What is a map?

Part of GeographyGeography skillsYear 3Year 4

Watch: Introduction to maps

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What do you see on a map?

Cartoon of a hand pointing to a map.

  • A map is a two-dimensional drawing of an area.

  • Maps can show:

    • the countryside
    • a town
    • a country
    • or even the whole world.

  • Maps can be on paper or on a mobile phone, tablet or computer.

Cartoon of a hand pointing to a map.
Sue Venir in the countryside with a map.

  • People use maps to work out how to get from one place to another.

  • Maps show specific features on the landscape, such as hills or landmarks such as castles.

  • There are different types of maps for walking, driving or even flying somewhere.

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How do you use a map?

  • A compass can be used to find which direction north is. Compasses show four directions - north, east, south and west and the needle always points north.
Cartoon of a compass.

What is scale on a map?

Map ratio.

  • Maps are not drawn to the same size as the ground because they would be far too big.

  • Instead they are drawn to a smaller scale.

  • The scale on a map is a set of numbers that can be used to compare distances.

  • Scale can be written, for example, as 1:25,000.

  • This means that the actual size of the ground is 25,000 times bigger than it is on the map.

  • This means every four centimetres on the map is one kilometre in real life.

Map ratio.
Cartoon map.
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Activities

Activity 1: Using a compass

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Activity 2: Quiz – Using a map

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