Maps and Their Components

Class 6 Social Science · Chapter 1: Locating Places on the Earth · NCERT Exploring Society: India and Beyond section 1.1

Learn

Meher has moved to a new town. On her first morning, her uncle draws a quick sketch on the back of an envelope: her house, the bus stop, the park and the school, with arrows showing which way to walk. Without knowing it, he has made a map!

A map is a drawing of a place, seen from above, on a flat surface. It can show a room, a village, a city, a country or the whole world. A globe is a small round model of the Earth; it shows the true shape, but a flat map is easier to carry and can show small places in detail.

Every good map has three components: distance (shown by a scale, like 1 cm = 100 m), direction (a north arrow; the four main directions are north, south, east and west), and symbols (small signs and colours that stand for real things: blue for water, green for forests, a cross for a hospital).

Between the four main directions are four in-between ones: northeast, southeast, southwest and northwest. Together they make a compass rose. A compass has a needle that always points north, so travellers and sailors can find their way.

Explore: use the map scale.

1. The scale is 1 cm = 2 km. The road on the map is 4 cm long. Set the real length.
2. The scale is 1 cm = 5 km. A river is 3 cm long on the map. Set its real length.

Remember

• A map is a drawing of a place on a flat surface; a globe is a round model of the Earth.
• The three components of a map are distance (scale), direction and symbols.

Quick check

Which part of a map tells you the real distance between two places?

1. The scale
2. The north arrow
3. The colours
4. The title

Think about it

Why can't a map of India show every house and every tree?

Practice

Practise with fresh questions at three levels (easy, medium, hard), some answered hands-on, with hints and worked answers. Get 4 of your last 5 right to finish the topic.