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Land Nav Task 2 - Identify Topographic Symbols on a Military Map

Standards: Identified topographic symbols, colors, and marginal information on a military map with 100 percent accuracy.

Conditions:
Given a standard 1:50,000-scale military
map.

Standards:
Identified topographic symbols, colors, and
marginal information on a military map with
100 percent accuracy.

 

Performance Steps

1.  
Identify the colors on a
military map.

a.
The ideal situation would be
that every feature on that portion of
the earth being mapped is shown on the
map in its true shape and size.
Unfortunately, that is impossible.

b.
The amount of detail shown on a
map increases or decreases, depending
on its scale; for example, a map with
a scale of 1:250,000.

c. 
Details are shown by
topographic symbols. These symbols are
shown using six basic colors as shown
in table C-1.

Table C-1.
Colors on a topographic map


Colors

Symbols

Black


Cultural
(man-made) features other than roads

Blue


Water

Brown


All
relief features-contour lines on old
maps-cultivated land on red-light
readable maps

Green


Vegetation

Red


Major
roads, built-up areas, special
features on old maps

Red-Brown


All
relief features and main roads on
red-light readable maps

2.  
Identify the symbols used on a
military map to represent physical
features, such as physical
surroundings or objects, as shown in
table C-2.

Table C-2.
Features on topographic maps






a.
The shape of an object on the
map usually tells what it is, for
example, a black, solid square is a
building or a house; a round or
irregular blue item is a lake or pond.

b.
Logic and what the colors mean
must work together in determining a
map feature. For example, blue
represents water. If you see a symbol
that is blue and has clumps of grass,
this would be a swamp.

c. 
The size of the symbol shows
the approximate size of an object.
Most symbols are enlarged 6 to 10
times so that you can see them under
dim light.

d.
Use the legend; it has most of
the symbols used on the map.

3.  
Identify the marginal
information found on the legend.

a.
Marginal information at the top
of the map sheet.

(1) 
The top left corner contains
the geographic location of the map
area and the scale of the map.

(2) 
The top center has the name of
the map sheet.

(3) 
The top right corner contains
the map edition, map series, and the
map sheet number.

b.
Marginal information at the
bottom of the map sheet.

(1) 
The lower left corner of the
map contains the legend, the name of
the agency that prepared the map, the
map sheet number, and the map sheet
name.

(2) 
The bottom center contains the
bar scales in meters, yards, miles,
and nautical miles; the contour
interval of the contour lines; the
grid reference box; the declination
diagram; and the G-M angle (mils or
degrees).

(3) 
The lower right corner contains
the elevation guide, the adjoining map
sheet diagram, and the boundaries box,
which shows any boundaries that may be
on the map.

Evaluation
Preparation: 

Setup:
On a 1:50,000-scale military map, circle
each item of marginal information found on
the map. Randomly letter the circled items A
through J. Circle an item or feature shown
on the map by color. Randomly number each
colored item 1 through 10. The items are
listed in the Evaluation Guide/Performance
Measures. Have a sheet of paper and two
pencils available for the soldier being
tested. For each soldier tested, provide a
duplicate set of the map, paper, and
pencils.

Brief
Soldier: Tell the soldier to letter the
paper A through J and 1 through 10. Tell the
soldier to write down the name of the item
contained in each lettered and numbered
circle on the map.

Performance Measures

GO

NO
GO


1.  
Identified the sheet name.

2.  
Identified the sheet number.

3.  
Identified the contour
interval.

4.  
Identified the G-M angle (mils
or degrees).

5.  
Identified the legend.

6.  
Identified the bar scales.

7.  
Identified the declination
diagram.

8.  
Identified the grid reference
box.

9.  
Identified the adjoining map
sheets diagram.

10.
Identified the elevation guide.

11.
Identified 2 of 2 specific
man-made features (shown in black on
the map).

12.
Identified 2 of 2 water
features (blue on the map).

13.
Identified 2 of 2 vegetation
features (green on the map).

14.
Identified 2 of 2 man-made
features; for example, main roads or
build-up areas (shown in brown or
red-brown on the map).

15.
Identified 2 of 2 contour lines
(shown in brown or red-brown on the
map).

Evaluation
Guidance:
 
Score the soldier GO if all
performance measures are passed. Score the
soldier NO GO if any performance measure is
failed. If the soldier scores NO GO, show
the soldier what was done wrong and how to
do it correctly.

References


 

Required


Related


 

FM
3-25.26

 

 

FM
21-31

 

 


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