Reading maps is not usually difficult because there are some rules that are generally followed when creating and reading maps:
- North, South, East, and West are the four main "cardinal" directions.
- On a map, North is at the top, South at the bottom, West to the left, and East to the right.
- Every map has a Map Scale which relates distance on the map to the world. For example, one inch equals one mile.
- Using the scale of a map, you can tell the actual distance between two points for real.
- Maps use map symbols to represent real-world things, such as buildings, trails, roads, bridges, and rivers.
- Maps use colors to share more information. Blue often means water, green means forest, and white means bare land.
- A map has a Legend which lists the symbols it uses and what they mean.
- A grid of imaginary lines wrap around and over the earth. These lines are called Latitude and Longitude and can identify the exact location of any point on earth.
Check out the link below to access the pdf for more details.
https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/documents/resources/map-reading.pdf
How to Read a Map
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