Travel & Things We Make and Do • Topic 2 of 3

Maps & Directions

Directions help us locate and reach places. The four main (cardinal) directions are North, East, South and West. The simplest natural clue, and the one CTET tests most, is the Sun: the Sun rises in the EAST in the morning and sets in the WEST in the evening. If you stand facing the rising Sun (east), then west is behind you, north is to your left and south is to your right. A map is a drawing of a place as seen from above (a bird's-eye view), drawn much smaller than the real place. A globe is a small model of the whole Earth and is round, while a map is flat and can show a small area or the whole world in detail. Maps use symbols - small pictures or marks that stand for real things (a blue line for a river, a tree symbol for a forest, a small plane for an airport) - and a key (also called a legend) explains what each symbol means. Reading a simple map means using the directions, the symbols and the key together to find where things are and how to go from one place to another. At the primary stage children begin with sketches of their classroom, home or route to school before moving to printed maps.

✅ Solved examples

1. A child wakes early and notices the Sun coming up over the fields. In which direction is she looking, and how can she find north?
She is looking towards the EAST, because the Sun rises in the east. If she faces east, north is to her left and south to her right (west is behind her).
2. A teacher shows the class a round model of the Earth and a flat sheet showing only their district. Name each, and give one difference.
The round model is a globe (a model of the whole Earth); the flat sheet is a map. A globe is round and shows the whole Earth, while a map is flat and can show just a small area in detail.
3. On a map, a small box explains that a blue wavy line means a river and a green patch means a forest. What is this explanatory box called?
A key (also called a legend). It tells the reader what each symbol on the map stands for, so the map can be read correctly.
4. Why is a map described as a "view from above"?
Because a map shows a place as it would look if you saw it from directly overhead, like a bird flying above - this top view lets it show roads, rivers and buildings drawn much smaller than they really are.

✏️ Practice — try these, take hints as needed

1. The Sun sets in the evening in which direction?
Opposite to where it rises.
It rises in the east.
West
2. On a map, small pictures or marks that stand for real things like rivers, roads and forests are called:
The key explains them.
They keep the map simple.
Symbols
3. If you stand facing the east (the rising Sun), which direction is on your RIGHT hand?
North is on the left.
Left and right are opposite.
South
4. Which one shows the WHOLE Earth as a round model - a map or a globe?
It is round, not flat.
Globe

📝 Topic test — 8 questions

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