Lesson video

Hello, and welcome to lesson three of the fieldwork unit.

in this lesson, we're going to be looking at one of the most important fields work tools, and those are maps.

Let's have a look at the agenda together now.

So the first thing that we're going to look at is why do we use maps? After that, we'll look at what a four figure grid references is, and then lastly, we'll move on to what are six figure grid references? And for this lesson, all you'll need is an exercise book or some paper, a pencil or a pen, and most importantly, our brains.

So pause the video now to make sure you've got those things and then resume when you're ready to get started with the learning.

So in this first part of the lesson, we're going to be looking at, why do we use maps? Why do geographers use maps? So I just want you to pause for a moment and think about that yourself.

Why do geographers use maps in the first place? Just have a think.

Not just because they're pretty to look at, no there's other reasons as well, have a think.

Okay, well, there are a wide variety of reasons why geographers use maps and they are one of the most important field work tools that a geographer has.

But the main reason why geographers use maps is that they help geographers get a better overview of the environment that they are studying.

Remember, field work is all about being in a real environment and maps can help you get a better overview of those areas.

And one of the wonderful thing about maps is that there are many, many, many different types of maps.

So for example, one of the main maps that geographers use are called topographic maps.

And these maps are great because they show the height and the shape of the land in which the map is showing.

Another map which geographers use and we all use in our day-to-day lives are street maps, and street maps are great because they show you road names and the names of places and important locations.

And so they're the sort of main map that we use in our day-to-day life, just to find our way around the communities that we live in.

Another map which you may often see on a classroom wall or in an Atlas, are political maps.

And these are the maps that show us the boundaries between countries, or another word you could use to describe that is a map to show the borders between countries.

So where, for example, France ends and Spain begins on the map.

There are a few other important maps that geographers use as well.

There's a certain type of map called a thematic map.

And that's a map which will focus on a particular theme.

For example, you might have a map which shows you which sport is most popular in each country.

That would be a thematic map because it's focusing on a theme, which is sport.

And there's also a map called climactic maps.

And these are maps, which show us climate patterns in different parts of the world or even within the same country.

But the top three maps, I would say that geographers mostly use are topographic maps, which show you the height and shape of land, street maps which show you road names and important places.

And then of course the political maps, which show you the borders or the boundaries of each country.

Based on that information, you now need to complete the following task.

So on your screen, on the left-hand side in the purple boxes, are different types of map.

On the right hand side of your screen in the blue boxes, are descriptions of different types of maps.

What you need to do is match the type of map with the correct description.

And I don't mind how you do that.

You might want to write it out in nice, neat, full sentences, or if you just want to sort of point at the screen and match them up in that way, that's completely up to you, but match the type of map with its correct description.

So when you're ready, pause the video to complete your task and then resume once you're finished.

Okey-dokey, let's go through those together now.

So the first type of map that came up was a street map.

And what is a street map? It's a type of map that shows you road names and places.

Good way of remembering that, street, road.

There you go street maps.

The next one, topographic maps, a type of map that shows you the height and shape of the land, the next one, political maps.

So a type of map that shows you the boundaries of each country.

What's another way of describing that? If you've just said it shows the borders, of each country, nice one, very good.

Then the next map was thematic maps.

So a type of map that focuses on a particular theme.

And you'll remember my example was, in fact I've seen this map before, a map that might show the most popular sports in each country.

And then lastly, climatic maps.

So a type of map that shows climate patterns.

So you can see what kind of temperatures and weather are in each country, or even within the same country.

Because for example, a country like the United States of America has very different climates in different parts of the country.

So well done on completing that task.

Let's move on to the next part of the lesson.

So in this second part of the lesson, we're going to be looking at something called four figure grid references or essentially, we're going to be exploring, what are four figure grid references? But to start off with, I'm going to show you a map.

This is the map, I made it myself.

I'm not going to lie, I'm quite proud of this map.

And this is an example of a topographic map that is very similar to a map that geographers use called an ordinance survey map.

It's not an exact copy but it has a very similar layout to an ordinance survey map.

