Skills - Reading Maps, Graphs, Statistics, and Historical Sources
Skills - Reading maps, graphs, statistics, and historical sources tests interpretation and expression. You must read scales, units, sources, and context before drawing conclusions.
Core rules and concepts
- Maps: check scale, legend, contour interval, and orientation. Contour lines close together mean steep slopes; valleys are V-shaped and point upstream. Latitude and longitude locate places; thematic maps show one variable.
- Graphs: identify the title, axes, units, and whether data are totals, rates, or per capita. A rise in a percentage can occur while the total falls.
- Statistics: compare time periods and sources; correlation is not causation. Note definitions and dates.
- Sources: identify author, audience, purpose, and context; distinguish fact from opinion and avoid anachronism.
- Expression: state a claim, cite evidence, explain the link, and qualify uncertainty.
Worked example
A table shows a city’s total population stable at 1.2 million while the share aged 65+ rises from 12% to 28%. The correct conclusion is aging, not necessarily population decline. The reasoning: the percentage rise could occur with stable totals because younger groups shrink; you need age-specific counts to say more. A weak answer says “population is falling” from the percentage alone.
Traps that cost marks
Misreading axes, ignoring units, treating a rate as a count, using a single year to claim a trend, and quoting a source without its context. Also watch map scale: a 1:25,000 map shows more detail than 1:200,000.