BGS238 PROFESSIONAL SKILLS FOR APPLIED

GEOCSIENTISTS

SCHOOL OF EARTH & ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Map Reading Tutorial

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 What is a map?

A map is simply a drawing or picture (in 2-D) of a landscape or area of a country

(in 3-D). It could be anything from a sketch map for a visitor to find your locality
to a detailed map of a town centre or mountain range. Using a map you can
visualise what the place looks like that you are going to, and you can see what
landmarks and features you will pass on the way to your destination. Maps mean
you know what to expect, and they help you to know you are going in the right
direction to arrive at your destination safely and quickly.

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 What are all the different symbols?

www.outdoorgb.com/sshop/tech_info.asp?ID=187

When drawing a map, you will find that you have to label lots of things you draw,
such as a shop or a church, so other people can tell what they are. If Ordnance
Survey had to do this on all maps there would be too much writing and it would
be very confusing. The way we get around this problem is by using different
shapes, colours and symbols to show all the roads, buildings and rivers and other
interesting things in our landscape. Maps may even show you things you never
even knew were there! Maps usually have a key that explains the symbols and
their meanings. If you find a symbol on the map that you don’t know, simply look
it up in the key.

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 What are all the different symbols?

www.outdoorgb.com/sshop/tech_info.asp?ID=187

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What are all the different symbols?

www.outdoorgb.com/sshop/tech_info.asp?ID=187

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 What are all the different symbols?

www.outdoorgb.com/sshop/tech_info.asp?ID=187

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 What are all the different symbols?

www.outdoorgb.com/sshop/tech_info.asp?ID=187

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 What are all the different symbols?

www.outdoorgb.com/sshop/tech_info.asp?ID=187

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 What are all the different symbols?

www.outdoorgb.com/sshop/tech_info.asp?ID=187

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 What are all the different symbols?

www.outdoorgb.com/sshop/tech_info.asp?ID=187

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 What are all the different symbols?

Task 1: Have a look at the key on a 1:25 000 scale map and determine what these
symbols mean.

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 Which direction am I going?

Just as it is important to know which is your left and your right hand, in map
reading it is important to understand where north, east, south and west are. You
can remember where the points of the compass are by using one of these rhymes:

Naughty Elephants Squirt Water Or Nobody Ever Swallows Whales

If you are walking in a direction half way between two of the points of a
compass, you can say you are heading north-east, south-east, south-west or north-
west, depending on the direction. Ordnance Survey maps are always printed so
that north is at the top of the sheet.

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 Task

Task 2: Using the 1:25 000 scale Bembridge Explorer® extract answer these
questions?
2a. Which general direction are you heading if you are walking from point 1 to
point 2?
2b. Which general direction are you heading if you are walking from point 2 to
point 3?
2c. Which general direction are you heading if you are walking from point 3 to
point 1?

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 How do grid references help me to find places?
54

53
Approx 1.5km
Northings (Up the stairs)

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Grid
Square
2951
51

50

1 km

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27 28 29 30 31 32
Eastings (Along the corridor)

You might have noticed by now that a 1:25 000 scale Ordnance Survey map is
covered in a series of blue grid lines. These grid lines help you to pinpoint an
exact location anywhere on the map by giving a unique number known as a grid
reference. The vertical lines are called eastings, since they increase in value as
you travel east on the map. The horizontal lines are called northings, since they
increase in value as you travel north on the map.

Four-figure grid references

A four-figure grid reference is a handy way of identifying any square on a map.

Grid references are easy if you can remember that you always have to go along
the corridor before you go up the stairs. To find the number of a square first use
the eastings to go along the corridor until you come to the bottom left-hand
corner of the square you want. Write this two-figure number down. Then use the
northing to go up the stairs until you find the same corner.

Put this two-figure number after your first one and you now have the four-figure
grid reference, which looks like this: 2951

Always remember: Along the corridor and then up the stairs.

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 Task

Task 3: Using the Bembridge Explorer extract answer these questions?

3a. What is the name of the school in grid square 6486?
3b. What is the name of the named building in grid square 6488?
3c. What grid square is Black Rock found in?

