3.- HOW DO WE REPRESENT THE EARTH?


The Earth is spherical. Nevertheless, it is not a perfect sphere because it is flat at the poles. We call this shape a geoid.

Globes are accurate representations of the Earth because they have a similar shape to our planet.



Maps provide information about a small area, a country or the whole world. However, maps have a flat surface, and the Earth is 3D. Therefore, shapes and distances are not real. That's the reason why maps use scales, which indicate the different between the size of something on a map and its size in the real world.

There are different types of maps: Topographic maps, showing some features of the natural environment (mountains, rivers, ...) and thematic maps, which offer visual information on a certain topic.