Map & Globe Skills

Introduction

It is difficult to complete any task without the necessary tools and skills. Tools without the skills and skills without the tools are equally ineffective. A person with the right tools, but no skills has little hope of fixing a car engine. Similarly, a person with the skills of a mechanic, but none of the right tools also has little chance of effectively fixing a car engine. However, a mechanic with both the tools and skills can be quite effective in fine-tuning a car’s engine. In the same way, a geographer needs both tools and skills to think like a geographer. In this analogy, the concepts you learn will become your tools, and the way you use those tools will become geographic skills. Remember our two big, overarching questions for this course? Why there and why care? We cannot effectively answer those questions without the tools we need to master map and globe skills.

Fortunately for you, welcome to the Map & Globe Skills module, where you will acquire many of the tools and skills necessary for geographic thinking using maps and globes. But wait... aren’t globes and maps the same? No, not really. While both attempt to represent the Earth, they do so in very different ways. We will learn about that in this module.

Guiding Questions 🧭

In this module, we will be unraveling these knowledge-based questions:

What is the difference between a globe and a map?
How can maps and globes help us explore and understand the Earth's surface in different ways?
What are the critical elements of a map and how do geographers use them to make sense of the world?
How do grid systems and lines of latitude & longitude help us determine location?
What is the difference between absolute and relative location?

Key Terms

Absolute Location | Precise coordinates (latitude and longitude) that pinpoint a location's position on Earth.

Cardinal Directions | The main compass points: north (N), south (S), east (E), and west (W).

Compass Rose | A graphic element on a map that displays the cardinal directions and often intermediate directions.

Coordinates | Pairs of numerical values (latitude and longitude) used to pinpoint a specific location on the Earth's surface, providing an accurate reference for mapping and navigation purposes.

Earth’s Orbit | The path that the Earth follows as it revolves around the sun, taking approximately 365 ¼ days.

Earth’s Rotation | The spinning motion of the Earth around its own axis, resulting in the cycle of day and night. The Earth rotates from west to east, completing one full rotation approximately every 24 hours.

Earth’s Tilted Axis | The tilt of the Earth's axis, approximately 23.5 degrees from perpendicular to its orbit, which causes the changing seasons on Earth.

Equator | The imaginary line at 0 degrees latitude encircling the Earth halfway between the North and South Poles.

Globe | A spherical (3-D) model of the Earth that accurately represents its shape, size, and spatial relationships.

Grid System | A network of horizontal and vertical lines, used to locate positions on a map.

Hemisphere | Half of the Earth, either the northern or southern (divided by the Equator), or the eastern or western (divided by the Prime Meridian and the International Date Line).

Intermediate Directions | The points on a compass located between the cardinal directions, such as northeast (NE), southeast (SE), southwest (SW), and northwest (NW).

International Date Line | An imaginary line located roughly along the 180th meridian, on the opposite side of Earth from the Prime Meridian, where one day changes to the next due to the Earth's rotation.

Latitude | Imaginary lines running east to west around the Earth, measuring the distance north or south of the Equator. Also referred to as parallel lines, since they never intersect.

Longitude | Imaginary lines running north to south around the Earth, measuring the distance east or west from the Prime Meridian.

Map | A visual representation of an area or place used to analyze and interpret human-environment interactions.

Map Distortion | The alteration or misrepresentation of the size, shape, or distances of features on a map due to the use of a map projection.

Map Legend/Map Key | A section on a map that explains the symbols, colors, and markings used to represent different features or information.

Map Projection | A method used to represent the Earth's curved surface on a flat map, which is often distorted.

Map Scale | A ratio that helps determine the relationship between distances on a map to actual distances on the Earth.

Map Symbols | Small graphics or icons on a map used to represent objects, features, or data, making the map readable.

Map Theme | A specific focus or topic, like physical features, population, or climate, that a map highlights.

Map Title | A brief description, usually at the top of a map, that provides information about the map's content/purpose.

Prime Meridian | The imaginary line at 0 degrees longitude that runs from the North Pole to the South Pole, passing through Greenwich, England. Also referred to as the Line of Greenwich.

Relative Location | Describes a place's position in relation to other landmarks or locations.

Seasons | The four distinct periods of the year (spring, summer, fall, winter) characterized by specific weather and daylight conditions. Seasons are opposite in the northern hemisphere from the southern hemisphere.

Tropic of Cancer | The parallel of latitude located about 23.5 degrees north of the Equator.

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