Geography

Indicate the block. The rows of a sheet are lettered A to F from the top and the columns are numbered 1 to 5 from the left. A school stands in the third row down and the fourth column across.

Name the sheet. Sheet 2632BA and its neighbours lie in quarter B of the degree square 26° S, 32° E. Which sheet lies directly south of 2632BA?

Choose the co-ordinates of a farm dam that are written in the order and form the memo expects.

Name the sheet. Sheet 3018DB lies in quarter D of the degree square 30° S, 18° E. Which sheet lies directly west of 3018DB in the same quarter?

Give the code. Which map code belongs to the north-east quarter of the south-west quarter of the degree square 27° S, 29° E?

Explain the meaning of the scale 1 : 20 000.

Choose the correct statement. A learner compares the scales 1 : 5 000 and 1 : 50 000.

A 400 m road is drawn on a 1 : 10 000 orthophoto and on a 1 : 50 000 map. Which statement is correct?

How many times larger is the scale of a 1 : 5 000 plan than the scale of a 1 : 50 000 map?

A sheet states its scale in words as 1 cm = 400 m. Which ratio scale says the same thing?

Formula: map distance × scale. Two churches are 6,6 cm apart on a 1 : 50 000 map. Calculate the distance between them, in kilometres.

Formula: map distance × scale. Two buildings are 11,6 cm apart on a 1 : 10 000 orthophoto. Calculate the distance between them, in metres.

Formula: string length × scale. A road is measured with string along its bends on a 1 : 50 000 map, and the string reads 5,3 cm. Determine the length of the road, in metres.

Formula: map distance × scale. The distance between a school and a clinic is 5,8 cm on a 1 : 50 000 map, and the question asks for the answer in kilometres. Which substitution earns the substitution mark?

The memo accepts a map distance of 7,3 to 7,5 cm on a 1 : 50 000 map. Which range of ground distances, in metres, will therefore be accepted?

The true bearing of a trig beacon from a hut is 72°. What is the true bearing of the hut from the beacon?

The bearing of a windmill from a school is 300°. What is the bearing of the school from the windmill?

A learner must find the bearing of a windmill FROM a dam on a topographic map. Where does she place the centre of the protractor, and what does she read?

The memo gives the true bearing of a pylon from a gate as 143° (accept 142° to 144°). A learner places the protractor on the pylon by mistake and measures the bearing of the gate from the pylon. What does she read, and does it earn the mark?

The bearing of a reservoir from a farm is 205°. What is the bearing of the farm from the reservoir?

Calculate. A sheet’s margin gives the magnetic declination as 22°47′ West (April 2010), with a change of 6′ West a year. What is the magnetic declination for 2026?

Calculate. A sheet’s margin gives the magnetic declination as 25°41′ West (August 2013), with a change of 4′ West a year. What is the magnetic declination for 2025?

Calculate. A sheet’s margin gives the magnetic declination as 23°52′ West (January 2007), with a change of 7′ West a year. What is the magnetic declination for 2024?

Calculate. A sheet’s margin gives the magnetic declination as 24°48′ West (July 2011), with a change of 9′ West a year. What is the magnetic declination for 2026?

Calculate. A sheet’s margin gives the magnetic declination as 21°39′ West (November 2009), with a change of 5′ West a year. What is the magnetic declination for 2026?

A learner calculates the distance between two points that are 5,4 cm apart on a 1 : 10 000 orthophoto as 5,4 cm × 500 m = 2 700 m. What is her mistake?

For a true bearing of 84° and a west declination of 25°10′, a learner writes MB = 84° − 25°10′ = 58°50′. What is her mistake?

A learner finds that two beacons are 7,2 cm apart on a 1 : 50 000 map, calculates 7,2 cm × 500 m = 3 600 m, and writes ‘3 600 km’ because the question asks for kilometres. What is her mistake?

A learner finds the height difference between a spot height of 612 m and a trig beacon labelled 85, with the height 574,3 m, as 612 − 85 = 527 m. What is her mistake?

A learner measures a winding stream on a 1 : 50 000 map with a straight ruler and reads 6,2 cm, so she writes 3 100 m. String laid along the stream measures 8,4 cm. What is her mistake?

A 1 : 10 000 orthophoto accompanies a 1 : 50 000 topographic map. (a) Explain the meaning of the scale 1 : 10 000. (1) (b) State how many times larger the scale of the orthophoto is than the scale of the map. (1) (c) Two sports fields are 7,2 cm apart on the orthophoto. Formula: map distance × scale. Calculate the distance between them, in metres. (2) Answer in full sentences.

