NCERT Class 6 Geography Chapter 4 - Maps

What's more interesting for you in this chapter?

1. Quiz No. 1

2. Maps Vocabulary Game

3. Matching Columns Game

4. Exercise 1

5. Map Practice Sheet

Notes

A map is a representation or a drawing of the earth’s surface or a part of it drawn on a flat surface according to a scale. 

When many maps are put together we get an Atlas. Atlases are of various sizes, measurements drawn on different scales.

Maps showing natural features of the earth such as mountains, plateaus, plains, rivers, oceans etc. are called physical or relief maps. 

Maps showing cities, towns and villages, and different countries and states of the world with their boundaries are called political maps. 

Some maps focus on specific information; such as road maps, rainfall maps, maps showing distribution of forests, industries etc. are known as thematic maps. 

There are three Components of Maps – distance, direction and symbol. 

Scale is the ratio between the actual distance on the ground and the distance shown on the map. 

When large areas like continents or countries are to be shown on a paper, then we use a small scale. For example 5 cm. on the map shows 500 km. of the ground. It is called a small scale map. 

When a small area like your village or town is to be shown on paper, then we use a large scale that is 5 cm. on the map shows 500 metres only on the ground. It is called a large scale map. 

An arrow marked with the letter ‘N’ at the upper right hand corner shows the north direction. It is called the north line. 

There are four major directions, North, South, East and West. They are called cardinal points. 

Other four intermediate directions are north-east (NE), south- east(SE), south-west (SW) and north-west (NW). 

A compass is an instrument used to find out main directions. Its magnetic needle always points towards north-south direction. 

Symbols give a lot of information in a limited space. With the use of these symbols, maps can be drawn easily and are simple to read. 

There is an international agreement regarding the use of these symbols. These are called conventional symbols. 

Various colours are used for the same purpose. For example, generally blue is used for showing water bodies, brown for mountain, yellow for plateau and green is used for plains. 

A sketch is a drawing mainly based on memory and spot observation and not to scale. 

A rough drawing drawn without scale is called a sketch map. 

A plan is a drawing of a small area on a large scale. We can refer drawings drawn to scale called a plan.