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B. Map Features and the Legend.
1. Map legend
information
The legend information contained below was found linked to the U.S.G.S. website http://mac.usgs.gov/mac/isb/pubs/booklets/symbols/index.html. It serves as reference material for activities which familiarize students with map reading skills.
2. Activity:
Locating & Interpreting Map Symbols.
Obtain a class set of the
U.S.G.S. quadrangle map of the area of interest. The criteria used to select an area of study
can include proximity of water body or bodies for study to your school, areas
in which analyses are currently taking place so that information generated may
be part of a greater whole, or a sub watershed of interest.
Compass Points
and Longitude/Latitude
Once a set of quad maps are chosen, have students orient the map such
that North is facing away, up. Compass
points and lines of Latitude and Longitude can be discussed. Global Positioning Systems and other
Navigational aids can be discussed, simple triangulation exercise can be
introduced as a math connection.
http://www.usgs.gov/research/gis/title.html GIS website resource
Elevation
Have students identify areas of interest; mountain tops, valleys and their
home or school, then give the elevation.
Note the contour interval for your map.
Determine the nearest benchmark, (horizontal, vertical and boundary) to
your school.
Boundaries
Locate State and county boundary lines.
Have students determine how far they live from their school “as the crow
flies”, in a straight line and by the street path. How far do they live from the Mall or other
location of interest. Students are able
to interpret various types of borders and learn to use the distance scale.
Land Surface
Features
Locate any type of Land surface area which is found in the legend
below. Students start with common
features such as forests and populated areas and can then refine their skills
by locating mine entrances, levees or orchards.
Water Features
Locate the water
body closest your school, trace the tributaries that feed it and those that
form the outflow. What river does the
outflow contribute water to and in what valley does it flow? What is the difference between a marsh and
shallow waters, are there any bathymetric indications on your topographical
map? This is a good time to start to
define the watershed which you intend to study as part of a larger area and the areas from which it is
fed.
Buildings and
Related Features
Perhaps the map feature which most students can best identify is the
location of their home. How are
buildings represented on the topographical map? Where is the school, the
nearest church or synagogue, a storage tank and the airport. All of these items can be interesting to
locate.
Roads,
Railroads, and Other
How are roads and railroads represented on the map. What are the different types of roads and
what is the difference between them.
Where does the railroad enter the map and where does it go, it what
direction? Are there any inclines along
the way, if so what is the change in altitude?
In general get your students to challenge one another to identify and
then find things from the legend on your quadrangle map.
Elevation
Boundaries
Land Surface Features
Water Features
Buildings and Related Features
Roads, Railroads, and Other Features
For further teaching
resources about maps and mapping go to
http://mac.usgs.gov/mac/isb/pubs/teachers-packets/exploringmaps/information.pdf
II. Delineating
Watersheds
Locating
The earth is the watershed which we will study, it does not
lend itself easily to study so that we must limit the site of study to smaller
scale. Below is a representation of
The area which we are interested in studying is located in
The
next smaller map starts to show features of interest for the chosen watershed,
that of
Using an image created using the EPA’s Enviromapper, one may
see that the three tributaries are further divided into smaller branches. A
rough idea of the area which drains into
Now that the general area for the watershed of interest is
known students will use U.S.G.S. topographical maps to further refine the
boundaries of this watershed. When
using topographical maps it is suggested that acetate overlays be used to
introduce the concept of reference points for map overlays and facilitate
corrections.
Other sources for maps containing contour information include State G.I.S. offices and Regional Planning Commissions. Ideally students could use mapping software such as ARC Info or MAPINFO to delineate watersheds as these are industry standards for such a process as this, it is however, cost prohibitive.
Evaluation: There are a multitude of opportunities for student’s skills to be evaluated.
Vocabulary
Mapping
Worksheets
Scavenger hunt for items found on various web sites
Create your own map with designated items
Locate a watershed and map it
Items of interest located within a watershed, industry, residence, farm, golf course.
Map a watershed of your choice.