Types of Maps

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Types of Maps Map projections,

• Social Studies

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Purpose of Maps

• What is a map?
• A map is a graphic representation of a portion of
  the earth's surface drawn to scale, as seen from
  above.
• What maps have you used?

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Types of Maps

• Physical map
• Map that shows how the land looks.
• Relief map
• Map that shows the height of land above sea
  level.
• Political map
• Map that shows how humans have divided the
  surface of the Earth.
• Special Purpose map
• Map that gives one particular kind of information.

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Physical Map

• Shows how the land looks
• Give some examples of things a physical map might
  show.
• Mountains
• Rivers
• Plains
• Lakes
• Other physical features of the land.

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Physical Map
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Relief Map

• Map that shows the height of land above sea level.

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Political Map

• Map that shows how humans have divided the
  surface of the Earth.
• Divided into countries, states, etc
• Displays some physical features since those are
  often used as boundaries.

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Political Map
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Special Purpose Map

• A map that gives one particular kind of
  information.
• Rainfall maps, population density maps, Zip Code
  map, interstate/highway map, etc

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Light Density Map of Earth
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Population Density Map
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More About Maps

• Maps are usually a combination of physical,
  political, and special purpose.
• Example
• A map may show the products produced in each
  state within the United States along with major
  rivers.
• What types of maps are represented in the
  examples below?

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Carbon Emission MapWhat map type of map would
this be?
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Map Projections

• A map projection is a way to show the rounded
  Earth on a flat piece of paper.
• Maps show four things
• Direction
• Distance
• Shape
• Size
• Globes can show all four accurately but maps
  cannot.
• To get one thing accurate, we must give up
  another.

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Map Projections

• Map projection
• A way of showing the earth on a piece of paper.
• Conic projection
• Map projection used for showing small areas
  midway between the equator and the poles.
• Gall-Peters projection
• Map projection that shows the sizes of the
  landmasses correctly.
• Mercator projection
• Map projection that shows true directions and
  land shapes but exaggerates size of landmasses.

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Mercator Projection

• Shows how the Earth would look if a piece of
  paper were wrapped to form a tube around the
  globe.
• The distances are not true. The sizes of the
  landmasses near the North and South poles are
  greatly exaggerated.

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Mercator Projection

• Compare the sizes of South America and Greenland
  on a Mercator map.
• South America is actually nine times larger than
  Greenland.

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Gall-Peters Projection

• Map projection that shows the sizes of the
  landmasses correctly.
• However, shapes and distances are not accurate.

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Gall-Peters Projection
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Conic Projections

• Map projection used for showing small areas
  midway between the equator and the poles. Size,
  distance, and direction are fairly accurate.
• It comes from the idea of placing a cone over
  part of a globe.

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Conic Projections
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Robinson ProjectionMost widely used and shows
only minor distortions in true size, distance,
and shape of landmasses
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More About Map Projections

• There are a number of other kinds of projections
  which show the sizes and shapes of landmasses
  fairly accurately.
• Remember that no map can show direction,
  distance, shape, and size at the same time as
  accurately as a globe.
• Every kind of map has a special use, but none is
  perfect.
• Be careful about making judgments about the world
  based on maps since shape, size, or distance may
  be inaccurate.