Maps Flashcards
What are the characteristics of maps?
scale, symbols, and grids.
How do geographers describe where things are?
use absolute location
How does the longitude/latitude system work?
All lines of latitude measure either north or south from the 0-degree line of latitude (the equator). … The lines of longitude measure either east or west from the 0-degree line of longitude (the Prime Meridian).
Meridians
Longitude is measured by imaginary lines that run around the Earth vertically (up and down) and meet at the North and South Poles. These lines are known as meridians.
Parallels Degrees
Parallels represent degrees of latitude, or how far a place is away from the equator. The equator’s latitude is 0 and the poles are 90 south and north.
Properties of a Map
distance, direction, shape, and area
International Date Line
passes through the mid-Pacific Ocean and roughly follows a 180 degrees longitude north-south line on the Earth
Time zones
The United States is divided into six time zones: Hawaii-Aleutian time, Alaska time, Pacific time, Mountain time, Central time and Eastern time.
How wide is a time zone?
15 degrees
Why are time zones not all the same size and shape?
They are based on longitude and defined by Earth’s rotation
Cylindrical
cylindrical projection, in cartography, any of numerous map projections of the sphere on the surface of a cylinder that is then unrolled as a plane. Originally, this and other map projections were achieved by a systematic method of drawing the Earth’s meridians and latitudes on the flat surface.
Mercator
Mercator is a conformal cylindrical map projection that was originally created to display accurate compass bearings for sea travel. An additional feature of this projection is that all shapes are accurate.
Conic
A map projection in which the surface features of a globe are depicted as if projected onto a cone typically positioned so as to rest on the globe along a parallel
polyconic
The name translates into “many cones,” and it is created by lining up an infinite number of cones along the central meridian.
Area / Equal-area
preserve area measure, generally distorting shapes in order to do that
Shape / Conformal
A map that preserves shape
Distance / Equidistant
A projection that maintains scale along one or more lines
Direction / Azimuthal
a horizontal angle measured clockwise from a north base line or meridian
Mercator Projections
a geographical chart where the spherical globe is flattened into a two-dimensional map
Miller Cylindrical
The Miller cylindrical projection is a modified Mercator projection, proposed by Osborn Maitland Miller in 1942.
Robinson Projection
map projection of a world map which shows the entire world at once
What are the best uses for the basic types of projections?
they are azimuthal, conic, Mercator cylindrical, and Robinson cylindrical due to their conformity
3 ways Scale represented on maps
There are three primary ways to indicate scale on a map: a representative fraction (e.g., 1:24,000), a verbal scale (e.g., “One inch to the mile”), or a graphic scale bar.
Large Scale vs Small Scale Maps
Large scale maps show a smaller amount of area with a greater amount of detail. … Large scale maps are typically used to show neighborhoods, a localize area, small towns, etc. Small scale maps show a larger geographic area with few details on them.
