ATUL VIDYALAYA
Geography
STD: IX Activity Time: 40 Min.
Make a
Knuckle Contour Map
A contour map shows
the high and low areas of geography. These maps are helpful when trying to
imagine the terrain in ways that simple distances don’t represent well. But
these maps can be complicated.
What
You Do:
1. Take a look at how contour maps show features
of the terrain. You can find these maps in a geography book. Notice that, as
the surface of the land increases in elevation (height above sea level), a line
is made on the map to indicate the shape of the change.
2. Observe how the mountains are shown with
irregular shapes that mark changes in elevation. These shapes appear to be
inside each other, like circles within larger circles. These shapes are cross
sections or segments stacked like slices of an orange. Mountain peaks would be
the highest points of the terrain and are the smallest, innermost shapes on the
maps.
3. Now that you've reviewed what a contour map
is, you can create your own. Make a fist with your non-writing hand and place
it on a flat surface, knuckles facing up. This will be the terrain for your
contour map.
4. The knuckles will be a mountain range, each
knuckle a peak of a mountain. Draw contour circles around the surface of the
"mountain range". First, draw a rough circle around the tops of your
knuckles since they are the highest points on the "map".
5. Now draw a rough circle around the lowest
area between your knuckles.
6. Continue to draw lines around the next lowest
area as you move from the top of your knuckles to the base of your fist. You
can use different colours for each layer of elevation.
7. When finished, flatten your hand out. You now
have a two-dimensional contour map of your three-dimensional fist.
 |
Atul
Vidyalaya Shaping the Future
