Road maps are visual representations of roads, cardinal directions, topography, and roadside features and attractions designed specifically for vehicle drivers. These maps can be made for cities, states, regions or countries and are drawn to a specific scale, which is indicated on the road map. Road maps show roads, from major highways to small country lanes, in each area, and topographical features, businesses and local attractions surrounding these roads. Maps are laid out in a grid, with letters on opposing borders of the page and numbers on the other opposing borders of the page intersecting at horizontal and vertical lines across the map. These grids are used to find a specific location; for instance, the index will list a location as being located at "G-5," which can be found by matching up the grid lines corresponding to those coordinates.
Road maps are important educational tools for kids, since using these maps will be important when they learn how to drive. Road maps can also teach kids general map-reading, math and problem-solving skills. The key, scale, color-coordination and geography features on the map are all useful in understanding maps and learning about the geography of a location. Math skills can be enhanced through measuring distances and applying the scale, while discovering efficient routes between locations helps teach problem-solving to kids.
Road maps can be educational tools in a number of scholastic fields. A geography project can include location scavenger hunts, making kids find specific locations on a map by giving them coordinates (or vice versa). Finding the shortest route between multiple locations helps enhance problem-solving skills, and kids can use the road map to create a driving itinerary between these locations. Finally, for sample math projects, kids can measure the distance between locations and apply the scale to determine how many miles or kilometers a route may take.
Road maps or atlases can be found in most gas stations, supermarkets and bookstores. They can also be ordered through Rand-McNally or AAA (see Resources).
