Map Basics
What is a map?
A visual representation of Earth's surface or a specific area.
What continent are we on?
North America
What is a primary source?
A source created by someone who experienced, witnessed, or participated in an event or created during the time being studied.
What is a map projection?
A way of representing Earth's curved surface on a flat map.
An imaginary line at 0° latitude that divides Earth into the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
What is a map legend/key?
A guide that explains the symbols and colors used on a map.
Name all five oceans.
Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern, Arctic
What is a secondary source?
A source that interprets, analyzes, or explains information from the past, usually created after the event.
Why do we need projections?
A spherical object (like the Earth) cannot be flattened without something breaking. (Earth is roughly spherical, while maps are usually flat.)
What is the Prime Meridian?
An imaginary line at 0° longitude that divides Earth into the Eastern and Western Hemispheres.
What does a compass rose show?
Directions, including north, south, east, west, and sometimes intermediate directions.
Which continent contains the South Pole?
Antarctica
Is a photograph a primary source?
Usually yes, if it was taken during the event/time being studied.
What happens when a round Earth is shown on a flat map?
Some features become distorted, such as shape, size, distance, or direction.
Latitude measures what?
Distance North or South of the Equator
Which map element helps you determine actual distance?
The scale
If you traveled south from Europe, which continent would you eventually reach?
Africa
What does AD stand for/mean?
Anno Domini (in the year of our lord)
What is one problem with the Mercator projection?
It greatly exaggerates the size of areas near the poles.
Longitude measures what?
Distance east or west of the Prime Meridian.
Why is a scale important?
It shows the relationship between distance on the map and actual distance in the real world.
Which ocean touches the western coast of the United States?
Pacific Ocean
Put these events in chronological order:
1. Great Pyramid
2. First Olympic Games
3. Julius Caesar dies
4. Roman Empire begins
Name 4 features of maps that could be distorted due to flattening the Earth into a map.
Shape, size, direction, distance
What is the coordinates of the "X" on the map? (say it correctly!)
0 degrees (EQ), 60 degrees West