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If you've ever wanted to live like a pirate, there are a number of different things you could do... [Kid wearing a pirate hat]

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Spend the day wearing an eye patch...

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Walk around with a parrot on your shoulder...

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Or say “arr” at the beginning of every sentence. [Kid holding up a sword]

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But if you're not interested in walking into objects and getting harassed by a bird all

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day, then good news!

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There's an easier way to feel pirate-like…

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Yup!

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By using a map to find nearby buried treasure! [Cross on the treasure map]

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Or a nearby bathroom, pool, or anything else you might be looking for.

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…hey, anything can be treasure if you try hard enough. [Guy runs out of a car]

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Even a toilet.

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But guess what?

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There are tons of different maps in the world!

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And each type of map has a bunch of different features… [Kid deciding over which map to use]

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You'll usually find a title, which gives you a fairly good idea of what the map is trying

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to show you, unless of course it's written in a different language…

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…or by a bunch of liars.

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But hey, for the purposes of this video, let's say you can actually read the map you're looking at. [Two people reading a map]

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You'll also probably find some sort of scale bar, which shows how far apart everything [Finger pointing to the scale bar]

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on the map is.

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Then there's the legend – and no, it's not some fantastical story written out on the [Guy dressed in armour with a sword]

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map about people with magic flying shoes or snakes for hair.

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A legend is there to explain what all the different symbols and colors on the map mean. [Symbols appear on the map]

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And there's almost always a compass rose, which shows the four main directions: north,

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south, east, and west.

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Pretty straightforward stuff, right? [Each direction is shown on the compass rose]

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Okay, on to the map types.

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First up: the physical map.

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A physical map is called that because it shows, well, physical features of the land.

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What a surprise, right?

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Some physical features you might find shown on a physical map include mountains, bodies [Examples of the features are shown on the map]

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of water like lakes and rivers, and elevation differences indicated by various colors to

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show things like valleys and hills.

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Typically speaking, green will mean lower elevations while brown means higher. [Different elevation portions of the map are shown]

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Okay, so if a physical map shows physical features, then what do you think our next

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map type, a topographic map, shows?

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Topos?

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That almost sounds right... except for the fact that a “topo” isn't exactly a real thing. [Lots of question marks appear on the map]

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Topography is the study of the shape and features of the surface of the Earth, so a topographic

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map aims to show exactly that.

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How you may ask?

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By using something called “contour lines,” which you can see pretty much all over this [Finger pointing to contour lines on the map]

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topographic map.

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So as you can see, a topographic map is pretty similar to a physical map, except that its

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focus is on the very specific elevation and shape of the Earth's surface by using contour lines. [Contour lines overlaying a physical map]

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When the contour lines are close together, the elevation is steeper – and when they're

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further apart, it's not so steep. [Mountains are shown and then plains]

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These are helpful when you're planning out a hiking route!

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Sign us up for the far apart contour line trail! [Two guys climbing up a steep hill]

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Next up is a political map.

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And no, before you ask, you can't use it to find the president.

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Even if you could, the Secret Service would stop you pretty fast. [Guy walking over to the president whilst looking at map]

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The word “politics” here simply refers to the state and national boundaries of a

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given place.

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A map which shows all the different counties in a state, for instance, would be good example [Country names popping up all over a map]

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of a political map.

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And unlike the previous map types we've discussed, a political map doesn't focus on physical features.

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It's all about boundaries.

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Lastly we've got one of the most common maps out there. [Girl holding a map in a living room]

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If you've ever been lost on a road trip with your family before, you just might be familiar

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with this next map.

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It's the granddaddy of phone GPS. [Family in a car in the middle of a woods]

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The one your dad is probably flipping around and around in a desperate attempt to figure

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out wherever you're supposed to go. [Driver stops to look at the map]

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Yup, it's the good ol' fashioned road map, and its purpose is pretty obvious: to show

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all the different roads, highways and landmarks in a given area. [Examples of the features are shown]

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And while its main purpose is to help people get from point A to point B, it's ultimately [A route is drawn onto the map]

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up to the reader to figure that all out.

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Good luck, pops…

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There are many other map types too – weather maps, climate maps, ocean floor maps, and [Pictures of the other type of maps]

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maps for pretty much every possible thing you'd want to map.

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If you could create your very own exciting and awesome map, what would it be? [Kid drawing his own map]

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Maybe a map of all the nearest ice cream shops?

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A map to the nearest movie theater or arcade?

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Or maybe just a map to the toilet.

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Hey, when you gotta go, you gotta get there fast. [Guy running to the toilet reading a map]

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