Map Reading and Interpretation
ICSE Class 10 · Geography · Chapter 4
What this chapter covers
- From reading to interpreting
- Colour tints on a Survey of India toposheet
- Conventional symbols
- Using the index at the bottom of the sheet
- Site of settlements
- Services available in settlements
- Settlement patterns: clustered and dispersed
- Identifying drainage and the direction of flow
- Drainage patterns
- Reading a whole extract: physical and human features together
- Common mistakes to avoid
Key definitions
Map reading is the skill of identifying the features shown on a map by means of its colours, conventional symbols, contours, scale and grid.
Map interpretation is the skill of explaining the relationships between the features read on a map, so as to describe the physical landscape and the way of life of the people who live there.
A clustered settlement is a settlement in which the houses are built close together in a compact group, with the fields lying around the outside.
A dispersed settlement is a settlement in which the houses or huts are spread out over a wide area, with a good distance and often fields between them.
Drainage is the system of rivers and streams by which the water of an area flows away over the land surface.
A dendritic pattern is a drainage pattern in which tributaries join a main river from many directions at acute angles, so that the whole system looks like the branches of a tree.
A trellised pattern is a drainage pattern in which the main streams flow roughly parallel to one another and their short tributaries join them at nearly right angles, so that the system looks like a garden trellis.
A radial pattern is a drainage pattern in which streams rise on a central high area, such as a hill, a dome or a volcanic cone, and flow outwards in all directions, like the spokes of a wheel.
Key points
- Map reading identifies features; map interpretation explains why they are where they are.
- Colour tints show land cover: yellow for cultivation, green for forest, white for barren land, blue for water, brown for relief, red for settlements and roads, black for railways, cart tracks, footpaths, boundaries and names.
- Conventional symbols are standard point, line and area signs; abbreviations such as PO, PTO, PS, RH, DB and CH name services.
- The index at the bottom of the sheet explains every sign and gives the scale and contour interval; always use it to confirm an identification.
- Settlement sites are chosen for water, flat fertile land, safety from floods, transport links and sometimes defence or religion.
- The number and kind of services show how important a settlement is.
- Clustered settlements have houses close together on fertile, well-watered plains; dispersed settlements have scattered houses in hilly, forested or dry areas.
- Rivers flow from higher to lower ground; heights, contour Vs pointing upstream and tributary junctions show the direction of flow.
- A dendritic pattern looks like a tree and forms on uniform rock with a gentle slope.
- A trellised pattern has parallel main streams with tributaries at right angles and forms in folded ridge-and-valley country.
- A radial pattern has streams flowing outwards from a central hill, dome or cone.
- Every interpretation answer should name the feature and give the map evidence for it.
Questions answered
Distinguish between map reading and map interpretation.
What does each of the following colours usually show on a Survey of India toposheet: yellow, green, white, blue?
Define a conventional symbol and explain why such symbols are needed on a topographical map.
Expand the following abbreviations: PTO, PS, DB, RH.
Name four kinds of information found in the index at the bottom of a toposheet.
Give three reasons why a village may have grown at a particular site.
How can the services in a settlement tell you about its importance?
Distinguish between clustered and dispersed settlements, giving one cause of each.
Past board exam questions
ICSE 2020 board paper · 2 marks
With reference to the Survey of India Map sheet No. 45D/10, answer the following: What is the significance of the following colours used on the survey map? (i) Yellow colour. (ii) Green colour.
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ICSE 2020 board paper · 2 marks
With reference to the Survey of India Map sheet No. 45D/10, answer the following: Draw the conventional symbol for each of the following: (i) Lined perennial well. (ii) Seasonal tank.
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ICSE 2019 board paper · 2 marks
With reference to the Survey of India Map sheet No. 45D/10, answer the following: What do each of the two numbers (281 printed in black colour and 20 printed in red colour) in the grid square 1818 indicate?
Show answer
ICSE 2019 board paper · 2 marks
With reference to the Survey of India Map sheet No. 45D/10, answer the following: What is the significance of the following? (i) Fire line in grid square 2417. (ii) Water body found in grid square 2221.