Now these maps are very useful for geographers because the grid lines, which are the black lines that go up and down and across, they allow geographers to be able to easily describe the location of something, because you may notice there are numbers along the bottom in what we call the X axis, remember X is across, and there are numbers along the Y axis going up as well.

And so what four figure grid references are, are four numbers that allow you to find a particular area on the map.

So say for example, on this map, there is a telephone box.

Where do you think the telephone box might be on this map, point on the map? Well, if you're pointing at the telephone, then you have correctly identified.

That's where the telephone box is.

But if you needed to describe where on the map it is and you didn't have time to just be like, oh, I'll just have to find that tiny, little symbol.

You can use a four figure grid reference to share where that location is and here's how you do that.

So the first thing that you need to do is look at the numbers across the X axis.

And what you're looking for is the number that is inline with where that telephone box is.

And it's not always going to be perfect 'cause the numbers are on the lines themselves, aren't they? So you're going to be looking for the number where the box to the right if it is inline with the location that you're looking for.

So on this map, we can see, well it goes from 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38 is the number of where approximately inline that telephone box is because it is inline with the green box next to number 38.

Okay, those will be the first two numbers of your four figure grid reference.

The next thing you do is you've got to find where along the Y axis it is approximately inline with.

So count up yourself, where do you think, which number do you think is the right number for that? Nine, 10, it's 11.

And again, it can be slightly confusing because it's not perfectly in line, but for the Y axis, you're looking for the number, and the location you're looking for is in the box above it.

So it is 11.

So along the X axis it's 38, and then along the Y axis is the number 11.

So the four figure grid reference for this telephone box is, what is it? Three, eight, 11.

Let's do a couple of other examples for you to try and find the four figure grid references now.

So for this one, I want you to find the four figure grid reference of a church.

Can you find on the map, where do you think the church is? Don't worry about the grid reference for now.

Just point on the map.

Okay, hopefully you are pointing to that box with the pink box around it now.

So when it's a small black box with a cross on it, that means it's a church.

So based upon what I've just explained to you, you now need to find the four figure grid reference for that church or the box which has the pink frame around it.

So pause the video now and find that figure grid reference and then resume once you figured it out.

Okay, hopefully you've got a four figure grid reference written down now.

Let's go through this together.

So we start with which axis? Start with the X axis, absolutely right, X is across.

So you're counting the numbers there.

And you're looking for the number where the box to the right of it is in line with the church.

And so you get to 36, that's the box where to the right of it, it's in line with the church.

So the first two figures are 36 or three, six, and then we're going to go up the Y axis next.

And we're going to count up, nine, 10, 11 and it's 12, because remember, on the y-axis, you're looking for it to be in line with the box above the number.

So along the Y axis, it is 12.

And so the four figure grid reference 36, 12 or three, six, one, two.

Let's do one more example of a four figure grid reference.

And so this time, I want you to find on the map, don't worry about the grid reference just for now, just point on the map, where do you think the car park is on this map? Where's the car park? point on the map.

Okay, so there it is, it's where the pink frame is around it now.

The blue P or the blue box with the P in it, that is a car park.

And now, pause the video to find the four figure grid reference for that car park and then resume once you've written it down.

Okay, did you find it? Here's the four figure grid reference.

It is, drum roll please.

It is three, three, zero, nine.

Again, because we look along the X axis, 33 or three, three, the box to the right of that is in line with the car park.

And then you don't have to account far up the y-axis do you, you get to zero, nine and boom, it's right there.

It's the box above zero, nine.

So it is three, three, zero, nine.

Now we're going to move on to six figure grid references.

So in this final part of the lesson, we're going to look at six figure grid references and six figure grid references work in the same way as four figure grid references, except they have two extra numbers and those extra numbers allow you to find a more precise or specific location in one of the boxes on the map.

So we're back to the map and let's take, for example, I want to show someone the precise location of the information centre on this map.

And I'll just tell you, the information centre is the blue box with the letter I in it.

And so it is there, okay.

