Topographic Maps Show the Shape of the Land

Topographic Maps Show the Shape of the Land

Talk with a partner What information can you get from looking at this map?

Talk with a partner Does this map tell you anything about the physical land? Does this map tell you anything about hills, valleys, or roads that travel uphill/downhill?

What is a Topographic Map? �Imagine you are on a vacation with your family in a national park. You have a trail map but the map does not tell you anything about what the land looks like. Will you have to cross any rivers or valleys? How far uphill or downhill will you have to hike? �A topographic map tells you something about the topography or the shape of the land. �It represents a 3 D landscape using 2 D drawings.

Topography �Is the shape, or features of the land. �Features can be natural (mountains, plateaus, plains) �Features can be man-made (dams, roads) �A flat map that uses lines to show Earth’s features.

Contour Lines �Wiggly lines on a contour map �Show areas of elevation, slope, and relief

Elevation �How high above sea level an area is. �Can range from a few meters to several thousand meters above sea level.

Slope �Tells how steep an area is. �The more gradual the slope, the farther apart the contour lines will be. �The steeper the slope, the closer together the contour lines.

Which hike would be steeper? A. From point A to B B. From point C to D C D B A

Relief �The difference between an areas high and low points. �If you subtract the lowest elevation on the map from the areas highest elevation you get a measure of the area’s relief. �Check: what is the difference between elevation and slope? �Elevation: height above sea level �Slope: Steepness of the land

12 00 12 50 11 Every point along a contour line represents the same elevation. 50 Rules for Successful Contouring Rule #1 This entire line represents 1200 feet above sea level. The space in-between each contour line is called the contour interval which tells you

12 00 12 Can’t happen! 50 11 Contour lines NEVER split or divide! 50 Rules for Successful Contouring Rule #2

Rules for Successful Contouring Rule #3 12 00 50 12 50 11 Contour lines cannot just stop. They must either form a closed loop, or run off the edge of your map. 11 00 This is fine! ? What’s the elevation here? ? ? ?

12 00 50 50 11 Contour lines NEVER, EVER cross 11 00 Rules for Successful Contouring Rule #4 12 What’s going on? ? Is this area above or below 1200 feet? ?

Tip 1: What does contour line spacing indicate? The closer together the contour lines are, the steeper the hill is. The more spread apart they are, the gentler the slope. Traveling along the red line would be much steeper than traveling along the green line.

Tip 2: Which way is the stream flowing? When contour lines cross a stream or river, they form vshaped kinks in the lines that always point upstream. Also remember - Water always flows DOWNHILL! Blue Creek flow towards the East.

Tip 3: Finding the hill tops Hill tops are easy to find. Just look for the concentric closed contour lines that form the top of a hill. Notice the contour lines that form the two peaks below.

TOPO QUIZ Now its time to test your topography map reading skills. Good Luck!!

If you traveled from point A to point B, would you be going uphill or downhill? 2. What landform do you think this map depicts? a. Valley b. Mountain c. Plain 1. 0 0 70 75 A 0 80 B X 825

D B 1150 C 1200 3. What is the approximate elevation at the top of this hill? a. 1240 b. 1300 c. 1000 4. Which hike would be steeper, from A to B or from C to D? A 1100

50 0 0 60 0 70 80 0 5. In which direction does Maple Creek flow? a. Northeast b. Southwest c. Can’t tell from information given 6. What is the contour interval of this map? a. 50 b. 100 c. 400 e M l ap k e e Cr

Answers to Quiz � 1) Uphill � 2) Mountain � 3) 1240 � 4) C to D � 5) Northeast � 6) 100