General Geography and Cartography
Foundations
General geography asks you to connect physical and human systems; cartography asks you to read the map that shows them. Master the basics: Earth as a geoid, latitude and longitude, the graticule, hemispheres, the poles and the equator, and the difference between absolute location (coordinates) and relative location (position described against other features).
Scale and projection
Scale is a ratio: 1:50,000 means one unit on the map equals 50,000 of the same units on the ground, so a larger denominator means a smaller scale and less detail. Be ready to convert between representative fraction, verbal scale and graphic bar. Every projection distorts shape, area, distance or direction; conformal maps preserve angles, equal-area maps preserve area, and no flat map keeps everything. Know that meridians converge at the poles and that a degree of longitude shrinks toward the poles while a degree of latitude stays roughly constant (about 111 km).
Map reading skills
Practise interpreting contour lines (close spacing = steep slope, hachures and spot heights, valley versus ridge), grid references, symbols and legends, and cross-sections. Know the difference between isolines (contours, isotherms, isobars, isohyets) and how they express gradients.
Traps
Typical distractors: confusing large-scale with large-area maps; assuming north is always at the top; mixing up magnetic and grid north; treating a degree of longitude as a fixed distance; and reading contour values in the wrong direction on a slope.
Rule of thumb
To compare scales, invert the fractions: 1/25,000 is larger than 1/250,000, so the first map covers a smaller area with more detail. For time zones, remember 15° of longitude equals one hour.