This set mixes the five skills in map reference and direction: grid references, bearings, legends and scale, routes and boundaries. All map details are invented for practice, so describe each answer from the information given.
Work in order from easy to harder, with a ruler, a pencil and a calculator. Cover the answers until you have written your own. Record slips in the mistake log, and use the statistics and distribution explorer when you want to check a set of measurements.
Questions
Q1 (easy). A tower is 8 tenths of the way across from easting line 27 and 1 tenth up from northing line 54. Give the four-figure reference of its square.
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Four figures use only the line numbers: easting 27, northing 54. 2754.
Q2. A church is 6 tenths across from easting line 33 and 4 tenths up from northing line 18. Give the six-figure reference.
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Easting: 33 and 6 tenths gives 336. Northing: 18 and 4 tenths gives 184. 336184.
Check: the four-figure square is 3318, and 336184 falls inside it.
Q3. Give the bearing of a camp that is due west of a hut, measured from the hut.
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Due west is three quarters of a turn clockwise from north: 270°.
Q4. The bearing of B from A is 065°. Find the bearing of A from B.
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065° is less than 180°, so add 180°: 65 + 180 = 245°.
Check: B is north-east of A, so A is south-west of B, and 245° lies between south and west.
Q5. The bearing of Q from P is 140°. Find the bearing of P from Q.
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140° is less than 180°, so add 180°: 140 + 180 = 320°.
Check: Q is south-east of P, so P is north-west of Q, and 320° lies between west and north.
Q6. A legend says the contour interval is 5 m and one labelled contour is 50 m. A spot height symbol lies on the fourth line above the 50 m line. State its height.
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The lines above 50 m are 55, 60, 65 and 70. The fourth is 70 m.
Q7. On a map with scale 1:25 000, two bridges are 8.4 cm apart. Give the straight-line distance in kilometres.
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At 1:25 000, 1 cm is 250 m. 8.4 × 250 = 2100 m = 2.1 km.
Check: 8.4 × 0.25 km = 2.1 km.
Q8. On a 1:50 000 map, a route has legs of 1.8 cm, 2.6 cm and 3.0 cm. The straight-line distance between the ends is 5.0 cm. Find the route length and how much longer it is than the straight line.
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Route: 1.8 + 2.6 + 3.0 = 7.4 cm. 7.4 × 0.5 = 3.7 km.
Straight line: 5.0 × 0.5 = 2.5 km. Difference: 3.7 − 2.5 = 1.2 km.
Check: 7.4 − 5.0 = 2.4 cm, and 2.4 × 0.5 = 1.2 km.
Q9. A dashed line labelled “footpath” in the legend crosses a field. Write one sentence saying what the map shows and what it does not show.
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“The map shows that a path exists across the field, but it does not show who may use it, so access would need to be checked locally.”
Q10. A district boundary runs along northing line 20, with District South below it. Villages are at 150198 and 150203. Which district is each village in?
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Northing 198 is 19 and 8 tenths, which is less than 20, so the first village is south of the line, in District South.
Northing 203 is 20 and 3 tenths, which is more than 20, so the second village is north of the line.
Q11 (harder). On a 1:50 000 map, a farm is 3.0 cm due east of a school. Give the bearing of the farm from the school and the distance on the ground.
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Due east is 090°. Distance: 3.0 × 0.5 = 1.5 km.
Check: 3.0 cm × 500 m = 1500 m = 1.5 km.
If you got these wrong
Match each slip to a lesson.
- Q1 or Q2 wrong: check you wrote the easting first, in reading a grid reference.
- Q3, Q4 or Q5 wrong: redraw the north line at the starting point, in using north and bearings.
- Q6 or Q7 wrong: find the interval or scale in the legend, in relating a symbol to its legend.
- Q8 or Q9 wrong: measure along the legs and avoid assuming access, in tracing a route.
- Q10 wrong: compare the grid reference with the boundary line, in separating location from boundary.
- Q11 wrong: combine direction and scale from bearings and the legend.
Once the weak spots are clear, a teacher in online one-to-one Geography tuition can build a short plan around them.