Let’s say a friend asks you how to get to your house. What will you tell him? Could you draw a map? What would you include on the map? Perhaps you’d include streets, houses or maybe buildings like your favorite ice cream store. Maybe you’d include landmarks, like the stream behind your house or the hill by the school. Maps help people know where to go. Someone who makes maps is a cartographer.
How do cartographers make maps? Today’s mapmaking is very precise, thanks to computers, electric long-distance measurement devices, satellite images and GPS. The earliest maps, though, were made using simple instruments and mathematical equations. Ptolemy, a Greek mathematician and cartographer came up with a set of equations that are still used today in making maps.
Fun Facts about Cartography for Kids
- People have been making maps since prehistoric times. Cave drawings represented hunting territories thousands of years ago. Eskimos carved maps out of ivory while the Incas made relief maps of clay. The Chinese wrote about maps as early as the 7th century, B.C.E.
- Today’s mapmaking is very precise, thanks to satellite images and GPS. The earliest maps, though, were made using simple instruments and mathematical equations. Ptolemy, a Greek mathematician and cartographer came up with a set of equations that are still used today in making maps.
Cartography Vocabulary
- Cartographer: a map maker
- Precise: accurate
- Equation: mathematical problem and solution
All About Cartography Video for Kids
Check out this cool video about Cartography for kids:
This is a video song that teaches kids how to read the map.
Cartography Q&A
Question: Do all maps show the same thing?
Answer: No. Physical maps show the continents and oceans of the world, as well as the land elevation and sea level. Political maps show countries, while population density maps show how many people live in one place.
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