Map
reading
Map reading
is an essential skill for field biologists. You need to know how to navigate
safely through the countryside and you need to be able to record the positions
of locations where you find interesting plants and animals.
In the United
Kingdom, biologists are extremely fortunate in the quality of the maps
that are available to them. The ones most often used are those produced
by the Ordnance Survey which has been providing accurate, reliable and
detailed geographic information for more than 200 years. (In case you
are wondering, the Ordnance Survey is so called because it was first established
to produce accurate maps for use by the military, ordnance being military
materials, stores, and implements of war.)
The Ordnance
Survey have, on their website, excellent accounts of how their maps are
used. Click on the kids for the easy fun version or on the map to read
a more detailed account. These sites will each open in a new window which
you should maximise.
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