name three kinds of tools that help us to read a map

The three most important tools and components that help in reading a map are as follows:

a.  Scale: It is the ratio between  the actual distance and the one which is shown on the map. Knowing scale will help us to calculate distance between places. For example, in any map, 1 cms= 5 kms.

b. Direction: This is very important in knowing directions. Most maps specify letter N, in the upper right corner depicting North direction. This helps us to identify other directions  that is cardinal points , North, South , East and West  and accordingly intermediate directions can be identified like NE, SW etc.

c. Symbols: Another important tool that helps us to read map are the symbols, like colours, Alphabets, shades, small shapes, arrows, lines that are used to depict something. There are certain conventional symbols recognized and are used to depict places, like Post office, Church, temples, rivers,trees etc.