A route description is a claim about the map. To check it, split it into legs and test each leg for direction, feature and symbol.
This lesson finishes topographic direction and position and uses the skills from relative position versus exact grid location.
What is the leg-by-leg method?
Write each leg in a row and test three things: direction, feature passed, and symbol type.
| Leg | Direction stated | Feature stated | Map agrees? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | East | Along a tarred road | Check road symbol |
| 2 | North | Cross a bridge | Check bridge symbol |
| 3 | East | Reach a school | Check school symbol |
A leg is supported only when all three tests pass. One failed test makes the whole leg unsupported.
Worked example: an original route on a map of Kampung J
Description: “From the railway station at 3560, go east along the tarred road for two kilometres to the bridge at 3760. Cross the bridge and go north for one kilometre to the school at 3761.”
The grid squares are one kilometre wide. On the original map, the tarred road runs east from 3560 to 3760 and crosses a river by a bridge at 3760. North of the bridge, a footpath, not a road, runs to 3761, where a mosque symbol appears, and no school symbol is present.
Check: leg 1 passes all three tests, since east, tarred road and two squares all agree. Leg 2 agrees on direction and bridge. Leg 3 has two faults, because the map shows a footpath and a mosque, and no school.
Corrected description: “…go north along the footpath for one kilometre to the mosque at 3761.”
The mistake: trusting the description
Students read a clear, confident sentence and accept it. The description is written by someone else, and it may describe a different map or a mistaken memory.
The fix is to check each claim against a symbol before accepting it. If a feature is named, find it. If a direction is named, test it on the grid.
Check yourself
A description says: “From the bridge at 3760, go west for one kilometre along the tarred road to the station.” Use the map above to check it.
Answer
The station is at 3560, two squares west of the bridge, not one. The description is supported on direction (west) and symbol (tarred road), but the distance is wrong.
Corrected: “go west for two kilometres along the tarred road to the station.”
What to study next
Test every skill in the cluster in the topographic direction and position practice set.
For a teacher who sets new routes for you to check, see online one-to-one Geography tuition.