TOPIC 10: MAP WORK

BASIC TECHNIQUES AND SKILLS

A map

Is a diagrammatic representation of something e.g. the earth, stars or buildings e.t.c.

Uses of maps
- To locate places.
- To determine where you are going.
- To show distribution of features and type of materials.

Conventional sign

- Is a standard sign used on a map to indicate a particular feature. The conventional sign may be a
letter of the alphabet or it may be a symbol.

Three Types of Symbols

 Point symbols - buildings, dipping tanks, trigonometrical stations.

- Line symbols - railways, roads, power lines, telephone lines.
 Area symbols - cultivation, orchards and vineyards, pans.

Six Colour Groups

1. Brown: land or earth features - contours, eroded areas, prominent rock outcrops, sand areas and dunes,
secondary or gravel roads
2. Blue: water features - aqueducts, canals, furrows and siphons, coastlines, dams, lakes, marshes, swamps
and vleis, pans, rivers, water-towers
3. Green: vegetation features - cultivated fields, golf courses, nature and game reserve boundaries, state
forest boundaries, orchards and vineyards, recreation grounds, woodland
4. Black: construction features - roads, tracks, railways, buildings, bridges, cemeteries, communication
towers, dam walls, excavations and mine dumps, telephone lines, power lines, wind pumps, wrecks, ruins,
trigonometrical stations, boundaries
5. Grey: construction features - built-up areas, cadastral information.
6. Red: construction features - national, airdrome and main roads, lighthouses and marine lights; pink also
shows international boundaries

Five Elements

 Relief - contours, spot heights, trigonometrical stations.

 Water - lakes, rivers, waterholes, reservoirs.
 Vegetation - cultivation, orchards and vineyards, forests, plantations, woodland.
 Man-made - communication lines, settlements.
 Political – boundaries

Scale
- A scale is the ratio of a distance between two points on a map and the actual distance of the same
two points on the ground.

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 1) The Linear Scale

This is a graphical representation of the amount by which the represented reality has been reduced.

2) Ratio scale

- Ratio – 1: 50 000.
- One unit on the map is equal to 50 000 units of the same size on the ground or 2cm to represent
1km.

3) Representative fraction – describe this type of scale.

Distance

Measuring distance using, a string, straight edge of paper and dividers.

 Measure the length between two points with a straight edge of paper.

Direction

 An approximate way of describing position of one place in relation to the direction makes use of
16 cardinal points, the four main ones being North, South, East and West
 Direction is a generalised method of showing the position of one place from another i.e. points of
a compass.

Bearing

 Bearing is the measurement of direction in degrees.

 True North is always at the top of the topographical map, but not always at the top of the photos.

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  0° is True North, bearings are always read in a clockwise direction from the North line through a
full circle of 36Oº.

 Calculate the true bearing from spot height 735 to spot height 759.

a) With a pencil, draw a line parallel to the side of the map through spot height 735. (This is your
True North line Oº).
b) Join the two spot heights with a pencil line.
c) Measure (with a protractor) the angle between True North, Oº ( i.e. the line through spot height
735 and parallel to the side of the map) and line joining two spot heights.
d) The answer is 106°

Magnetic bearing

 Magnetic Bearing is the distance in degrees from Magnetic North (i.e. from where the compass
points to North) to the position of the place.
 The magnetic bearing between A and B is angle y = 112º

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Map Referencing / Co-ordinates

 This is the method of finding any point on the map.

Latitude and Longitude

 This is the method of finding the co-ordinates of a place.

 Latitude and Longitude are measured in degrees, minutes and tenths of a minute (or seconds).
 Latitudes are drawn parallel to each other running from west to east.
 Longitudes are drawn running north to south.

Finding 4 Figure Grid References

 It is used for general purpose.
 Always begin from the eastings, followed by the northings.

Steps
1. Locate the grid square of the particular feature to be found.
2. Read the easting for the south-west of the grid square,
3. Read the northing for the south-west of the grid square (the two lines intersect forming
an L- pattern).
4. Simply write the two numbers together, with the easting first.
5. The 4 fig of the shaded box below is: 2 9 5 1

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Finding 6 Figure Grid References
 It is used for precise locations
 It pinpoints actual location by involving the subdivision of the eastings and northings
reference into 10 imaginary lines.
 Each tiny square represents 1/100 of the original big (grid) square.

