Reading Maps (1955)

[Music] whether we're taking a trip for pleasure or driving a truck if we want to go places we have to know how to read the signs along the road [Music] signs warning of crossroads ahead signs for curves [Music] signs telling where the roads go all these signs stand for real things they're a kind of sign language that tell us what to do on the road but suppose we want to know something more for instance to find out what road to take an unfamiliar country for this we have to look at a map a map is a drawing that tells a story in sign language how do we read the sign language of maps well let's find out what george knows about maps he's learned that maps are a very useful way of telling a story for instance when someone asks george how to get from here to the post office downtown george can tell him in words but he may not understand so george tells him how to get to the post office by drawing a map of the route george imagines he's looking at a photograph of the town taken from an airplane this picture shows the whole route to the post office here is george's house here is the post office here is the church where you turn this is the route to follow take away the photograph and you have a picture that shows the whole route from george's house to the post office this is a map now of course you could tell a great deal more about the town if you drew in more signs you could draw in the river draw in all the streets put in squares for the houses draw in the trees in the park now you have another map a map that tells a great deal about the town and does it in a language of signs of course most maps describe areas larger than this town suppose we look at another photograph taken from an airplane this shows the whole valley where the town is as we would see it from ten thousand feet up in the air there's the town there's the river these are the roads there's the railroad these are woods these are farm houses in the valley now if you wanted to describe this valley you could do it in the sign language of maps one color for the bodies of water another color for the woods lines for the town more lines for the roads another line for the railroad squares for houses and farmsteads now we have a map of the valley that tells a great deal about it but to read it we have to know what the signs mean that this stands for a river with a railroad alongside it this for the town this for the woods these squares for houses and farmsteads all these signs describe what's in the valley but there are other signs we also have to know to read this map one of them is the scale what is a scale george knows that scale is an exact measurement of distance on a map when he and tommy make a map of the playground at school the first thing they do is to measure the playground and find the exact location of everything on it for instance the distance from the ball field to the slide this measures thirty feet george writes down this measurement on a rough drawing of the playground the boys measure everything in feet but when they come to make the finished map they have to change these measurements from feet to inches they decided the map should be 12 inches square but the playground is 120 feet square dividing 12 into 120 gives 10. so one inch on the map has to stand for 10 feet on the playground this is their scale and so since the ball field is 30 feet from the slide george draws in the slide three inches from the ball field on the map when everything is drawn according to scale they have a map of the playground the distances between objects are exact but before anyone can read the map george has to write down the scale one inch equals ten feet on the playground now anyone can tell with a ruler how far the slide is from the ball field larger maps are made in much the same way surveyors and map makers can make maps right out in the countryside they use instruments that give them exact measurements to scale with these instruments they can determine the exact location of every feature of the landscape they locate the streams and hills the roads woods and buildings and they measure exactly the distances between them then they draw all these features on the map exactly to scale this is the way the map of our valley was made everything the map maker measured was set down on the finished map in the language of signs now to use this map we have to read all the signs shown on it first the scale the scale tells us three inches on the map stand for a mile in the valley so this lake must be about a mile from town next there's the direction sign this tells us that the top of the map is north so we go north and west to the lake besides the direction sign and the scale there's something else to read this is the legend telling us the meaning of the signs on the map and finally we read the title telling us what part of the world is shown on the map now all big maps can be read just as we read this map but many maps carry other kinds of information this road map for instance pictures the highway system of a whole state the driver can tell what information it carries by looking at the title and the legend if he wants to choose a route to take to his destination he can find it on the map the map tells him what road to take how far it is to his destination and it tells him much more than this [Music] when he starts off on his trip again he knows a good deal about what's ahead he knows what towns and cities he will pass through on his way how big they are and how far away they are he knows what the condition of the road will be where the road will curve and where it will go straight [Music] he knows where he will come to bridges over the large streams and wide rivers some bridges cannot bear the weight of his truck knowing these things helps him to choose his route and it also helps him to follow the road to his destination and we can also go places with a good map either in person or in imagination or we can visit any place in the world if we know how to read the sign language of maps [Music] you