CE / AL Geography

Map Reading Skills and Techniques

Major skills and techniques

Read and interpret variety of maps at different scales (1:20 000 and 1:5 000).

Interpret ground and aerial photographs to extract and analyze geographical information from them

What kinds of basic skills have been tested before?

Drawing a transect (AL-98, 04) Drawing a sketch map (AL-99, 03, 05 +

CE-05) Drawing a cross-section (AL-01, 02) Giving map evidence (AL-98, 99, 02, 03,

04, 05, 06 + CE-05, 06)

(Land-use) transect

Shows the land-use distribution Along a line Between 2 points

Types of land uses in urban landscapes

R – residential, e.g. houses C – commercial, e.g. offices I – industrial, e.g. factories T – transportation, e.g. railway station In – institutional, e.g. schools Rc – recreational, e.g. parks V – vacant / open space, e.g. constructio

n site

Types of land uses in rural landscapes

C – cultivated land W – woodland G – grass / shrubs V – vacant / abandoned land

How to draw a transect?

Identify the 2 points. Connect the 2 points with a straight line. Use a strip of paper and mark the land

uses on it. Add a key and a title.

R Rc T R W

A land-use transect from A to B

A B

Example: Draw a land-use transect from point A to point B shown in the photograph. (AL-2004) (4 marks)

F I O T O R W

A land-use transect from A to B

Key:I: industrialO: open spaceT: transportationR: residentialW: woodlandF: waterfront

AB

Extract information from both photograph and the map.

Yau Tong Estate

MTR Station

Factories / warehouses

Construction sites / open space for car parks

Points to pay attention when drawing a transect

The length of the transect must be the same as the distance between 2 points.

The land use types instead of the objects should be mentioned, e.g. write institutional land use rather than school / educational land use.

You should have a clear concept about various types of land uses.

Sketch map

A simplified map Showing specific information, e.g.

transport routes, contour or land use With the same / different scale from the

map extract With a title, a key and direction.

Example: Draw a sketch map to show the major land uses in grid squares 1086, 1087, 1088, 1186, 1187 and 1188. (AL-2003) (4 marks)

Points to pay attention when drawing a sketch map.

Read the questions carefully if the sketch maps are drawn in the same or a different scale from the map extract.

Include only information as required by the question.

Sketch the features roughly. Shade the land use in a simple way. Add a key and a title.

Cross section / River profile

Horizontal scale (HS) of the cross section must be the same as the map extract.

Vertical scale (VS) depends on vertical exaggeration (VE).

If the HS is 1:20000, with VE of 4 times, the VS should be 1:5000.

The vertical interval of the cross section must refer to the map.

A river profile

Points to pay attention when drawing a cross section.

Clearly identify the 2 points. Read the height of the 2 points carefully. If several points have the same height,

don’t draw a straight horizontal line to connect all points. Decide what parts o f the line are ups and downs.

Mark the features clearly by using a key, e.g. R – river.

Map evidence