Cantebrigia, opulentissimi Angli[a]e Regni vrbs celeberrimi nominis, ab Academi[a]e conditore Cantabro, cognominata : a Granta fluuio vicino Cairgrant, saxonib. Grauntecestre, et Grantebrige iam olim nuncupata.

In the second grade, students construct basic maps using legends, scale, and intermediate directions including the introduction of latitude and longitude and the division of the Earth into four hemispheres. Students identify basic natural landforms and bodies of water and man-made environments including examples found in the community and the United States: plains, mountains, peninsulas, and islands; rivers, lakes, oceans, seas, gulfs, bays, and harbors; and highways, cities, airports, and railroads. Students locate on a physical map of the United States the major natural features including the Mississippi River, Colorado River, Rio Grande, Great Lakes, Rocky and Appalachian Mountain Ranges, the Great Plains, the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and the Gulf of Mexico. Students locate on a political map of the United States the state of where they live and the six bordering states, and the major cities of Washington, D.C., New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago.

In the first grade, students define and compare the physical features of urban and rural communities. Students construct maps and identify cardinal directions of north, south, east, and west, and identify locations on the map of their community, their State, and the United States. Students locate on a map and globe the United States, the seven continents, and five oceans.

The geography discoveries and the new printing techniques resulted in maps that can be cheaply produced. Since a globe remains the only accurate way of representing the spherical earth, and any flat representation resulted in distorted projection. In 1569, Mercator published a map of the world specifically intended as an aid to navigation. It used a projection now known by Mercator's name, though it has been used by few others before him, based on a system of latitude and longitude that dated back to Hipparchus. Mercator's projection greatly enlarged territories as they recede from the equator. The distortion of Mercator's projection is a benefit to navigators since Mercator achieves a matching scale for longitude and latitude in every section of the map. A compass course can be plotted at the same angle on any part of Mercator's map. As a result marine charts still use this projection. By the time of his death in 1595, Mercator has either published or prepared large engraved maps, designed for binding into volume form, of France, Germany, Italy, the Balkans, and the British Isles. Mercator's son issues the entire series under the title "Atlas": "Atlas sive Cosmographicae Meditationes." The name becomes the word for a volume of maps.

image_search Find relevant images and pages