Knowing what
the symbols on a map stand for will help you read it.
Symbols are the graphic, or visual, language of maps. A symbol is a picture on a map that represents something in the real world. Size, shape, location and color all mean something specific. Topographic maps published by the Geological Survey are common and use colors to communicate important information about the location and shape of rivers, mountains, valleys, plains and man-made structures.
Instructions
1. Know your colors. On topographic maps, colors represent specific items: Black indicates a man-made feature like roads, buildings and boundary lines. Blue represents water like lakes, rivers, glaciers and swamps. Brown is used to show the shape and elevation of land surface while green indicates forest and woodland. Red emphasizes important roads, and red-tinted sections of the map show urban areas. Purple is used to show an office revision from aerial photographs. Knowing what these different colors represent can help you find what you are looking for on a map quickly.
2. Look for the map's legend. Every good map has a legend or key that shows the reader what its symbols mean. A legend is usually a square or rectangle box with pictographs depicting different realities. For example, a legend may contain a small square with a flag on top and the words "school" next to it; in this case the legend is telling you that a school exists wherever you see a small square with a flag on top of it. The legend should also contain an arrow with an "N" above or below it. This symbol tells you which direction on the map is north so that you can properly orient yourself. Think of a map's legend as the dictionary that explains what all the map's symbols mean. Read this legend first, when you pick up the map.
3. Understand what contour lines represent so that you don't get confused. Contour, or curved, lines are used to show a vertical dimension on a flat piece of paper. Contour lines attempt to show the reader what a given terrain is like -- how hilly or flat, high or low it is. Brown figures next to contour lines communicate an area's elevation above what the map has expressed as its starting or base elevation. Contour lines communicate where and how elevation levels differ from the base. Index contours are indicated with a heavier line, while supporting contours are shown with dashes or dotted lines. Areas with particular topographic interest, such as those with extreme elevation changes use shading to illustrate a three-dimensional aspect.
Tags: used show, what symbols, colors represent, Knowing what, lines communicate, reader what