Steps
1. Locate the grid square of the particular feature to be found.
2. Divide the grid square into 10 equal parts along both the northings and eastings.
3. Number these divisions from 0 to 9 along both northings and eastings.
4. Mark the southwest corner of the feature that you are locating.
5. Estimate how far the feature is from the easting first using the scale in tenths.
6. Estimate how far the feature is from the northing using the scale in tenths.
7. Write the value for the easting followed by the northing.
8. The six fig grid reference of the spot height below is: 6 2 5 3 3 3

Note:
 The third number is part of the easting and the sixth number is part of the northing.
These numbers refer to the small squares in tenths.
 Accuracy of 6 figure grid reference depends on subdiving the parts equally and ensuring
that the (dotted) lines are parallel to the grid lines.

13 Figure Grid Reference

 We used to do 4 figure grid reference as well as 6 figure grid reference. Hope you are well
versed with how those two are done.
 Now 13 figure grid reference is when we have 6 figures for eastings and 7 figures for
northings.
 Let us start with the eastings.
 If you look closely at the eastings on your topographical map you will notice that there is a
small figure near what we used to take as the normal easting eg a small 4 besides say easting

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 65 or 66. Now include that small 4 then write down the normal easting and you will have
your first 3 figures for the eastings.

 Now the last 3 figures are computed in the similar way we computed the former 6 figure
grid reference.

4 6 5 0 0 0

 We are aware that our grid box has an equivalent length of 1000m, and we can divide it
into 10 segments 100m and each 100m segment can be divided into 10 segments 10m each
and each 10 m segment into segments 1m.
 So as you are moving from the main easting into the grid box to a feature you will have
written your small easting as well as the main easting and the fourth figure is obtained by
seeing how many hundreds of meters the feature lies from the main easting, the fifth is how
many tenths of units and the 6th how many units.

 Here the usual result can be 465300. The last two zeroes are there because it's not possible
to measure the distance of a normal 1:50000 topo map.

4 6 5 3 0 0

 For the northings, you will notice that they start with a double digit alongside that we used
to identify as the normal northing.

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  Copy the four numbers and add three zeroes at the end and you will have 13 figure grid
reference.

5 1 5 6 0 0 0

5 1 5 6 8 0 0

Height
 Height on all maps and photos is shown in metres above sea level.
 On the topographical map, the contour interval i.e. the vertical distance between 2 contour lines is
20 metres.
 On the orthophoto map, the contour interval is 5 metres.
 Height is used to show the following:
 Height is shown on maps in various ways – always in metres above sea level i.e. as altitude.
Contour lines.
Spot heights.
Trigonometrical beacons.
Bench marks

Gradient

This is the steepness of a slope, and is represented as a ratio e.g. 1 : 50, 1 : 500.
The smaller the number, the steeper the slope.

Gradient = VI (Vertical Height)

HE (Horizontal Equivalent)

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 VI = Highest height - Lowest height - always in metres

HE = Measure the distance between the 2 points in cms, and convert to metres.

Divide the top answer by itself, divide the bottom answer by the top. +The answer is a ratio i.e. no
units must be given.

Example 1:
Calculate the average gradient from Trig Beacon 96 to Spot Height 447.

 Highest point = 544.3m (Height of Trig. Beacon).

 Minus 447m (Spot Height).
 Difference in height = 97,3m.
 Distance = 2,6cm
 Multiply by 500 to get m = 2,6 x 500m = 1300m.
 Gradient . = H
D
= 97,3m ÷ 1300m
= 97,3 ÷ 97,3
1300m4÷ 97,3
= 1÷13,36
= 1:13,36

Finding Area

Area of a regular shape

 The formula for the area of a rectangle is length x width (i.e. the length of one long side multiplied
by the length of one short side).
 give your answer in either square metres (m2) or square kilometres (km2
 Remember to convert your map distances to real distances before you multiply.

W
Area of irregular shape
 Follow the rule that parts of a square are to be counted if they are half or more than half occupied,
but are to be ignored if less than half.
 Count the number of occupied squares and multiply the total by 1𝑘𝑚2 .

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Cross-Sections

 It is a diagram showing change in height along a line drawn between two or more points on a map.

