8 EXPLORING YOUR WORLD UNDERSTANDING MAPS Exploring Your World COMPUTER ENHANCED VIEWS OF THE WORLD CONTINENT COUNTRY Earth is a big place Even from space you can't see it all at one time But with a map you can see the whole world or just a part of it Thanks to the Internet you can download programs that allow you to experience Earth from space pick a place you want to explore and zoom closer and closer until you are standing right there These screenshots right take you from space to Chicago at the click of a mouse You can even find a satellite view of your house see below Compare the computer enhanced satel lite images with the maps on the opposite page and you will see how the same places can be shown in very different ways You will want to explore all these ways to really get to know your world Chicago PEGION STATE Chicago METROPOLITAN AREA Chicago FIND YOUR HOUSE This image from Skyline Globe shows the National Geographic offices in Washington D C To see your house go to www skylineglobe com one of several websites that allow you to view satellite imagery of the world CITY SKYLINE Maryland Napahic National Geographic Washington DC
EXPLORING YOUR WORLD 9 UNDERSTANDING MAPS STATE MAP This political map allows a close look at the state of Illinois in the midwestern region of the United States This large scale map shows only a small part of Earth's surface but it includes such details as boundaries physical features and selected cities This map is good for examining relationships within the state COUNTRY MAP WORLD MAP As the scale of a map becomes smaller you can see more of Earth but in less detail The map of the United States abovel has a smaller scale than the state map topl This means you can see the entire country and the location of Illinois relative to other states but you can no longer see as many details within the state The world map Iright has an even smaller scale How is this map different from the other two It's all a matter scale of
10 KINDS OF MAPS UNDERSTANDING MAPS Kinds of Maps Maps are special tools that geographers use to tell a story about Earth Some maps show physical features such as mountains or vegetation Maps also show climates or natural hazards and other things we cannot easily see Other maps illustrate different human features on Earth political boundaries urban centers and economic systems Maps are not perfect A globe is a scale model of Earth with accurate relative sizes and locations Because maps are flat they involve distortions of size shape and direction Also cartographers people who create maps make choices about what information to include Because of this it is important to study many different types of maps to learn the complete story of Earth PHYSICAL MAPS Earth's natural features landforms water bodies and vegetation are shown on physical maps The map above uses color and shading to illustrate mountains lakes rivers and deserts in western Africa Country names and borders are added for reference but they are not natural features MAKING MAPS MAP PROJECTIONS To create a map cartographers transfer an image of the round Earth to a flat surface a process called projection All projections involve distortion For example an Interrupted projection top map shows accurate shapes and relative sizes of land areas but oceans have gaps Other types of projections are cylindrical conic or azimuthal each with certain advantages but all with some distortion
KINDS OF MAPS 11 UNDERSTANDING MAPS POLITICAL MAPS These maps represent human characteristics of the landscape such as boundaries cities and place names Natural features are added only for reference On the map above capital cities are represented with a star inside a circle while other cities are located with black dots THEMATIC MAPS Patterns related to a particular topic or theme such as population distribution appear on these maps The map above displays the region's climate zones which range from tropical wet Ibright green to tropical wet and dry light greenl to semiarid Idark yellowl to arid or desert light yellow Long ago cartographers worked with pen and ink carefully hand crafting maps based on explor ers observations and diaries Today mapmaking is a high tech business Cartographers use Earth data stored in layers in a Geographic Information System GIS and special computer pro grams to create maps that can be easily updated as new information becomes available The cartogra phers at left are changing country labels on a map of the Balkans Satellites in orbit around Earth act as eyes in the sky recording data about the planet's land and ocean areas The data is converted to numbers that are transmitted back to computers that are spe cially programmed to interpret the data They record it in a form that cartographers can use to maps create
