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Parts of a Map Geography

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Parts of a Map
Print Parts of a Map Reading Comprehension with Third Grade Work

Print Parts of a Map Reading Comprehension

Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grade 3
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	4.33

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		cartographers, listed, index, perfectly, compass, fold, important, hometown, life-size, simple, direction, lines, measure, surface, certain, straight
	content words:		New York City, York City

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Parts of a Map By Trista L. Pollard

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¹     Maps are one of the most important tools on Earth. They help us find places. They show us Earth's mountains and oceans. To read a map, you need to understand its different parts.
 
²     Maps are diagrams of the Earth's surface. The first part of a map you need to know is its title. The title tells you what the map is showing. A map of the streets in your town has your town's name as its title. A compass rose is not a flower. It shows you directions. A simple compass rose may look like a plus sign with arrows. At the ends of the arrows, the four cardinal directions are listed. They are north, south, east, and west. The top arrow points to the top of the map, which is usually north. The bottom arrow points to the bottom of the map and tells which direction it represents.
 
³     Another important part of the map is the symbols. Maps show a smaller picture of the Earth's surface. You can't draw a life-size mountain on a small piece of paper. That is why cartographers use small pictures. Symbols are the points, lines, and patterns that are listed in the map key. The key is a box located in one of the bottom corners of the map. Symbols have different colors depending on the physical feature the drawing represents. For example, water features like rivers, lakes, and oceans are colored blue. Trees, woods, orchards, and shrubs are usually colored green. Red is used for important roads. What about buildings and mountains? Well, buildings are colored black, and mountains and hills are colored brown.

Paragraphs 4 to 6:
For the complete story with questions: click here for printable

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Geography

Geography

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