Easypeasy
- 2. 1. What is a map? A map is simply a drawing or picture (in 2-D) of a landscape or area of a country (in 3-D). It could be anything from a sketch map for a visitor to find your school to a detailed map of a town centre or mountain range. Using a map you can visualise in your mind what the place looks like that you are going to, and you can see what landmarks and features you will pass on the way to your destination. Maps 1:25 000 scale extract showing Snowdon, the highest mean you know what to mountain in Wales expect, and they help you to know you are going in the right direction to arrive at your destination safely and quickly. Why not try drawing your own map to show a friend the route from your house to school, showing buildings and landmarks you pass on the way? Have a look at a 1:25 000 scale map to give you some ideas of what you could draw if you are slightly unsure. 2. What are all the different symbols? When drawing a map, you will find that you have to label lots of things you draw, such as a shop or a church, so Sketch map of a school other people can tell what they are. If Ordnance Survey had to do this on all maps there would be too much writing and it would be very confusing. The way we get around this problem is by using different shapes, colours and symbols to show all the roads, buildings and rivers and other interesting things in our landscape. Maps may even show you things you never even knew were there! Maps usually have a key that explains the symbols and their meanings. If you find a symbol on the map that you don’t know, 1:25 000 scale extract showing part of London simply look it up in the key.
- 3. 2a. Have a look at the key on a 1:25 000 Ordnance Survey maps are always printed scale map and see if you can find out so that north is at the top of the sheet. what these symbols mean. Using the 1:25 000 scale Bembridge A B C D E Explorer ® extract on this leaflet can you answer these questions? 2b. You can invent your own symbols for things on your own sketch map. Here are 3a. Which general direction are you heading two ideas; can you guess what they are? if you are walking from point 1 to point 2? 3b. Which general direction are you heading if you are walking from point 2 to point 3? 3c. Which general direction are you heading A B if you are walking from point 3 to point 1? 4. How do grid references help me to find places? Get your friends and family to test you on You might have noticed by now that a 1:25 000 how well you know the symbols. If you scale Ordnance Survey map is covered in a can learn them, then map reading is easy. series of blue grid lines. These grid lines help you to pinpoint an exact location anywhere on 3. Which direction am I going? the map by giving a unique number known as a grid reference. The vertical lines are called eastings, since they increase in value as you Just as it is important to know which is travel east on the map. The horizontal lines your left and your right hand, in map are called northings, since they increase in reading it is important value as you travel north on the map. to understand where north, east, south Four-figure grid references and west are. You can remember where the points of the compass are by using one of these rhymes: Naughty Elephants Squirt Water or Nobody Ever Swallows Whales A four-figure grid reference is a handy way of identifying any square on a map. Grid references are easy if you can remember that you always have to go along the corridor before you go up the stairs. To find the number of a square first use the eastings to go along the corridor until you come to the bottom left-hand corner of the square you want. Write this two-figure number If you are walking in a direction half way down. Then use the northing to go up the stairs between two of the points of a compass, you until you find the same corner. Put this two-figure can say you are heading north-east, number after your first one and you now have the south-east, south-west or north-west, four-figure grid reference, which looks like this: depending on the direction. 2951
- 4. Now imagine this square is divided up into 100 tiny squares with 10 squares along each side. Still remembering to go along the corridor and up the stairs, work out the extra Always remember: Along the corridor and numbers you need and put them into your then up the stairs. four-figure grid reference like this: 625 333 4a. Can you work out the four-figure grid references for the following examples? 4e. Can you work out the six-figure grid A .................. B .................. C .................. references for the following examples? A .................. B .................. C .................. Using the Bembridge Explorer extract on this leaflet, can you answer these questions? 4b. What is the name of the school in grid square 6486? Using the Bembridge Explorer extract 4c. What is the name of the named building in on this leaflet can you answer these grid square 6488? questions? 4d. What grid square is Black Rock found in? 4f. What is at grid reference 648876? Six-figure grid references 4g. What would you be doing at grid reference 644885? If you want to pinpoint an exact place on a 4h. What building is to be found at grid map, such as your own house, you will need reference 643882? to use a six-figure grid reference. First find the four-figure grid reference for the square and write it down with a space after each set of numbers, like this: 62_ 33_ When giving directions you can provide even more accuracy to your grid reference by stating a nearby landmark or feature. For example, on the Bembridge Explorer extract I am at grid reference 644874, at the crossroads.
- 5. 5. What is scale? The scale of a map shows how much you would have to enlarge your map to get the actual size of the piece of land you are looking at. For example, your map has a scale of 1:25 000, which means that every 1 cm on the 1: 250 000 scale OS Travel Map – Road extract map represents 25 000 of those same units of measurement on the ground (for example, 25 000 cm = 250 metres). That might sound a bit complicated, but 5. Is a 1:250 000 scale map useful for Ordnance Survey maps have been designed walking or driving? to make understanding scale easy. Look at the front of a 1:25 000 scale map and you will see that the scale has been written out for you like this: 4 cm to 1 km This means that every 4 cm on a map = 1 km in real life. To make it even easier, the grid lines are exactly 4 cm apart, so every square is 1 km by 1 km. Maps are made at different scales for different purposes. The 1:25 000 scale map is very useful for walking, but if you use it in a car you will quickly drive off the edge! On the other hand, maps at 1:250 000 scale (note the extra zero) show lots more land but in far less detail. 6. How do we measure distance? It is always important to know how far you have to travel and how long it is going to take you. By measuring a distance on your map, you can work out how far that is in reality. You can measure this distance either in a straight line (as the crow flies) or following a winding route such as a country lane. To get this information from a map is very easy. Here is a way of doing it: You can measure between two points by using a piece of thin string. If you are measuring the distance in a straight line, then simply stretch the string between the two points. If you are following a road or track that is not straight, bend the string to follow the exact shape until 1:25 000 scale Explorer extract you reach the second point.
