# Mapping Your Way

## Overview

This chapter introduces students to the concept of reading and understanding maps through the real-life example of the Republic Day Parade in Delhi. Using maps of Delhi, school, Red Fort, and Indian states, children explore directions, use of scales, estimation of distances, area comparisons, and visual geometry. Activities include identifying landmarks, comparing roads, calculating distances using a scale, and understanding directions like north, south, east, and west.

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## Key Topics Covered

### 1. Map Reading and Landmarks

- Students observe a helicopter view of the Republic Day parade route and match photographs with maps.
- Important roads such as Rajpath, Janpath, Man Singh Road, and Tilak Marg are identified.
- India Gate and Rashtrapati Bhawan are used as reference points.
- Activity: Identify roads crossed from Rashtrapati Bhawan to India Gate and locate National Stadium.

### 2. Understanding the Central Hexagon

- Focus on shape identification: hexagon has six sides.
- Exploration of angles: Students identify which roads form the largest angles or right angles (e.g., Janpath and Rajpath).

### 3. Parade Route Mapping

- Students mark the Republic Day parade route: Vijay Chowk → Rajpath → India Gate → Tilak Marg → B.S. Zafar Marg → Subhash Marg → Red Fort.
- Use of map scale: 2 cm = 1 km to estimate distances.
- Activity: Measure distance from Jama Masjid to parade route and calculate total route length (~8 km).

### 4. Trip to Red Fort

- Real-life navigation within Red Fort using Map 4.
- Identification of buildings like Lahori Gate, Meena Bazar, Rang Mahal, Diwan-e-Aam, Diwan-e-Khaas.
- Estimating distances using new scale: 1 cm = 100 m.
- Activity: Identify path and order of structures from Lahori Gate to Diwan-e-Khaas.

### 5. Scale and Proportionality

- Concept of map scale introduced through comparison: 4 cm on map = 2 km on ground.
- Enlarging and reducing grid drawings while maintaining shape and proportion.
- Activity: Recreate map sections using different grid sizes (1 cm, 2 cm, ½ cm).

### 6. Understanding Directions and Distances Between States

- Use of national map to determine direction and distance between states.
- Direction terms: north, south, east, west.
- Example: Jammu & Kashmir is north of Delhi, Gujarat is west of West Bengal.
- Activity: Identify travel direction and estimate distance between cities using map scale: 1 cm = 200 km.

### 7. State Borders and Coastal Areas

- Understanding that lines on maps represent borders, not actual lines on the ground.
- Identify states with a sea border using blue color on the map.
- Activity: Mark states with coastline and name those without.

### 8. Distance Between Towns (Map 6)

- Using scale: 1 cm = 10 km.
- Measure and calculate distances between fictional towns (e.g., Idlipur to Barfinagar).
- Mark midpoints and equidistant towns (e.g., Thukpagram, Jalebipur).

### 9. Layout of Ashi’s School (Map 7 & 8)

- Top view of a school to estimate area and placement of classrooms, benches, blackboards, etc.
- Use of scale: 2 cm = 5 m.
- Spatial reasoning: Understand and interpret the position of objects like almirahs, notice boards, windows.
- Area estimation: Compare office size with assembly ground.

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## New Terms

| Term | Simple Definition |
|----------------|-------------------|
| Map | A drawing that shows places from a top view |
| Scale | The ratio between map distance and real distance |
| Direction | A way to describe where one place is from another (e.g., north) |
| Border | A line on a map showing where one area ends and another begins |
| Hexagon | A shape with six sides |
| Landmark | A well-known place or building used as a reference point |
| Grid | Lines on a map or paper to help draw or measure accurately |
| Coastline | Where land meets the sea |
| Area | The space inside a shape or place |
| Distance | How far one place is from another |

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## Practice Questions

### Easy (3)

1. **What is the shape of the Central Hexagon?**
→ Hexagon (6 sides)

2. **Which building is at the end of Rajpath?**
→ India Gate

3. **What does a map scale help you find?**
→ Real distance between places

### Medium (2)

4. **If 2 cm on the map = 1 km, how many kilometers are shown by 6 cm?**
→ 3 km

5. **Which roads form a right angle at the Central Hexagon?**
→ Janpath and Rajpath

### Difficult (3)

6. **If the distance from Delhi to Jaipur is 2.5 cm on a map and the scale is 1 cm = 200 km, what is the real distance?**
→ 2.5 × 200 = 500 km

7. **How far is Lahori Gate from Diwan-e-Khaas if the map distance is 5 cm and scale is 1 cm = 100 m?**
→ 5 × 100 = 500 meters

8. **If a road on the map is 4 cm long and represents 2 km in real life, what is the map’s scale?**
→ 4 cm = 2 km → 2 cm = 1 km

### Very Difficult (2)

9. **Using Map 6, calculate the shortest route between Dhoklabad and Chholaghat if you go via Bhelpur and the total map distance is 7 cm. What is the real distance?**
→ 7 cm × 10 km = 70 km

10. **Estimate how many times bigger Rajasthan is compared to Sikkim if Sikkim is about 7,000 sq km and Rajasthan is about 342,000 sq km.**
→ 342,000 ÷ 7,000 ≈ 49 → Rajasthan is ~49 times bigger

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