In order for the 8th Grade Geographer to be able to create effective maps of places throughout the world, they must be able to identify and use the 6 basic elements of “a good” map. These six elements of Maps are…1) Title 2) Orientation 3) Date 4) Author 5) Legend/Key & 6) Scale…basically these elements are found in all “good maps” and we (the students and teacher) will strive to produce quality maps in our classroom. TODALS is a universal acronym that will we incorporate to help remember and learn the basic map elements. Below you will find a basic explanation of TODALS…Happy Mapping!
I can apply the 6 elements of a map to display spatial information on a variety of map.
TODALS
T = Title: Gives reader a basic preview of what map is displaying or it’s purpose.
O = Orientation: Which way is north!? (so reader can figure out how to hold map)
D = Date: When was it created? (is this current, outdated, historic?)
A = Author: Who created/made/owns the map? (& is it a reliable source?)
L = Legend/Key: basic symbols/colors/etc are explained to the reader for clarity
S = Scale: shows the reader how much distance is covered on a map in relation to real world