Name_____________________________________
Social Studies: Map skills study guide
Globe: a small copy of the Earth
Ocean: One of Earth’s 5 largest bodies of water (Atlantic, Pacific, Artic, Indian,
Southern).
Continent: One of Earth’s seven great bodies of land. (North America, South
America, Asia, Africa, Australia, Antarctica, Europe)
Hemisphere: half of a sphere. The Earth is divided into four hemispheres
(Northern Southern, Eastern, and Western hemispheres)
Equator: An imaginary line running horizontally across the middle of the globe.
Prime meridian: The imaginary line running vertically across the middle the globe.
Compass rose: a small drawing on a map that can help find directions.
Cardinal directions: the main directions (north, south, east, west)
Intermediate directions: small spokes between the cardinals directions. The inbetween directions (northeast, northwest, southeast, southwest)
Map key: gives the meaning of each symbol on a map.
Map scale: shows the relationship between distances on a map and real distances.
Longitude: lines that circle the Earth running north and south. (These lines are
long running north and south)
Longitude----------------
Latitude: lines that circle the Earth running east and west. ( lat is flat)
Latitude-----------------
Absolute location: When the latitude and longitude lines are together, the lines
form squares like those on graph paper. If you look closely, you will see numbers
and letters on or by the lines. These numbers help to give a specific “address” to
places on the Earth. These “addresses” are called absolute location.