Topographic Maps | Mahere takoto whenua

Whāinga ako: Lesson Goals

 To be able to interpret topographic maps. 

To do this students will need to use their prior knowledge of grid and area references.

Students will need to learn how to use contour lines and points to judge elevation. 

They will need to learn how to use a key to identify features on a map.

In Geography we are often looking at maps at a vertical angle. This can make identifying things very difficult. Do the following activity to explore this!

When looking at a photo it is obvious when we are looking at a mountain. Take Aoraki/Mt Cook for example-we can tell it is quite big just by looking at the image. With maps it is a little harder to tell what is high and what is low. 

To overcome this, we use maps called topographical maps to let us know how high or low areas are. We will break these maps down below.

Keywords

Relief – the difference between the highest and lowest heights of an area.
Topography – the surface features of the earth like hills, mountains, valleys etc..

Contour lines | Rārangi Hua

Using a topographic map (pick one from A7), students can attempt to identify the contour interval, and practice following the lines around. Pick 4 features (things on the map) that are at the same height above sea level. 

Something to note about contour lines is that the closer they are together, the steeper the slope is in that part of the map. The elevation is changing very quickly, therefore steep. 

Notable points, like the tops of hills or mountains, will be noted with a specific height listed by them. 

Explain the key/legend to students. This is a table showing the symbols on the map, and what they mean. 

Test each other...

1. Find a feature on the map and work out its 6-figure grid reference. 

2. Give your partner the grid reference. Your partner needs to find the feature, identify what it is using the key, and figure out its height above sea level using the contour lines.