Jugami Maps & Explorers

What Is a Map?

A map is a picture of a place, drawn from above.

Treasure Island map: an island with a house, trees, a river, a bridge and an X for treasure. It has a title, a compass rose, a key and a scale bar. Treasure Island X NSEW KeyhousetreeriverbridgeXtreasure 01 mile

Picture a bird flying high over your town. It looks down and sees roofs, roads and trees. A map shows a place the way that bird sees it. Maps help us find our way.

The Four Map Parts

Most maps have four helpers. Each one tells you something.

1. Title

The title is the map's name. It tells you what place the map shows. Our map is called "Treasure Island."

2. Compass rose

The compass rose shows directions. N means north, S means south, E means east, and W means west.

3. Key (legend)

The key tells what the small pictures mean. Another name for the key is the legend. These small pictures are called symbols.

4. Scale

The scale helps you tell how far apart things really are. On our map, the short bar stands for 1 mile.

Memory trick: Going clockwise from north, the directions are N, E, S, W: "Never Eat Soggy Waffles!"

Try the interactive version at jugami.com/maps-explorers/what-is-a-map/

Map Detective Game

Find each map part on Treasure Island. Pick the right part for each clue.

Score: 0 / 4

Self-Guided Quiz

1. Which map part shows north, south, east and west?

2. Another name for the map key is the…

3. What does a map's title tell you?

4. Which map part helps you tell how far apart places are?

5. On the compass rose, which direction is the opposite of north?

Sources

Art: the Treasure Island map is an original SVG drawing made for Jugami. It is made up, so its places are not real.