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 Task
28

27

A
26

25

B
24

C
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82 83 84 85 86 87

Work out the 4 figure grid references for A, B and C on the following figure:

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 Six-figure grid references
35

34 10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
33 0

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

32

61 62 63 64

If you want to pinpoint an exact place on a map, such as your own house, you
will need to use a six-figure grid reference. First find the four-figure grid
reference for the square and write it down with a space after each set of numbers,
like this:
62_ 33_

Now imagine this square is divided up into 100 tiny squares with 10 squares long
each side. Still remembering to go along the corridor and up the stairs, work out
the extra numbers you need and put them into your four-figure grid reference like
this:

625 333

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 Task

Task 4: Using the Bembridge Explorer extract answer these questions?

4a. What is at grid reference 648876?
4b. What would you be doing at grid reference 644885?
4c. What building is to be found at grid reference 643882?

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 Task
35

10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

32

61 62 63 64

Work out the 6 figure grid references from the following figures?

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 Task
35

34

33

32

61 62 63 64

Work out the 6 figure grid references from the following figures?

When giving directions you can provide even more accuracy to your grid
reference by stating a nearby landmark or feature. For example, on the
Bembridge Explorer extract I am at grid reference 644874, at the crossroads.

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 What is scale?

See also www.cas.sc.edu/sciaa/staff/gillamh/scale.html

The scale of a map shows how much you would have to enlarge your map to get
the actual size of the piece of land you are looking at. For example, your map has
a scale of 1:25 000, which means that every 1 cm on the map represents 25 000 of
those same units of measurement on the ground (for example, 25 000 cm = 250
metres). That might sound a bit complicated, but Ordnance Survey maps have
been designed to make understanding scale easy. Look at the front of a 1:25 000
scale map and you will see that the scale has been written out for you like this: 4
cm to 1 km.

This means that every 4 cm on a map = 1 km in real life. To make it even easier,
the grid lines are exactly 4 cm apart, so every square is 1 km by 1 km. Maps are
made at different scales for different purposes. The 1:25 000 scale map is very
useful for walking, but if you use it in a car you will quickly drive off the edge!
On the other hand, maps at 1:250 000 scale (note the extra zero) show lots more
land but in far less detail.

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 How do we measure distance?

It is always important to know how far you have to travel and how long it is
going to take you. By measuring a distance on your map, you can work out how
far that is in reality. You can measure this distance either in a straight line (as the
crow flies) or following a winding route such as a country lane. To get this
information from a map is very easy.

Here is a way of doing it: You can measure between two points by using a piece
of thin string. If you are measuring the distance in a straight line, then simply
stretch the string between the two points. If you are following a road or track that
is not straight, bend the string to follow the exact shape until you reach the
second point. Now that you have a distance in centimetres marked on your string
you can find out the real distance. You can do this in a couple of ways:
By eye
Place string against the scale bar on the map. This is usually at the foot of the
map sheet.
By measuring
Measure your distance on your string with a ruler. Suppose your string is 10 cms
long. You know that 4 cm = 1 km, so the answer is 2.5 km.

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 Task

Task 5:
5a. How far is it in a straight line on the ground from point 1 to point 2?
5b. How far is it to walk along the road from point 4 (IRB Sta) to point 5 (PO)?
5c. Can you work out how long it would take you to walk both these distances?
(Most people walk at 3 km per hour, so it will take 20 minutes to walk in a
straight line across a 1 km grid square.)

Remember that the grid lines on a 1:25 000 scale map are 1 km apart. A quick
way of estimating distance is to count each square you cross in a straight line. If
going diagonally the distance across the grid square is about 1½ km.

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 How are hills and mountains shown on a map?

The ability to understand the shape of the ground from a map is a useful skill to
learn, particularly in mountainous landscapes. The height and shape of the ground
is shown in 1:25 000 scale maps by brown contour lines. A contour is a line
drawn on a map that joins points of equal height above sea level. For 1:25 000
scale maps the interval between contours is usually 5 metres, although in
mountainous regions it may well be 10 metres. Remember contour numbering
reads up hill – in other words the top of the number is uphill and the bottom is
downhill. Also remember the closer contour lines are together, the steeper the
slope.

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 Task

Task 6:
6a. What type of slope is at the point where the parking symbol is on the map in
grid square 6385? Is it a shallow slope or a steep slope?
6b. If you are walking from point 2 to point 5 in a straight line, is it uphill or
downhill?

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