Map literacy--the ability to read a simple map--is an essential skill for the study of history. This course is presented with the assumption that you have this skill.
If you are at ease with maps, download or print copies of the blank maps for your course and use them to make notes in class as needed.
If maps confuse you, follow the steps in this path to improve your understanding of the subject. You also should download or print the study maps, both for note-taking in class and for the exercises that follow.
 | Collect several maps to compare: maps in your textbooks, a state road map, maps in advertisements, maps in newspapers and magazines that show the region discussed in a story. Appointment books often include some maps. Inexpensive maps (or a book of maps, called an "Atlas") may be purchased in bookstores and even in the stationery section of many drug or discount stores. |
| Look at the travel section in your Sunday newspaper for interesting places. As you do the exercises below, keep an eye out for these. Who knows? You may want to make the trip someday! |
| You may find a globe--a three dimensional map of the world that is accurate, but inconvenient to carry. |
| You might want to make some blank maps on the copy machine to mark as you follow this path; you might use highlight markers on maps you own; colored pencils come in handy, too. |
Now, follow the links below:
(You may want to do each section of part two at separate times--it is longer than the others.)
| One: "Most maps use certain conventions" |
| Two: "Getting to know the larger features of the globe" |
| Three: "Latitude, Longitude and Projections" |
| Four: "Apply this knowledge!" |
