The importance of using contour lines in teaching
Instituto Tecnologico de
Buenos Aires
The representation of relief is a
difficult task to carry out because it requires adequate methods depending on
the aim and the scale of work. The symbolization should appear to be natural
and at the same time should allow the measurement of slopes and altitudes of the earth surface. One of the most
useful methods of representation is the use of contour lines, as they fulfill
these two requirements.
The use of maps is of essential
importance, not only for the location of relevant physical features but also
for determining the morphological characteristics. From this point of view, the
use of contour lines is increasingly important.
The aim of this paper is to
enphasize the usefulness of understanding and applying contour lines to maps.
One of the methodologies to apply is
based in the analysis of topographical maps compared with other types of
representations such us block diagrams, terrestrial and aerial photographs,
digital elevation models (DEM), etc. In this way we can obtain a lot of
different type of information from both contour lines and photographs. We also
propose practical activities and exercises.