1. Content: 1 cm on the orthophoto represents 10 000 cm, which is 100 m, on the groundThe meaning of a ratio scale is 1 cm on the sheet for the stated number of centimetres on the ground, and 10 000 cm is 100 m.
2. Content: the orthophoto’s scale is five times larger than the map’sDivide the two numbers after the colon: 50 000 ÷ 10 000 = 5.
3. Method: the substitution 7,2 cm × 100 m (the orthophoto’s scale, not the map’s 500 m)The orthophoto’s 100 m per centimetre goes in; putting in the map’s 500 m loses this mark.
4. Accuracy: the answer 720 m, with its unit7,2 × 100 = 720, written with the unit the question asked for.

On the orthophoto, 1 cm represents 10 000 cm on the ground, which is 100 m. The scale of the orthophoto is five times larger than the scale of the map, because 50 000 ÷ 10 000 = 5. Substitution: 7,2 cm × 100 m. Answer: the two sports fields are 720 m apart.

A topographic sheet is coded 3319AC. Its rows are lettered A to F from the top and its columns are numbered 1 to 5 from the left. (a) State the latitude and the longitude, in whole degrees, of the degree square that the code gives. (1) (b) Give the code of the sheet directly east of 3319AC in the same quarter. (1) (c) A reservoir lies in the fifth row down and the second column across. Write its block reference. (1) (d) A learner gives the reservoir’s co-ordinates as 19°10′ E; 33°25′ S. State her mistake and write the co-ordinates correctly. (1) Answer in full sentences.

1. Content: the degree square is 33° S and 19° EThe first two digits of the code are the latitude (south) and the next two the longitude (east).
2. Content: the sheet directly east in the same quarter is 3319ADAC is the bottom-left sheet of quarter A, so the sheet to its right is AD; only the last letter changes.
3. Content: the reservoir is in block E2, row letter firstThe fifth row down is E and the second column is 2; the row letter is written before the column number.
4. Content: latitude must come first, so the co-ordinates are 33°25′ S; 19°10′ EThe learner wrote the longitude first; a co-ordinate pair always starts with the latitude.

The code 3319AC gives the degree square 33° S and 19° E: the first two digits are the latitude and the next two are the longitude. The sheet directly east in the same quarter is 3319AD, because only the last letter changes. The reservoir is in block E2: the fifth row down is E, and the row letter is written before the column number. The learner wrote the longitude first, but the latitude must come first, so the co-ordinates are 33°25′ S; 19°10′ E.

A practice sheet’s margin gives the magnetic declination as 24°52′ West (June 2009), with a change of 8′ West a year. Calculate the magnetic declination for 2026. Show the number of years, the total change, the change in degrees and minutes, the addition and your final answer. (5)

1. Method: the number of years since the note, 2026 − 2009 = 17Count the years from the date on the note to the year asked for.
2. Method: the total change, 17 × 8′ = 136′Years multiplied by the yearly change gives the total change in minutes.
3. Method: the change in degrees and minutes, 136′ = 2°16′ (60′ make 1°)Divide by 60: 136′ is two lots of 60′ (2°) with 16′ left over.
4. Method: the addition, 24°52′ + 2°16′ = 26°68′The change is added to the note’s declination, degrees to degrees and minutes to minutes.
5. Accuracy: the minutes are carried, 26°68′ = 27°08′ West68′ is more than 60′, so 60′ become 1° and 8′ remain: 27°08′ West.

First I count the years from the note to 2026: 2026 − 2009 = 17 years. The total change is 17 × 8′ = 136′. I change the minutes into degrees and minutes: 136′ = 2°16′, because 60′ make 1°. I add this to the note: 24°52′ + 2°16′ = 26°68′. I carry the minutes, because 68′ is more than 60′: 26°68′ = 27°08′, so the declination for 2026 is 27°08′ West.

Explain to a Grade 8 learner why you must use a piece of string, not a ruler, to measure a winding road on a map, and what you do with the string afterwards.

Explain to a Grade 8 learner why a Question 3.1 calculation earns separate marks for the formula, the substitution and the answer with its unit, using a distance example.

Explain to a Grade 8 learner why the same road looks five times longer on a 1 : 10 000 orthophoto than on a 1 : 50 000 map, and what that tells you about the two scales.