Map interpretation overview: SQA Advanced Higher Geography

Map interpretation is worth 20 marks of the 50-mark question paper, sat with a 1:25,000 OS Explorer map and supplementary items. This guide maps the four skills; the module dot points take each in detail.

Grid references and scale

The map is 1:25,000, so 4 centimetres equal 1 kilometre and each grid square is 1 square kilometre. Read grid references eastings before northings, four figures for a square and six for a point to 100 metres. Measure straight lines with a ruler and winding features with a paper strip, converting centimetres to kilometres.

Relief and landforms

Read relief from contour spacing (close means steep), spot heights and contour patterns: a V uphill is a valley, a V downhill a ridge, closed contours a summit. Read drainage by river direction (high to low values) and pattern. Describe with heights and grid references, and explain landforms where asked.

Human features and land use

Read settlement site (the ground it stands on), situation (its wider position), shape and function, the communications network, and land use from symbols. The marks come from explaining how relief, water and routes shape these features, with grid-reference evidence.

Supplementary items

The paper supplies photographs, sketches, cross-sections, transects, overlays, graphs and data tables to use with the map. Cross-reference them: match features by grid reference and line of sight, and use one source to confirm another.

How to use this module

Practise the four skills on past papers and the specimen paper, always using a 1:25,000 OS extract. Get fast at grid references and scale, then drill evidenced description of relief, settlement and land use, and the cross-referencing of supplementary items.