So very quickly, just quickly find now, what is the four figure grid reference for that? Hopefully you've found, so it's three, six, zero, nine.

That's the four figure grid reference.

And, you know, I could just leave it there but someone, if I gave them that grid reference, wouldn't know exactly where within that cell or box it is, they would just know that the information centre is somewhere in that box.

That box though, depending on the scale of the map, could be a very large area.

So what we're going to do now is look at providing a more precise location by using a six figure grid reference, and to do that, we're going to zoom in or imagine that we're zooming in on that box.

Ta-da, so we've zoomed in.

And when you're making a six figure grid reference, you have to imagine that that box is divided up into 10ths.

So along the bottom, imagine that it's got a scale just like that, one to 10, and then from top to bottom, from one to 10, although my head's blocking some of the numbers, don't worry about it.

Just imagine it's been divided up.

And so what you'll need to do in order to provide the precise location, is imagine you're counting along the bottom.

How far along is that in terms of the 10ths? So for this one, it looks like the information centre along the bottom is in line with about three 10ths of the cell.

So the number three isn't it? So it's in line with the number three.

And then from top to bottom along the y-axis, I'd say the middle of the information centre is in line with, what number do you think is in line with? I'd say approximately the number five there, isn't it, so three at the bottom and five from top to bottom along the Y axis.

Here's what you do with those two extra numbers then.

So we know the four figure grid reference was three, six, zero, nine, but now what you do for how far along it is along the X axis, you add that number after the first two numbers of your four figure grid reference.

So it becomes three, six, three, because it's on the X axis, it's number 36 and approximately three along there.

And then on the Y axis, we know it's zero, nine, because it's in the cell or box above zero, nine.

And then we add the five onto the end of that because it's approximately five 10ths or about halfway up that box.

So then, your six figure grid reference becomes three, six, three, zero, nine, five.

And the person who's using that can find the exact, precise location of that information centre.

Let's do another couple of examples to help solidify this in our minds.

So, what you need to do is find the six figure grid reference for the school.

So you can see on there, the school is got a pink box around it.

On a map, the symbol for a school is just the first three letters of school, SCH.

So what you're going to do now is pause the video, write down the six figure grid reference for the school.

Okay, it's a bit more difficult, isn't it? And it's sometimes a bit difficult as well to find the exact spots and be really, really precise.

But here is the six figure grid reference that I wrote down.

So it is three, two, three, because of course, along the X axis, definitely in line with the box that is three, two and again, it's sort of like three 10ths of the way across.

So three, two, three, and then along the Y axis definitely the inline with the box above number 10.

And again, it looks like it's about three tenths upwards.

So therefore it is three, two, three, one, zero, three.

And then you can find the precise location of school.

Let's look at one more example.

So here's what you need to do.

Pause the video and give the six figure grid reference for the church.

So we're back at the church.

Now you need to find the six figure grid reference.

So pause the video and then resume once you've written it down.

Okay, let's see what you got.

This is my six figure grid reference for this.

It is three, six, seven, one, two, seven.

Maybe yours is just slightly different if yours was like one out, that's absolutely fine.

I think they'd still find the church but I think the precise one is three, six, seven, one, two, seven.

Because look along the X axis.

We know it's in the box that corresponds with 36.

It looks like it's about seven 10ths across the box it's in.

So we add the seven and then on the Y axis, we're on one, two for sure, because it's in line with the box above 12, or one, two, and then again, it looks like it's seven tenths up the Y axis.

So we add the number seven at the end.

Well done on finding that six figure grid reference.

If you were slightly out, don't worry, I know this is a difficult task, but the best thing to do with this is just practise as much as possible.

That brings us to the end of this lesson.

Well done on all the fantastic learning that you've achieved, before we finish, there are just two things that we need to do.

First of all, don't forget to write down three key things that you'll remember from this lesson.

And then lastly, please remember to complete the exit quiz at the end.

That's going to be a great way of seeing how much fantastic progress you're making in this unit.

I look forward to teaching you again soon and have a fantastic day.