ABSTRACT
Maps are an important form of communication, and for some authors graphicacy has been placed alongside numeracy, literacy and oracy as the fourth ‘ace in the pack’ (Balchin and Coleman 1965). This chapter looks at the centrality of maps to geography teaching and how maps are used as a communication system. An outline of the properties, elements and purposes of maps is illustrated by three examples of strategies children use to ‘read’ maps. The final section considers how theories of cognitive development inform progression in learning through maps.
