
so to understand a people, it is important to
consider what religions influence that group.
Location
(Latitude, longitude & grid
references)
Latitude and Longitude
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Latitude: how far north or south
From 0° at equator to 90° at poles
Each parallel of latitude is a different size
Key latitudes: Equator, 23.5°N and S
Latitude and Longitude
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Longitude: how far east or west
East or west of what?
1884 agreement on prime meridian at Greenwich
Each meridian of longitude is the same distance
around
Not parallel lines
Key longitudes: Prime Meridian, International Date
Line, 100th meridian
Latitude and Longitude

The earth is divided into lots of lines called
latitude and longitude.
Lines
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Longitude lines run north and south.
Latitude lines run east and west.
The lines measure distances in
degrees.
Latitude
Longitude
Lines of
longitude only
Equator added
Other lines of
latitude added
Cross-section
through line of
longitude
Crosssections
through
lines of
latitude
Orange cut
through lines
of longitude
Orange cut through lines of latitude
Draw a map
of this world.
There are 4
countries:
Red, Light
Green, Dark
Green and
Purple.
The angle of elevation of the sun varies with latitude. The sun is
higher in the sky at places closer to the equator (‘lower latitudes’).
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Latitude is
angular
measurement
north or south of
the equator
Longitude is
angular
measurement
east or west of
the Prime
Meridian
Where is 0 degree?

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The equator is 0 degree latitude.
It is an imaginary belt that runs
halfway point between the North
Pole and the South Pole.
Equator
Where is 0 degree?

The prime meridian
is 0 degrees
longitude. This
imaginary line runs
through the United
Kingdom, France,
Spain, western
Africa, and
Antarctica.
P M
E
R
R
I I
D
M
I
E A
N
Hemispheres

By using the equator and
prime meridian, we can
divide the world into four
hemispheres, north, south,
east, and west.
 Compasses are used to show
the direction of places on
maps. This is very important
so that we can know how to
use the map to move from
one place to another.
 There are 2 types of compass
that you should use . . . .
North
West
East
Never
South
Wheat
NW
N
NE
E
W
SE
SW
S
Eat
Shredded
Using Direction
When people move from one place to another they will
describe their movement by using the directions that
allowed them to travel.
To practice this there are a few exercises over the next
pages to help you to practice your direction-finding skills.
North
Use Direction sheet 1 and answer the questions
West
East
South
Use the map below of the major towns in County Antrim to
work out the directions between each town.
The map and questions can be found on Direction Sheet 2
North
West
East
South
How do we use
map symbols?
Page 112 and 113 in Key
Geography – New
Foundations
Why do we use symbols?
 When
drawing a map to scale it is important
to include as much detail as possible –
however not all the detail will fit on the map
so we have to use a key of different
symbols, abbreviations and letters to
represent the main items on the map
Think about it this way . . . .

Imagine that you have
to draw a map that
shows the route from
your house to the
school – but you are
not allowed any words .
. .this means that we
need to use symbols to
show what we would
pass on the way . . .
Do you know any map
symbols?
Draw a symbol on the board and then write below what it is!
Quick Quiz –
On a page at the back of your book - write down what you think of the
following symbols means
There are 10 of these to guess – if you don’t have an idea - have a go! But
do remember that you are trying to think of things that might be shown on
a map!
1.
3.
2.
5.
4.
Quick Quiz –
6.
7.
9.
So what do they all mean?
8.
10.
CG
The Answers
...
Make sure that you are marking somebody else’s answers
and then here they come . . . .
2.
1.
Caravan Park
3.
Information Office
Golf club/course
5.
4.
Telephone
Battlefield site
6.
7.
Lighthouse
8.
Picnic site
9.
Primary Road (A Road)
How many did you get?
CG
Coastguard
10.
Rail station
22
21
20
12
13
14
22
21
13
14
220
219
218
217
216
215
214
213
212
211
210
130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138
139
140
Finding Heights
How can we measure relief on a map?
On this map – how are the heights of
different places shown?
Layer Colouring
Areas of the same
height are shaded a
different colour
Spot Heights
These give the exact
height of a place on
the map. They are
shown as a black dot
with a number
alongside. The heights
are given in metres
320
270
90
100
Contours
These are lines that are
drawn onto a map and
they join up places that
are the same height.
The heights are given in
metres
300
200
100
Measuring a straight line
distance
This is very simple to use.
1. Use your ruler to rule the distance
between the 2 places
2. Then compare your answer to the scale
of the map (This is usually in the bottom
corner of the map and for most maps that
you use this will be 1cm = 50,000cm
(0.5Km)
Measuring around a bend
This is a bit more complicated. You need to use a
piece of scrap paper to use to find out the
distances.
1. Find the first straight edge and lay the paper down
along side the road that you are measuring
2. Mark on the start and end point
3. Find the next straight edge and continue the
measurement
4. Continue this until the road is fully measured and
then use your ruler and scale to work out the final
distance
Hemispheres
• By using the equator and prime meridian, we
can divide the world into four hemispheres,
north, south, east, and west.
Time Zones
• The Earth is divided into 24 time zones,
corresponding to 24 hours in a day.
• As the earth rotates, the sun shines in different
areas, moving from east to west during the
course of a day.
• Places that have the same longitude will be in
the same time zone.
Class 2a: Landforms
or
What goes up must come down
Valley
• A valley is low land
between hills or
mountains.
Forest
• A forest is a large area
of land where many
trees grow.
• Your responsibility!
• Differences between igneous,
sedimentary, metamorphic
• Examples ofRock
eachcycle
Today’s class
• "The summit of Mt. Everest is marine
limestone."
• Tectonic forces
– Earthquakes, volcanoes
– Diastrophism
• Gradational processes
– Weathering, mass wasting
– Erosion/deposition: water, waves,
wind
• Examples from CA, SW Asia, Oceania
• Theorized in 1912; proven after
WWII
• 12 large plates (lithosphere) float
on liquid rock (asthenosphere)
Plate tectonics
• 200 million years ago, all one
continent (Pangaea)
• Your responsibility!
• Differences between igneous,
sedimentary, metamorphic
• Examples ofRock
eachcycle
• Divergent boundaries
– Generally mid-ocean
– Underwater volcanoes, few
quakes
Plate
tectonics
• Convergent
boundaries
– Usually near continental edges
– Violent volcanoes near ocean,
strong quakes
• Transform boundaries
– No volcanoes, mild to strong
quakes