Procedure for drawing cross-sections

 Draw a straight line joining these two points.
 Put a piece of paper with a straight edge along this line.

 On this strip of paper mark off each contour line you cross and indicate its height.
The positions of the two Trig. Beacons and any major features such as rivers should be noted.
 Draw a horizontal and vertical axis and on the vertical axis put a scale of 1cm =20m.
 Make your bottom line one contour interval lower than the lowest height on your strip of paper,
i.e. lowest height is 1620m, therefore your bottom point on your vertical scale is 1600m.

 Place your strip of paper along the bottom line and move it up keeping your starting point on the
vertical axis. When the first height on your piece of paper corresponds with the same height on the
vertical axis, mark its position with a dot. Now repeat this for each height on your strip of paper.

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 Join these dots (by freehand) to complete your cross-section.

Vertical Exaggeration

 This is used as the vertical scale must be exaggerated because, if the horizontal scale were used for
the vertical, the relief would show as an almost flat line on a cross-section.

 Vertical Exaggeration = Vertical Scale (Given on the cross-section)

Horizontal Scale (1cm repr 50 metres)
 E.g. Vertical Scale = 1 cm representing 20 metres, convert to cms by multiplying by 100 i.e. 1 : 2
000.

 VE = 1: 2 000
1: 50 000
1 1
 VE = 2000 ÷ 50000

 VE = 25 times

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 TOPIC 11

COMMON CONCEPTS OF O` LEVEL GEOGRAPHY PAPER 2 (4022/2)

1. Illustrating Data

 Information is usually given in numerical form and you are asked to present the
information in the form of a diagram.
 Questions may be specific as to the data presentation method one should use or be
general on the technique
 There are numerous techniques which are most common: i) Bar graphs, ii) Pie charts,
iii) Line and Bar graphs, iv) Popn Pyramids,
Pie Charts / Devided Circles

 These are circles drawn to represent various portions of given data. The data should be
one whole, segmented into various components.
Method of Construction

 Draw a circle of a reasonable size

 Convert given data into degrees using the below formula
Component X 360
Total 1
 Plot in the sectors starting from the 12 noon line, with the smallest portion in a
clockwise direction
 Allocate a shade for each sector
 Shade in
 Provide a key and a title
 Obtain your title from the question statement
Bar Graphs

 These are bars drawn proportional to the data given in numerical form. The data can be
one whole or unrelated.
 The bars should be of equal with but the length will vary according to the values.
 The spacing of the bars should be consistent
Method of Construction

 Draw your vertical and horizontal axis

 Label your axis
 Quantity represented should be put on vertical axis (maintain the same scale)
 Entity represented should be put on the horizontal axis
 Decide on a scale to use, considering the range of the values
 Draw in your bars, length should be equivalent to the quantity represented
 Allocate a shade (use easily drawn shade)
 Shade in
 Provide a title (Obtain your title from the question statement)

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Example June 2015 No. 4bi)

A bar graph showing production of electricity from two major source in five countries by
percentage in 1995
120

100

80

60
Thermal
40
HEP
20

Countries
Line Graph

Is a graphical representation of data which uses a line to join the points of the data being
represented.

Four types of line graphs - Simple line graph, compound line graph, group line graph,
convergent line graph.

Year 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974

Coffee 2050 2600 1800 1950 3000
Productio
n (Tons)

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Make a population pyramid graph from the following data
Simply plot males on one side and females on the other with each row of the graph representing
one of the columns of data. On the X axis you start with 0 in the centre and write marks on
either side of it.
Age 0-4 5-9 10 15- 20- 25- 30- 35- 40- 45- 50- 55- 60+
14 19 24 29 34 39 44 49 54 59
Male 6000 5000 4000 3700 3500 3400 3200 3100 3000 2800 2400 2000 1700
Fem 6000 5800 4500 4200 4000 3900 3700 3600 3500 3200 3000 2500 2200
ale

2. Trends
 A trend is a pattern of gradual change in a condition. It is also known as a general
tendency of a series of data points.
 The information is given in diagram or table form
 Questions usually seek pupils to describe and explain the trends given

