Map Reading X marks the spot…

By Sergeant Greensill

Why do I need to know how to map read?

Within Cadets-Duke of Edinburgh Award-Field Craft Training-Classifications within cadetsOut Of Cadets-Geography (and basic Maths) In School-Driving-Finding your way around in general (so you don’t

get lost.)

What is a map?

-A Map is a birds eye view of the surrounding area to help guide us from one place to another.

-It includes lines of Longitude

-And Line of latitude

Lines of Longitude

• Lines of Longitude run parallel to the Prime Meridian at Greenwich

A line of Longitude is also referred to as a Meridian

The prime Meridian runs NORTH TO SOUTH THROUGH GREENWICH

The POLES DO NOT ROTATE

Lines of Latitude

• Lines of Latitude run parallel to the Equator

Co-OrdinatesAcross the hall and up the stairs

4 figure grid reference of A

=(13,34)

To find a four figure grid

Reference, you need to

Locate the bottom

left corner (the SW corner of the square)

that A is in.

A is 13 across, and 34 up.

1:50000

1km

Co-OrdinatesAcross the hall and up the stairs

6 figure grid reference ofA=(13?34?)

To be more precise in mad reading, we need to be able to use 6 figure grid references, so we break the box into 100 squares.

1km

1:50000

Co-OrdinatesAcross the hall and up the stairs

(on a real map, symbols are smaller, so they are more accurate then our map, hence the remarked A)

To work out your 6 figure grid reference work from the bottom left hand corner of the large square.

For your first 3 digits take the start number going across (13) and place a number from 0-9 (depending on the positioning of the feature) to the end of our first 2 digits. E.g. 135 34?

For the second 3 digits take the first 3 digits, then the start number going up (34) and place a number from 0-9 (depending on positioning) to the end of the end of our second 2 digits. E.g. 135 345

13 14

A

34

359

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0

987654321

So to find A, we went 13 and 5 mini- squares across (135), and then 34 and 5 mini squares up (345).

So the 6 figure grid reference of A would be

Co-OrdinatesAcross the hall and up the stairs

13 14

A

0.1km

34

359

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0

987654321

135345

The key

Just like a key to a door, the key on a map helps you to unlock the information stored in the colours and symbols on a map.

The key will help you to identify types of boundaries, roads, buildings, agriculture, industry, places of interest and geographical features.

Scale

The scale is very important. It helps you find the size, height and dimensions of the features shown on a map.

Explorer maps are 1:25,000 (1 cm = 250 m). These are useful for walking and other outdoor pursuits. This is the type we use for D of E.

So for every 1cm on a map, its 250m. So 4 cm is 1km.

M726 Map-It is a 1:50,000 map

So for every 1cm on the map, you are looking at 500m.

Every grid square on an M726 map is 2cm by 2cm, So how big is one square?

Each Square is 1km.

- This map is TEPOGRAPHIC meaning that the map shows the shape and surface detail of the land. This includes natural and man-made features.

Using a Compass

90°

0°

180°

270°

360°

When referring to a compass directions you will already know that the compass can be broken up into Directions..e.g North, South, East and West

This is only accurate to four directions of travel

For this reason we break it down into 16 directions of travel, but still this isn’t very accurate when reading a map and you’re trying to get somewhere specific

This is why we use degrees of travel (bearings).

Using a compass

What’s the point? It just points north…

A compass can help you find your way as it can be used to set BEARINGS.

You set a bearing so that you can travel from one place to another, and is useful to check you are travelling in the right direction.

Contour Lines

-A contour line is a reddish brown line drawn on the map joining all points of equal height above mean sea level (MSL) -Each line is a 10 metre interval on the M726 series.-The closer the lines are together, the steeper the gradient (either up or down)-1:1 is a steep gradient-1:20 is not so steep-If there are many line together at the base of a slope, we say the shape is convex

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