- 6. line. If going diagonally the distance across the grid square is about 1½ km. 7. How are hills and mountains shown on a map? The ability to understand the shape of the ground from a map is a useful skill to learn, particularly in mountainous landscapes. The height and shape of the ground is shown on 1:25 000 scale maps by brown contour lines. A contour is a line drawn on a map that joins points of equal height above sea level. For 1:25 000 scale maps the interval between contours is usually 5 metres, although in mountainous regions it may well be 10 metres. Measuring distance using string Now that you have a distance in centimetres marked on your string you can find out the real distance. You can do this in a couple of ways: By eye Place string against the scale bar on the map. This is usually at the foot of the map sheet. The above diagram shows the link between the shape of a hill and the contours representing it on a map. Another way of thinking about contour lines is as a tide mark By measuring left by the sea as the tide goes out, leaving a line every 5 metres. Measure your distance on your string with a ruler. Suppose your string is 10 cms long. You know that 4 cm = 1 km, so the answer is 2.5 km. Remember contour numbering reads up hill – in other words the top of the number Have a go at measuring the distances in is uphill and the bottom is downhill. the questions below using the Bembridge Explorer extract on this leaflet. Also remember the closer contour lines are together, the steeper the slope. The examples below illustrate this: 6a. How far is it in a straight line on the ground from point 1 to point 2? 6b. How far is it to walk along the road from point 4 (IRB Sta) to point 5 (PO)? 6c. Can you work out how long it would take you to walk both these distances? (Most people walk at 3 km per hour, so it Shallow slope will take 20 minutes to walk in a straight line across a 1 km grid square.) Remember that the grid lines on a 1:25 000 scale map are 1 km apart. A quick way of estimating distance is to count each square you cross in a straight Steep slope
- 7. Try this quick contour quiz using the 7a. What type of slope is at the point where Bembridge Explorer extract on this the parking symbol is on the map in grid leaflet square 6385? Is it a shallow slope or a steep slope? 7b. If you are walking from point 2 to point 5 in a straight line, is it uphill or downhill?
- 8. It’s free, it’s fun, it’s www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/mapzone Unravel the mystery of maps with a visit to the virtual world of MapZone®. It’s free, fun and packed with facts to help you learn all about maps and map reading. www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/mapzone
- 9. Take aim with our games Check out our brilliant selection of free and fun games. We regularly add new puzzles, so don’t forget to call back again soon.
- 10. Hands up for Homework Help Banish homework hassles and snap up some map skills with our interactive guide. Whether you’re testing your MapAbility in the MapTivity quiz or taking a seat in our MapSchool, Homework Help takes the mystery out of mapping. The future is GIS Zone Heard about geographical information systems (GIS)? Possibly not, but they affect your life every day. Get ahead of the game and learn about them in a fun way.
- 11. Mission control Want to have fun and also prove that you can make the decisions that matter? Use GIS to sift the evidence in our six exciting missions that we have specially created for you. GIS is coming to a screen near you The future of GIS may be on your mobile phone screen. Find out about this and other developments that are changing the way we see things.
- 12. Maps can be great fun – and they can lead you to all sorts of discoveries. They can help you get to know an area really well, because they pinpoint interesting places that are often hidden away, which you might otherwise never find. They can also help you find different routes to places you already know. To be sure you are not missing anything important you need to know about map symbols, scale, direction and distance. Knowing about these will help you unlock the secrets of maps. This leaflet explains the main things you need to understand, especially when using Ordnance Survey Explorer maps at 1:25 000 scale. Maps can also help you in your geography, history, environmental science or citizenship classes – but they can provide entertainment, too. Find out how by discovering the games, quizzes and competitions featured on the web at www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/mapzone. Happy exploring! Vanessa Lawrence Director General and Chief Executive Ordnance Survey Contact details Ordnance Survey Customer HelpLine Phone: 08456 05 05 05 Fax: 023 8079 2615 Welsh Language HelpLine: 08456 05 05 04 Website: www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk Email: customerservices@ordnancesurvey.co.uk This leaflet was produced in association with The Expedition Company Ltd. D02518 0505 (MR1E) approximately; points 4 to 5 = 25 minutes approximately. 7a. It is a steep slope. 7b. Uphill. or dome. 5. Driving. 6a. 1 180 metres or 1.18 km. 6b. 1 250 metres or 1.25 km. 6c. Points 1 to 2 = 24 minutes 6486. 4e. A. 615335. B. 635324. C. 632341. 4f. School. 4g. Horse riding. 4h. Place of worship – with spire, minaret bar. 3a. North. 3b. East. 3c. South-west. 4a. A. 8326. B. 8424. C. 8523. 4b. Bembridge School. 4c. East Cliff. 4d. 2a. A. Railway station. B. Orchard. C. Camp site. D. Marsh, reeds or saltings. E. Viewpoint. 2b. A. Sport. B. Burger Answers to questions