Landscapes on maps

Height on a map

An Ordnance Survey (OS) map shows height in three ways:

(brown) join places of the same height. The is the height between them: 10 m on most 1:25 000 maps.
give the exact height of a point, in metres.
Triangulation pillars (a triangle with a dot) mark a surveyed height, often on a hilltop.

The pattern of contours shows the , the shape of the land:

close together: steep;
far apart: gentle;
none at all: flat land.

Common mistake

Read the numbers on the contours, not just their spacing, to tell whether land rises or falls.

Key terms

Reading a coast from its contours

Porthwen Bay · scale 1:25 000 · each grid square is 1 km · north is at the top

Place of worship
Public house
Parking
Information centre
Viewpoint
Picnic site
Camp site
Caravan site
Lighthouse
A road
B road
Minor road
Contour, every 10 m
Spot height (metres)

Map drawn for this app (not an Ordnance Survey map).

The contours on this extract show three kinds of land:

Cliffs: along the south of Mor Head (grid squares 2340 and 2440), the cliff symbol runs along the coast, and the contours behind it are close together.
A valley: where the contours cross the Afon Wen (grid squares 2142 and 2143), they bend into a V. The V points upstream, uphill.
Gentle land: behind Porthwen Sands, the contours are far apart: the land rises only 10 m in the first few hundred metres. The village has grown on this gentle slope by the river.

The sand-coloured (grid square 2041) grows west across the river's mouth.

Drawing a cross-section

A shows the shape of the land along a line, as if it were sliced through.

Lay a strip of paper along the line, from A to B.
Mark each place a contour crosses the edge, with its height; mark rivers and the coast too.
Lay the strip along the bottom of a graph, with height up the side.
Plot each mark at its height, and join them with a smooth curve.
Where the land rises above a contour and falls again, round the top off a little above it.

Here is the section from grid reference 240402 (A), the cliff on Mor Head, north to grid reference 240430 (B):

Key terms

Landforms on maps and photographs

Landform	What to look for on the map
Cliff	The cliff symbol, with close contours by the sea
	Sand or shingle colour along or across the coast
V-shaped valley	Close contours on both sides of a river, bending into Vs
	Wide, flat land beside a river, with almost no contours
	A river winding in loops
	Contours in a horseshoe, often round a small lake
U-shaped valley	Steep sides with a wide, flat floor

On a photograph, describe the shape of the land, its rock and its features, using terms such as foreground and background.

Exam tip

Back up what you see with evidence: grid references, heights and distances.

Exam practice

Plan your own answer first, then open the model answers to see what each level looks like.

4 marks · about 4 minutes

Explain how contour lines show the shape of the land.

Explain means: Give the reasons why something happens, developing each point with "because" or "so".

Level 1 (Basic)· 2/4 marks (band 1–2)

Contour lines show how high the land is. If they are close together, it is steep.

Why this level: Two correct points, but not developed. To reach Level 2: explain all the patterns (close, far apart, none), how to tell up from down, and how contour shapes show landforms.

Level 2 (Clear)· 4/4 marks (band 3–4)

Contour lines join places of the same height. Where they are close together, the land is steep; where they are far apart, it is gently sloping; and where there are none, the land is flat. Reading the height numbers shows whether the land rises or falls, and patterns show landforms: contours bending into a V pointing uphill show a river valley.

Why this level: Clear and developed: what contours are, how spacing shows gradient, and how patterns show landforms. Full marks.

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