Children are first introduced to some common symbols which are for services as well as symbols used by tourists, sports people and those making journeys.
Children will have encountered symbols from the three main classes used on maps:
- Point symbols: individual signs, dots, triangles used to represent place or positional data such as a city.
- Line symbols: road, railway, boundary a river or canal.
- Area symbols might indicate a marsh, a forest, water, administrative jurisdiction.
These symbols will need to be reinforced and revised through class activities where groups might be asked to find particular symbols on maps.