What an orange hides!
The Earth is an almost perfect sphere but if we want to represent it in a flat surface to study some places in detail, this is not an easy task.
Cartographers, experts in Geography and in mapping, have developed many map projections.
There are three main families of map projections based on the types of geometric shapes used to represent a sphere in a plane. None of them is perfect and all have drawbacks:
cylindrical projections, where the image of the globe is projected onto a cylindrical surface unwrapped in a flat surface. The regions in the polar zones are oversized.
conic projections: the image of the globe is projected onto a cone, lying the apex of the cone on the polar axis of the Earth. These projections produce less distortion at mid- and high latitudes than cylindrical projections.
azimuthal projections, where the image of the Earth is projected onto a plane. Not suitable to represent the entire Earth in one view.
Moreover, projections can be:
conformal: without distortions in the shape and contour.
equivalent: without distortions in the surface.
equidistant: maintaining proportions in the distance.
A map is a two-dimensional (flat) representation of the Earth's surface, reduced in size, which shows information in a simplified, selective and conventional way.
Physical maps show the physical contours and elements of land: mountains, rivers, lakes, sees... As a particular type of physical maps, topographic maps show natural features and artificial or manmade elements such as roads, populated areas...
Thematic maps show specific information related to a theme of a particular geographic area. The most common thematic maps are:
The main ELEMENTS IN A MAP which help us to interpret what it represents are: the title, the orientation (the wind rose), scale, key, toponym, symbols and geographic coordinates.
Let's see this video and then we will do the following activity.
1- Cities you can't miss. Each student uses Google Maps to find out the geographic coordinates, continent and country of a city. Then, they will insert the city in a map.
2- Now, they will find out what is in the following coordinates:
41°24'12.2"N 2°10'26.5"E
37°10'35.6"N 3°35'19.8"W
54°55'57.3"S 67°36'59.8"W
20°09'37.4"S 57°29'58.5"E