Map Skills

Ms. LimGrade 9 Geography

Problem #1 round Earth, flat map

Mercator Projection Gall-Peters equal area projection

Which map do you think the USSR used and why?

What does each map show?

Alpha Numeric Maps

Directions

• Cardinal points

Scale• Scale can be shown in one of three ways

A) As a short sentenceB) As a ratio. The ratio relates one unit on the map to a specific distance

on the ground• The units must be same so that a ratio of 1: 10,000 means that a

1 cm of road on the map means that the road is really 10,000 cm long.

• By convention the ratio on the left is always 1.C) As a simple graph

Scale math

One meter has ____________ cm

One kilometer has ____________ meters or ________ cm

How many km is 30, 000 meters?How many m and km is 560,000 centimeters?

Latitude and Longitude

• Lines that run east west are lines of latitude• Lines that run north south are lines of

longitude

Starting pointsQ: How many degrees are in a circle?

• Equator is O degrees latitude then the lines are labelled North to the north pole at 90 degrees north and south to the south pole at 90 degrees south.

• Prime Meridian is 0 degrees longitude. Made Greenwich, England just outside of London the literal centre of the world.

• The lines are labelled “east” going through Europe and Asia until you get to the International Date Line at 180 degrees in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The lines are labelled “west” across the Atlantic and the Americas until you get to the International Date line. The earth is a sphere so it has 360 degrees but it is divided evenly in western and eastern hemispheres.

Important Lines of Latitude

Important lines of Longitude

• Prime Meridian 0 degrees longitude• International Date Line 180 degrees

The four hemispheres

• What hemisphere is Canada in? Australia? India?• Use your brain and guess! With a partner roughly

estimate the latitude and longitude for Spain, Alaska, South Africa and Japan.

How to write latitude and longitude

• Lines of latitude are called PARALLELS• Lines of longitude are called MERIDIANS (think

prime meridian)

• Write latitude first then longitude

25° N 77° W

Minutes and Seconds• Degrees of latitude and longitude can be further subdivided into

minutes and seconds • There are 60 minutes (') per degree, and 60 seconds (") per minute. • For example, a coordinate might be written 65° 32' 15“ N. • All these notations allow us to locate places on the Earth quite

precisely – to within inches, depending on the accuracy of the equipment doing the measurement.

FOR YOUR INFORMATION• A degree of latitude is approximately 69 miles at the equator, and a

minute of latitude is approximately 1.15 miles. • A second of latitude is approximately 0.02 miles, or just over 100 feet.

Review Questions

• Why can’t you say “66 degrees latitude”?• Which comes first – latitude or longitude?• Name one of the countries 0 degrees

longitude runs through.• What is 0 degrees latitude called?• How many degrees can you go north before

you reach the north pole?