The Development of Graphicacy: Children's Understanding of Maps

Research evidence indicates that children of primary school age have considerable ability at drawing cognitive maps of their home environment. Experiments with vertical aerial photographs and large scale maps of familiar areas show that young children can identify features on them. Studies of secondary school pupils' understanding of contour patterns, however, reveal errors in their perception of relief. Boys consistently perform better than girls of the same age on map drawing and map reading tasks. It is suggested that pupils should have opportunities to learn and practise map reading skills out of doors by attempting orienteering exercises.