Global Perspectives and Local Landscapes · 6th Year · Cartography and Spatial Awareness · Autumn Term

Hills and Valleys on Maps

Understanding how maps show high and low ground using colours, shading, or simple pictorial representations, without introducing contour lines.

• NCCA Curriculum Specifications
• NCCA: Primary - Maps, Globes and Graph Work

About This Topic

Maps represent hills and valleys through colours, shading, and simple pictures to show land height without contour lines. Students learn that greens and blues indicate low valleys and plains, while browns and oranges mark higher hills and mountains. These visual cues help them answer key questions: how maps reveal high and low ground, what colours mean on physical maps, and how to picture real landscapes from flat paper.

This topic fits the NCCA Primary curriculum strand on Maps, Globes and Graph Work, within the Cartography and Spatial Awareness unit. It develops spatial reasoning skills essential for global perspectives and local landscapes. Students compare Irish maps, like those of the Wicklow Mountains or Shannon Valley, to build familiarity with their own environment and appreciate how cartographers simplify three-dimensional Earth onto two dimensions.

Active learning suits this topic well. When students layer colours on blank maps, sculpt clay models from shaded relief maps, or match map colours to photos, they grasp abstract symbols through direct manipulation. These methods turn passive viewing into exploration, strengthen memory of conventions, and encourage peer explanations that solidify understanding.

Key Questions

1. How do maps show us where the hills and valleys are?
2. What do different colours on a physical map usually mean?
3. How can we imagine what the land looks like from a map?

Learning Objectives

• Identify the colours and shading conventions used on a physical map to represent elevation.
• Compare the visual representation of a hilly area with a flat area on a given map.
• Explain how simplified map symbols suggest the three-dimensional form of land.
• Create a simple sketch of a landscape based on a map's colour and shading patterns.

Before You Start

Basic Map Features

Why: Students need to be familiar with the concept of a map as a representation of an area and understand basic map elements like title and legend before interpreting specific features.

Colours and Their Meanings

Why: Prior exposure to associating colours with common concepts (e.g., blue for water, green for grass) will help students more readily accept and interpret map colour conventions.

Key Vocabulary

Elevation	The height of a point on the Earth's surface above sea level. Maps use colours and shading to suggest this.
Physical Map	A map that shows the natural features of the Earth's surface, such as mountains, rivers, and plains, often using colour to indicate elevation.
Shaded Relief	A technique used on maps to create a three-dimensional appearance of the terrain, often by simulating shadows cast by hills and mountains.
Cartographic Symbol	A visual element on a map, like a colour or shading pattern, that represents a real-world feature or characteristic, such as land height.

Watch Out for These Misconceptions

Common Misconception

All brown areas are the same height.

What to Teach Instead

Maps use shades of brown from light to dark for gradual height increases. Hands-on shading activities let students experiment with gradients, revealing how subtle changes represent real elevation differences. Peer reviews of their maps reinforce this layered approach.

Common Misconception

Map colours show vegetation, not height.

What to Teach Instead

Physical maps prioritise height with colours, separate from land use maps. Matching exercises with photos help students distinguish elevation cues from green cover, as they physically align visuals and explain reasoning in groups.

Common Misconception

Flat colours mean perfectly flat land.

What to Teach Instead

Even low areas have subtle relief shown by light shading. Clay modelling tasks allow students to feel and build slight undulations, correcting the idea through tactile experience and group comparisons.

Active Learning Ideas

Layering Activity: Colour a Relief Map

Provide blank outline maps of Ireland. Students add layers of green, yellow, brown, and white paint or crayon based on a key showing height. They discuss choices in pairs, then compare to a real physical map. Display finished maps for a class gallery walk.

35 min·Pairs

Model Building: Clay Landscapes

Give groups a shaded relief map excerpt. They sculpt clay over a baseboard to match colours: low green valleys smooth, high brown hills peaked. Add toy figures to show scale. Groups present how their model matches the map.

45 min·Small Groups

Matching Game: Map to Photo

Print map sections and corresponding aerial photos or landscape images. In small groups, match pairs by colour and shading. Discuss why certain matches work, noting how light and shadow influence perceptions.

30 min·Small Groups

Outdoor Sketch: School Ground Heights

Students walk the school grounds, sketch simple maps using colours for slopes and flat areas. Back in class, share and refine sketches against Google Earth views.

40 min·Individual

Real-World Connections

• Pilots use physical maps and shaded relief to understand the terrain they are flying over, especially when navigating at lower altitudes or in unfamiliar areas. This helps them avoid high ground.
• Hikers and outdoor enthusiasts consult physical maps to plan routes through areas like the MacGillycuddy's Reeks or the Mourne Mountains, assessing the steepness and difficulty of ascents and descents.
• Urban planners and civil engineers use topographic maps, which often incorporate shaded relief, to identify suitable locations for new developments and to plan infrastructure like roads and water systems, considering the natural contours of the land.

Assessment Ideas

Exit Ticket

Provide students with a small, simplified physical map section. Ask them to write two sentences explaining what the colours and shading on their map section represent, and one sentence describing the type of landform shown (e.g., flat, hilly, mountainous).

Quick Check

Display two different map sections, one showing a valley and one showing a mountain range, using only colour and shading. Ask students to hold up a card or point to the map that represents the higher ground and then the lower ground, explaining their choice based on the map's visual cues.

Discussion Prompt

Pose the question: 'Imagine you are looking at a map of Ireland. How would the colours and shading tell you if you were near the highest point in the country, like Carrauntoohil, versus a low-lying area like the Bog of Allen?' Encourage students to use the key vocabulary in their responses.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do maps show hills and valleys without contour lines?

Maps use colour gradients, with greens and blues for low valleys, yellows for mid-levels, and browns to whites for peaks. Shading adds depth through light and shadow effects, while pictorial icons like hill symbols reinforce high ground. Students interpret these by comparing to keys and real photos, building confidence in reading relief quickly.

What do different colours mean on physical maps?

Standard conventions assign cool colours like green and blue to lowlands under 200m, warming to yellow and orange for 200-600m hills, and dark browns for mountains over 600m. Irish maps follow this, helping students recognise features like the Mourne Mountains in purple-brown tones. Practice with colour keys prevents confusion across map styles.

How can active learning help students understand hills and valleys on maps?

Activities like clay modelling from shaded maps or colouring blank outlines give kinesthetic experience of elevation. Students manipulate materials to match symbols, discuss in groups why a valley dips low, and test ideas by viewing models from different angles. This builds deeper spatial intuition than worksheets, as errors become visible and fixable through collaboration.

How can we imagine land from a map?

Visualise by holding maps at eye level and tilting to mimic terrain, or build tactile models. Pair with videos of flyovers over coloured map areas, like Ireland's Burren. Student sketches from memory after map study reveal gaps, prompting revisions that strengthen mental imagery skills for geography.