All About Maps

Presented by V. Martinez

Louisiana Testing Requirements Describe the characteristics and uses of various types of maps,

for example: —political —physical —elevation/topographic —population, population density —natural resource —precipitation, climate • Use a map key/legend, symbols, distance scale, and

boundaries to interpret a map. • Use a compass rose and cardinal or intermediate directions to

interpret a map. • Identify all U.S. states by shape and position on a map.

What is a political map?

Political maps are designed to - Show governmental boundaries of

countries, states, and counties, Show the location of major cities, They usually include significant bodies of

water. Bright colors are often used to help the user

find the borders.

Example of a political map.

What is a physical map?

country borders major cities significant bodies of water the location of landforms like deserts,

mountains and plains. On the linked map in the next slide, note the

Pyrenees Mountains, the mountains in central France and the Alps. These types of landforms are not included on political maps.

Physical Map

What is an elevation or topographic map? The shape of the earth’s surface is shown

with contour lines. Contours are imaginary lines that join points

of equal elevation on the surface of the land above or below a reference surface, such as mean sea level.

Contours make it possible to measure the height of mountains, depths of the ocean bottom, and steepness of slopes.

Louisiana topographic map. http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/united_states/louisiana_mo_91.jpg

Can you find Abney on this topographic map? http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/topo/louisian

a/slidell_2005.pdf

You will need to use the zoom tool to locate Abney in south Slidell.

Louisiana Population Map-What do you notice?

Another Louisiana Population Maphttp://doa.louisiana.gov/census/theme/90pop.gif

What are natural resources?

This site gives us some answers: “Natural Resources come from nature and are

used to make things that we need.” http://www.sfenvironment.com/aboutus/school/resou

rces/natural.pdf

They are “materials or substances such as minerals, forests, water, and fertile land that occur in nature and can be used for economic gain.” Oxford Press Dictionary

Natural Resources Quiz: http://dnr.louisiana.gov/enviroquiz2.ssi LA Department of Natural Resources Kids’ Site

http://dnr.louisiana.gov/teach.ssi

Example of a natural resource map

Natural Resource Map

Another natural resource map http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/feature/klamath/images/kb-landcover.jpg

Louisana’s natural resources

“Louisiana's chief agricultural resources are fertile soil, plenty of rainfall, and a long growing season. More than half the state is forested. The chief commercial trees are pine in the north-central area and southwest, oak in the northeast, ash in the east and south-central area, and cypress in the southern swamps.” http://student.britannica.com/comptons/article-204067/Louisiana

Climate Map of the World

Shaded Relief Map of Louisiana

http://fermi.jhuapl.edu/states/maps1/la.gif

Satellite Image Map of Louisiana

http://fermi.jhuapl.edu/states/avhrr/LA_213.n14.97feb16_1945.html

http://fermi.jhuapl.edu/states/1895/la_1895.jpg

Map Legend

A map legend is like a Key to the meaning of The map. It tells what All the symbols mean

Compose Rose http://www.enchantedlearning.com/geography/printouts/compassrose.shtml

Learn the locations of all the states and their two letter abbreviations. http://county-map.digital-topo-maps.com/united-states-map.gif

Practice placing the states with Ben. http://bensguide.gpo.gov/flash/

states_puzzle_lines2.html