Certificate No.

AJA19-0226

Name: Partoza, Jenny Babe C. Date: January 6,

2021
Course/Year and Section: BSEd-Science lII-1 Instructor: Ms.
Rica Elacion

Interpreting Contour Maps: Making a Map out of a Mountain Caution: Gradient

Ahead

Task: Try these examples out for yourself. For each example use the image. A map of the
United States with shaded contours of temperature. Can you deduce the magnitude of the
temperature gradient at various locations.
1. Compare the magnitudes of the temperature gradients at stations A and B. For
example, which station has the larger gradient? How do you know? Are the gradients large or
small compared to other locations on the map?
Answer:
Station A has a larger gradient than Station B. We know this because the isotherms
are packed closer together at A than at B. Alternatively, we could say that over a fixed
distance near Station A (say, 1 cm on the map), the temperature changes a great deal more
than for the same distance at Station B. While Station A shows a large gradient, there are
perhaps slightly larger gradients in temperature in South Carolina and northern Canada.
Station B's temperature gradient is certainly among the smallest on the map.

2. Perform the same analysis that you did in Example #1, but with stations C and D.
Answer:
Station C has a larger gradient than Station D. We know this because the isotherms
are packed closer together at C than at D. We could also say that over a fixed distance near
Station C (say, 1 cm on the map), the temperature changes a great deal more than for the
same distance at Station D. Station C shows one of the largest gradients on the map. Station
D's temperature gradient is certainly among the smallest on the map.