Describing Trends

 This refers to the stating of characteristics of the information given

 The description will however 6depend on the kind of information given
 Generally there are two kinds of trends i) Progressive information and ii) Non-
progressive information
 To describe non progressive data use superlatives such as: Highest, Lowest, Average,
Treble, Double, Half, Second highest etc
Progressive Information

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  This refers to data which is continuous
 Break up the graph into manageable units
 Precision is called for ie specify period you are referring to
 Pick up the unusual
 Use verbs to describe, for example
Verbs To Describe an Up Movement: Increase, Rise, Rocket, Goes up

*The enrolment increased significantly between 2005 and 2009

*Production rose steadily from 1990 to 1993
Verbs To Describe a Down Movement: Decrease, Decline, Drop, Fall, Go down, Plummet
(sudden drop), Plunge

*Prices of cotton dropped steadily from 2007 to 2009

*Electricity production from thermal sources plummeted from 2000 forthwith

Words And Phrases Used To Describe a Stable Trend: Maintain, Remain, Stay, Constant,
Steady, Unchanged

NB: Specify whether its constant at a low, middle or high level

*In stage 4 total population remains at a high constant

*In stage 4 death rate stays at a low level

Adverbs Used To Describe Trends

 Adverbs describe how something happens. They show the speed at which a trend is
moving :
Fast Movements (Steep): Sharply, Rapidly, Quickly, Steeply

Average Movements: Considerably, Significantly, Substantially, Moderately

Slow Movements (Gentle): Steadily, Gradually, Slowly.

Other Words

Fluctuation

 An irregular rising and falling in amount

 Specify at which level is it flactuating
Peak

 The highest point, the climax

3. Changes & Differences

 This is more or less similar to trends

 It refers to the differences between two or more given diagrams
 If it is in bar graph , line graph or table form then it is answered like a trend question
 If it is two or more diagrams pupils should look for the following:
*changes in size (increase or decrease)

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 *changes in introduction (what’s new)
*changes in removal (what has been replaced)
*changes in position (where was it and where is it now)
Example June 2015 No. 3b

 From stage 1 to stage 2 population has greatly increased

 From stage 1 to stage 2 size of cropland has increased
 Area under gathering and grazing has significantly reduced from stage 1 to stage 2
 Unused land in stage 1 is now being used for farming in stage 2
 Livestock has doubled in the period given
 Hunting in stage i1 has been abolished in stage 2
 Stage 2 is characterized by erosion which was absent in stage 1
Reasons (Explanation)

 Due to need for cheap labor to work in the fields

 This is to cater for the now large 6uhuman population
 As a result of over grazing
 In order to produce more food for the bigger population
 Because of the status attached to a large head
 Because people no0w concentrate on livestock rearing
 Due to poor farming methods
Example November 2014 No. 5b

 From 1980 to 2009 there has been increase in field sizes

 From 1980 to 2009 there is an increase in the area under crops
 In 2009 there was introduction of crops such as sugar beet and rape seed.
 The stream in 1980 was modified into a drainage ditch in 2009
 Woodland sharply decreased from 1980 -2009.
 Hedge row in 1980 was replaced by wire fencing in 2009
 In 2009 there storage bans which were not there in 1980.
 Farm house enlarged and fenced in 2009.
NB: use words which show changes i. e increase, enlarged, introduction e. t. c
Example November 2007 No.6 b

 From 1700 to 1750 the highest percentage employment was in the primary sector and
the lowest was in the tertiary sector.
 From 1750 to 1850 primary sector employment was decreasing moderately whilst
secondary sector employment was increasing moderately until it had the highest
percentage employment in 1820.
 From 1850 primary sector employment continues to decrease gradually until in 1920
where it had the lowest percentage employment
 Tertiary sector employment increased sharply from 1920 as secondary employment
decreased up to 2000
 Tertiary had the highest percentage employment from 1920 and it reached its peak in
2000

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Reasons (Explanation)

 Agrarian economy in 1700

 Low levels of technology to process raw materials in 1700
 Improvement in technology from 1750 forthwith
 Services industries lowly regarded in 1750
 More service provision from 1950 forthwith
 De-industrialization from 1850 forthwith also pressure from environmentalists
 Exhaustion of raw materials from 1800-2000
 Improvement in tourism in 1950 forthwith
4. Photographs

