Activity Sheet #2—Some Things You Need to Know to Read a Map

Fill in the answers to these questions as you learn more about what you need to know to read a map.

Working with directions

You can use north, south, east, and west to talk about where one place on a map is in relationship to another. Look at the shaded relief map to answer these questions:

On this map, which town is farthest north?

Which town is farthest south?

Which towns are farthest east?

Which town is farthest west?

If you were going from Ogden to Sandy, what direction would you travel?

If you were going from Farmington Bay to Willard Reservoir, what direction would you travel? (Hint: These are both parts of the Great Salt Lake.)

Echo Reservoir is of Salt Lake City.

Great Salt Lake State Park is of Salt Lake City.

Deer Creek Lake State Recreation Area is of Salt Lake City.

West Valley City is of Salt Lake City.

What direction do the Wasatch Mountains run?

What direction does Echo Canyon run?

Latitude and longitude

Lines of latitude and longitude represent an imaginary grid that mapmakers have developed so they can pinpoint any place on a globe or map. Using your topographic map, find the latitude and longitude markings.

In which direction do latitude lines run?

In which direction do longitude lines run?

What are the latitude and longitude of Salt Lake City?

Working with scale

The scale of the map describes the relationship between a distance on the map and the corresponding distance on the ground. Maps have different scales. Look at the legend for the shaded relief map. What is the scale of this map ?

Now look at the road map. What is the scale of this map?

Look at the topographic map. What is the scale of this map?

Using the distance scale

Using your ruler, measure the distance on your road map between the State capitol and the town of South Salt Lake. The distance is:

Using the distance scale on the road map, figure out how many miles it is from the State capitol to Sandy. The distance is:

Now locate the State capitol on the shaded relief map. Using your ruler, measure the distance on your shaded relief map between the State capitol and the town of Sandy. The distance is:

Using the distance scale on the shaded relief map, figure out how many miles it is from the State capitol to Sandy. The distance is:

Your answers should be the same! Can you explain why?

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