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TerraPrinter Classroom · Worksheet · Ages 9–14

Map reading with contour lines

Name Class Date

A contour line joins places that are the same height. The contour interval is the height difference between one line and the next. Use the models of Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh and Half Dome in Yosemite.

You need these models

Open a link in a web browser to see the model in 3D, or use the printed model from your teacher.

  1. What is the contour interval on the Arthur's Seat model? On the Half Dome model?

  2. On Arthur's Seat, count the contour lines from the lowest edge of the model up to the summit. Multiply by 20 m. About how high is the summit above the low ground?

  3. Where on Arthur's Seat are the lines closest together? What does that tell you about the slope there?

  4. Plan the easiest walk to the top of Arthur's Seat. Describe your route and explain why you chose it.

  5. On Half Dome, find the sheer cliff. Which way does it face? How can you tell from the contour lines?

  6. Half Dome rises about 1,450 m above the floor of Yosemite Valley. With 100 m contours, about how many lines would you cross climbing from the valley floor to the top?

  7. Contour lines bend into a V where they cross a valley. Does the V point uphill or downhill?

  8. Draw a contour map of a hill with one steep side and one gentle side. Mark the summit with a cross.

terraprinter.com/classroom/worksheet/contours/

TerraPrinter Classroom, CC BY 4.0: free to copy and adapt with credit.

TerraPrinter Classroom · For the teacher

Answer key: Map reading with contour lines

Learning goals

Answers

  1. What is the contour interval on the Arthur's Seat model? On the Half Dome model?Arthur's Seat: 20 m. Half Dome: 100 m.
  2. On Arthur's Seat, count the contour lines from the lowest edge of the model up to the summit. Multiply by 20 m. About how high is the summit above the low ground?About 10–11 lines, so about 200 m. The summit is 251 m above sea level; the low ground around the hill is about 30–50 m.
  3. Where on Arthur's Seat are the lines closest together? What does that tell you about the slope there?On the cliffs, such as Salisbury Crags on the side facing the city (west). Lines close together mean a steep slope.
  4. Plan the easiest walk to the top of Arthur's Seat. Describe your route and explain why you chose it.Answers vary. The best routes follow places where the lines are far apart, which means gentle slopes, for example from the east side near Dunsapie Loch.
  5. On Half Dome, find the sheer cliff. Which way does it face? How can you tell from the contour lines?North-west. The contour lines there are squeezed so close together they almost touch, which means a near-vertical cliff.
  6. Half Dome rises about 1,450 m above the floor of Yosemite Valley. With 100 m contours, about how many lines would you cross climbing from the valley floor to the top?About 14.
  7. Contour lines bend into a V where they cross a valley. Does the V point uphill or downhill?Uphill (upstream).
  8. Draw a contour map of a hill with one steep side and one gentle side. Mark the summit with a cross.Rings around the summit: close together on the steep side and spread out on the gentle side.

Before the lesson

Print the models at 150 mm wide, 0.2 mm layers, 10–15% infill, no supports. Contour lines are raised ridges on the print, so students can feel them as well as see them. Half Dome is at true scale (1×), so its cliff is as steep as the real one. Measurements on the sheet assume the 150 mm size. Students' measured answers will vary a little with how they measure. Discussion questions and a hands-on activity for this topic: terraprinter.com/classroom/#contours