Map & Globe Basics: Grade 7P

Map Skills Basics

Maps

• Maps are flat pictures showing where places are located on Earth.

• They help people find their way from one place to another.

• Ancient people used simple maps (dirt/clay) to show routes to water or food.

• Flat maps may not show the size and placement of land areas as accurately as globes.

Globes

• A globe is a round model of the Earth.

• It shows where land and water are located.

• Globes provide a good idea of how land is shaped and placed on Earth.

Continents

• The Earth is divided into seven large land areas called continents.

• The seven continents are: Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America.

Hemispheres

• The Equator is an imaginary line that circles and divides the Earth in half.

• Each half of the Earth is called a hemisphere.

• The Northern Hemisphere includes all land above the Equator.

• The Southern Hemisphere includes all land below the Equator.