Aims of map work in the middle and senior classes
Map work in third to sixth classes should build on the foundations laid in the earlier years. While the predominant concern of the work in infants and junior classes will be to develop the child's understanding of aerial perspective, a broader range of mapping concepts and conventions will be introduced in the middle and senior years. These will include
- the symbols which are used on maps (such as the use of colour to distinguish land and water or altitude, the various lines used to represent roads or other transport links and other symbols used for settlements and human features)
- the use of a key, in particular those commonly used on Ordnance Survey maps and in atlases
- indexes and simple grid references
- the alignment or orientation of maps
- scale.
Many of these concepts may be introduced and developed as children engage in the construction of a wide range of maps and plans in which they can record and present information about the environments encountered in the geography programme. However, in the middle and senior years an increasing emphasis will be placed on the extraction of information about environments from a wide range of commercially produced maps. Children should develop their map literacy (or graphicacy) so that they can use maps to find out about and interpret the world around them in a critical, informed way.
Access to a wide range of maps
Access to a wide range of maps is necessary therefore in the middle and senior classes. Some of these maps, for example those of small areas in the locality or those of an historic site visited by pupils, may be prepared by the teacher, but most will be commercially produced. Constant reference to and use of maps will be an essential part of many geographical activities and should also form part of scientific, historical, mathematical and PE activities. In this way graphicacy will become an important facet of the child's interpretative and communicative skills.
Among the maps which could be used are:
- architectural drawings and plans of the school and other buildings in the area
- plans of rooms, often published in catalogues of companies involved in the design and fitting of kitchens, bathrooms and bedrooms
- scale drawings of cars, often contained in car review magazines
- plans supplied by supermarket owners to customers detailing the layout of their stores
- town plans, maps of walks and parks, and plans of historic buildings and sites reproduced on tourist information leaflets, guidebooks or notices
- maps of estates and roads, sometimes available from the local planning authority or from builders during the construction and sale of new houses in an estate
- route maps produced by bus, rail and airline companies
- town plans and other maps in handbooks produced by motoring organisations
- street atlases and maps available for larger cities and towns
- a wide range of Ordnance Survey maps of various scales (the available maps and their relative advantages are discussed in more detail in the appendix)
- large wall maps
- atlases
- maps on CD-ROMs and other electronic sources.
EXEMPLAR 11 - Making and completing maps (third to sixth classes)
EXEMPLAR 12 - Orientation (third to sixth classes)
EXEMPLAR 13 - Activities with scale (third to sixth classes)
EXEMPLAR 14 - Co-ordinates and grid references (fifth and sixth classes)
EXEMPLAR 15 - The past and the future in maps (third to sixth classes)