Describe The Scene In The Photograph

 In photographs you should state all the geographical themes present in the photo
 In simpler terms list everything in the photo, specifying their location using photograph
terms
 The photograph terms are illustrated below:
Sky
Left Background Central Background Right Background
Left Middle Ground Central Middle Ground Right Middle Ground
Left Foreground Central Foreground Right Foreground

 The sky is as it appears in the photograph. State the cloud cover and the cloud type
 Divide the rest of the photograph, below the sky, into three equal horizontal units
 The bottom part is the foreground, it is the part nearest to the camera
 The part immediately below the sky is the background. It is the part furthest from the
camera
 The middle ground is literally the central part, the area between the background and
the foreground
 Then generally the left hand side and the right hand side are parts as well which you
should use to locate features in a photograph
 The sky is not the background, but it is a unique part which should be described
separately
NB: Be detailed. Even show differences in color, height, shape of trees etc

Example November 2014 No.7b)

 Photograph shows part of the central business district

 There is a wide tarred road stretching from the right foreground to the left background
 There are private cars and public transport moving on the road
 Some cars are parked on both sides of the road
 On the left foreground there is raised land which is bare
 There are high rise buildings to the right of the road from the middle ground
stretching to the background

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  There are lots of people in the pavements of the buildings and some are crossing the
road
 There is a street light on the central left part
 On the same side there are electric power lines
 There is a highland at the background
 The sky is clear
5. Distribution And Density

 Distribution is the spread of a phenomenon in a given area

 It requires pupils to specify the location and quantity of a given phenomenon
 In other words you are responding to the questions, where is it? How much is there?
 You should state even areas without the said feature
What To Use On Location

Compass points e.g. North, South, East, West

Names of actual areas given on the map or known by you,
You may 4, 6, and 13 fig grid references.
Any other thing given e.g. Belmont industrial site in Bulawayo is along Plumtree
road
Words Used To Describe The Number (Volumes):

Many, concentrated, a lot of, highest number, dense, Few, less, lowest number, sparse e.g.
June 2015 No. 8

Example November 2014 No.8bi)

 Least number of people along major rivers such as Luangwa and Kafue rivers
 Also very few people to the central northern parts close to the Tan-Zam railway line
 Sparse rural is the most widespread throughout Zambia
 Population is dense in urban centers such as Lusaka, Kituwe and Ndola
 There are a lot of people in its border town with Zimbabwe on the south most parts of
Tan-Zam railway
 Population is also concentrated in rural areas near Lake Tanganyika and the central
parts of Zambia
 There are also many people in the rural areas south east of the map along the
international boundary
Reasons (Explanation)

 Tsetse fly infested areas

 Area very arid hence almost inhabitable
 There are communal areas where subsistence farming is practiced
 These are administrative centres where most services, employment is better and
housing in abundance
 This is due to employment provided through tourism as there are major waterfalls there
 These are areas with fertile soils and also rural service centers
6. Describing Diagrams In General

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  To describe a diagram try to make sense out of the information given in diagram form
.
 It is a personal interpretation of the information in the diagram
 Pupils should just lift information from the diagram to their answer sheet , substituting
words or expanding information where they can
 Two kinds of questions are asked here :
i)those that require information in the diagram only.
ii) those that are open i. e pupils are allowed to include extra information
NB: Never Use Previous Knowledge Where The Question Specifies That “Using Information
In The Diagram Only”

These Are One of The Easiest Question Type.

Example November 2006:Number 8b I

 Family poverty
 Shortage food
 Drinking unprotected water
 Prevalence of diseases
 Malnutrition
Example November 2014 No.4bii)

 Use of environmentally unfriendly refrigerators which produce chloro flouro carbons

(CFCs)
 Combustion of fossil fuels such as oil and coal
 Emission from vehicles
 Agricultural activities such as cultivating rice and rearing of animals
 Deforestation

7. Drawing Sketch Diagram

 Draw diagrams using a pencil and label using a pen.

 The diagram should be detailed and informative i. e. label all features or provide a key
 Diagrams should occupy 10-15 lines. Generally there should not be too small or too
big.
 Some set include sketch diagrams from photographs, sketch map, sketch section,
flowline, dot maps, isoline.
NB: In groups, learn how to draw sketch diagrams.

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