Geographical Skills Cheat Sheet by Phoebe12

Linear distri­bution: eg. lined along the coast

Clustered distri­bution: eg. large urban settle­ments

Enviro­nment maps show the natural features of the Earth such as land cover, mountains, rivers, deserts, lakes, seas and oceans. They also show urban areas and cropland.

Physical maps show the natural features of the Earth such as mountains, rivers, deserts, lakes, seas and oceans. They also show the height of the land and depth of the sea by using different colours.

Political maps show the human features of the Earth such as country, state and territory borders, cities and towns.

Dot distri­bution maps use dots to represent a single feature. The dots show the location of the chosen features, are the size and colours of the dots can show different charac­ter­istics of that feature. When combined on a map, the dots form a spatial pattern.

Weather maps show conditions in the atmost­phere such as air pressure, wind speed and wind direction. They also show the size and location of warm and cold fronts.

Choropleth maps use different shades of the same colour to give a quick impression of the data being shown. Darker shades show the highest values while lighter shades show the lowest values or least amounts.

Flow maps show movement from one place to another. These maps are useful for showing the movement of goods, migration of people and animals, and transport and commun­ica­tions. Often the number of people or goods is shown by using lines of different widths or colours.

Isoline maps use lines to join places of equal value for a given feature:

isotherms = temper­ature

contours = height above sea level

In defining a 6-figure grid reference, the first three digits refer to the eastings and the last three digits to the northings.

The equator is 0^o and the lines are numbered according to their distance north and south of this line.

The Arctic Circle is located at 66^o 30'N and the Antarctic Circle at 66^o 30'S.

Each degree is further divided into 60 minutes to make measur­ement even more accurate.

The height between contour lines is called the contour interval.

Cross-­sec­tions can be constr­ucted across contour lines revealing the shape of the land in profile.

Valley: sets of contour lines converging

Spur: sharp and obtrusive contour lines

Plateau: no contour lines near centre

Change: any alteration to the natural or human aspects of places and enviro­nments over time and space (long term and short term).

Sustai­nab­ility: human activities being managed in a way that ensure an enviro­nment can be maintained in the long term.

Scale statement, eg. one centimetre represents 100,000 cm or 1 km.

Regional scale - i.e. a larger geogra­phical area

Intern­ational scale - i.e. two or more countries around the world

Orientation

Source

Title

Neatness

Techno­logical: techno­logy, skills, crafts and knowledge.

Enviro­nmental: urban spaces, transport facili­ties, infras­tru­cture, biosphere, atmosp­here, lithos­phere, hydros­phere, climate, rocks, minerals, soil, air, landforms, flora and fauna.

Historical: those factors which may not be operating today, but have occured in the past and have left a lasting impact.

True north: is the direction towards the earth's geographic North Pole.

Grid north: is the direction of the vertical lines on a topogr­aphic map.

The bearing is calculated from a straight line constr­ucted from the point of reference towards north, read in a clockwise direction. Due north is zero degrees.

More commonly, location is expressed as a relative location from another feature such as a capital, the CBD or the nearest post office, or adjoining countries, seas or oceans, or the direction within a general region.