6th Grade Geography Map Projections Pages M6-M17 in the book

Objectives To understand the methods for determining locations. To interpret different elements included on a map. To examine different types of map projections To understand and interpret the different types of maps.

Focus & Motivate Use the information for yesterday to answer the questions below. You can use your notes and pages M6-M13. Why would you look at a map? Does every map include the same information? Explain.

Instruction Read only: Maps allow us to see how the space on our Earth is used. We can understand features and their relationship to how people live. It becomes a tool for us to help make decisions. Until recently, maps were exclusively made by people surveying, measuring, and recording the land and topography right here on Earth. Now satellites and aerial photography assist in gathering that data for us. Example: Google Earth and maps on your smart phone. Ask how geography affects the citizens of an area. Do people in Colorado commercial fish for a living? Why or why not? Ask what kinds of decisions can be made using a map? Do highways and roads get built by the whim of the government? Why or why not? Show GIS system for Pueblo County Skyview address: Google Earth link. http://maps.yahoo.com/place/?lat=38.305261026460165&lon=-104.77971732616425&bb=38.307845652218994%2C-104.78550553321838%2C38.30267640070134%2C-104.77392911911011&addr=Pueblo%2C%20CO

Instruction Map Basics – Components of a Map (Vocabulary) Please copy the words and definitions below. It will be a page in your study materials. Title – indicates the subject matter of the map and can tell you what information it may obtain. Legend (key) – lists and explains the colors and symbols used on the map. (Map Key) Labels – words or phrases that name features on the map. Scale – compares a unit of length on the map and a unit of distance on the Earth. Compass Rose – shows North, South, East, and West.

Instruction Map Basics – Components of a Map (Vocabulary Continued) Symbols – may stand for capital cities, economic activities, or natural resources. Look at the map legend for more details. Colors – show a variety of information on a map. Check the map legend for more details. Lines of Latitude – These are imaginary lines that show distances north or south of the Equator. They are parallel so they never meet. Lines of Longitude – These are the imaginary lines that show distances east or west of the Prime Meridian. They meet at the North and South Poles.

Focus Read only: Latitude and Longitude These imaginary lines allow you to pinpoint the locations of cities and other geographic features. They provide a grid on a map using intersecting lines or coordinates. By using these coordinates you can find “absolute location.” All grid coordinates use degrees to measure distance. Hemisphere This is a term that means half of a globe. The globe can be divided into a northern and southern half as well as a western and eastern half. Usually, it is split in halves using the Equator and the Prime Meridian . The United States is in two hemispheres – the northern and western.

Focus Read only: Projections A map projection allows for the representation of a globe on a flat surface. Flat maps cannot show sizes, shapes, and directions with total accuracy. So all projections distort some aspect of the Earth’s surface. There are four map projections - Mercator, Azimuthal, Homolosine, and Robinson. We will study Mercator and Robinson. Each has its benefits and drawbacks as we will compare them on the next slide.

Focus - Projections Robinson Mercator Homolosine Azimuthal Ask- What obvious differences do you see between the projections? Homolosine Azimuthal

Focus – Different Types of Maps Physical Maps Read only: Physical maps allow you to study the features on the Earth’s surface such as mountains, deserts, valleys, and plateaus. You can locate bodies of water like rivers, lakes, and oceans as well. Maps help to show the relative location of items and characteristics of a region. On a physical map, color, shading, or contour lines are used to show elevations or altitudes. These maps are sometimes called relief maps. See the next slide for a physical map example.

Physical Map

Focus - Different Types of Maps Political Map Read only: Political maps show features that humans have created on the Earth’s surface. Included on a political map may be cities, states, provinces, territories, and countries. We use political maps to show boundaries of where man- made items begin and end. Sometimes physical features are incorporated to show their relationships within those boundaries. Usually colors are used to depict the different political borders. See the next slide for an example of a political map.

Political Map

Map Review Map Basics Answer the questions below. Where can you find the subject and basic information contained on a map? What is the function of a compass rose? What is a legend? What map feature would you use to determine the distance between two places?