Parts of a Map

o Title o Data frame o Labels o Compass (compass rose) o Legend (Key) o Scale o Colors

o Title explains the subject of the map o Gives an idea of what information the map conveys o usually found on the top or bottom of the map Title

o It is the portion of the map that displays the data layers o This section is the most important and central focus of the map document Data Frame

o Labels are words or phrases that explain features on the map o Name of city, street, places Labels

o It shows you directions on a map o It has arrows that point to all four principal directions- north, south, east, west o Intermediate directions-northeast, northwest, southwest, and southeast Compass Rose

o It lists and explains the symbols used o These are code instead of text o Placed at a corner and enclosed by a box o They are not always look like the actual object o Symbols are 3 kinds: point, line, area o Consider shape, size, orientation, pattern, color, value Legend (Key)

Scale shows the ratio between a unit of length on the map and a unit of distance on the earth Scale

Scale A standard map is produced at 1:50 000, where 2 cm on the map represents 1 km on the ground Scale

1. Scale statement 2. Ratio scale 3. Representative Fraction scale (RF) 4. Linear scale/bar scale

Common USGS map scales: o 1:24,000 1:62,500 1:25,0000 Common orienteering map scales: o 1:15,000; 1:10,000; 1:5,000; 1:7,500; 1:4,000 o Nominally called 1:15; 1:10; 1:5 (thousand not mentioned) Scale Orienteering - A competitive sport in which participants find their way to various checkpoints across rough country with the aid of a map and compass, the winner being the one with the lowest elapsed time. USGS- United States Geological Survey (US Department of the Interior)

Additional information on map o Grid or graticule o Border or neatline o Mapping credits or source o Inset map o Update info and printing date o Copyright o Contact info o Access permission o Logo o Additional boiler plate info

Terminology Bearing: The horizontal angle at a given point, measured clockwise from magnetic north or true north to a second point. Elevation: Vertical distance from a datum (usually mean sea level) to a point or object on the Earth’s surface. Mean sea level: The average height of the surface of the sea for all stages of tide, used as a reference surface from which elevations are measured. Relief Map: The earth’s surface is not uniform and it varies from mountains to hills to plateaus and plains. The elevation and depressions of the earth’s surface are known as physical features or relief features of the earth. The map showing these features is called a relief map

Terminology Plateau: A widely stretched flat–topped high land, with relatively steeper slopes, rising above the adjoining plain or sea is called a plateau. The contour lines representing a plateau are normally close spaced at the margins with the innermost contour showing wide gap between its two sides. Gorge: In high altitudes, gorges form in the areas where the vertical erosion by river is more prominent than the lateral erosion. They are deep and narrow river valleys with very steep sides. A gorge is represented by very closely-spaced contour lines on a map with the innermost contour showing small gap between its two sides.