MAPS OF THE PAST AND PRESENT.
As it is impossible to adequately teach the surface features of a country with only a vague idea of its structure, and with no aids in the form of pictures, drawing or modelings by which these surface features may be illustrated, there arises the necessity for maps.
These, to be of any real service, must be a representation of the form and character of the area which is the subject of study, and must indicate the relation of part to part, parts to the whole, and the whole to parts.
As symbols and more than symbols, they must bring to the mind vivid pictures of the real country or continent, not as too commonly taught; “A mental picture of the map, so clear and consistent ... that he (the pupil) can read the answers to all questions concerning it, from his mental map, as easily as he could from the printed one, if it were before him.”
This is to limit and cramp the mind’s action, as the pupil sees only the map and its corresponding concept of map, its size, boundaries and patches of colored paper. It gives no idea of relation or correspondence between the map and the actual world of life, form and color.
Aim of Teacher. In using maps it should be the aim of teachers to create in the mind a complete, harmonious picture; the blending together of the several concepts of structure, climate, drainage, soil, vegetation, animal life, races of men, etc., corresponding to reality, or real life in the real world.
The flat political maps of the past made no attempt to show any structural features except those of horizontal or level plains, markings which show the locations of mountain ranges and volcanoes, and lines indicating rivers and outlines of continents or coasts.
These maps have had comparatively little meaning to the young pupil. There was in them no suggestion of solidity or mass; the contents to him seemed flat and thin, and confined between coasts which were sharply defined. Tent-like mountains crossed ghost-like surfaces, and thread-like rivers were made to zigzag along in an erratic and irresponsible way, showing to him no reason whatever for their being.
Many teachers or pupils have not known how to interpret maps. They have not realized that, where rivers rise in certain localities (especially if more than one rises in the same place), there is a reason for their rising just there and for their flowing in different directions; that their source is probably at an elevation or rise of land (called a divide or water-parting), that there is likely to be more rainfall on the side of the mountain range that has the more rivers, and that this has a close relation to the direction of the prevailing winds.
Natural Boundaries. In the past study of these maps, outlines of political divisions have been memorized. It was not realized that many of the boundaries of those areas were fixed in the beginning by the very nature of the surface structure, and that they are where they are, simply because they could not well be anywhere else. (See Mexico, India, Italy.)
Map of the Chicago Drainage Canal.
(With larger map showing its relation to Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River, also sections in detail.)
History. We have seen that the study of history cannot be successfully taught without a knowledge of structural geography on the part of teacher and pupil; so we may say the same of maps, that their use is of fundamental importance in that study, and the ability to read them understandingly is as indispensable as it is in the study of geography. To try to teach history otherwise would be a waste of time and effort.
The habit of locating the events recorded, of tracing upon the map the route of an army, or the line of an important road or canal, and observing the impediments or natural obstructions to be overcome, with the great advantages to be derived therefrom, together with inferences as to the time and labor required, has the effect of making the study of history of living interest, especially if the map used indicates such surface structure.
In the structural map the student readily sees the meaning to commerce of the cutting of a canal which would unite two large bodies of water, or the effect the building of roads and bridges across hitherto impassable regions would have upon the life and growth of a people in the opening up of new and extensive areas to civilization, and consequently the development of their own internal resources.
The importance of this habit of usage, or constant reference to the map, is also recognized when one realizes how it fixes in the memory not only the location of cities and boundaries of ancient empires, but the geographical structure and environment associated with their growth and with important historic events; making plain the reasons for, or causes why, certain events occurred at certain places, as the inevitable consequence of their environment.
Light dawns upon the pupil as he studies. He sees that environment has been an important factor in the development of the human race. He traces step by step in imagination the growth of civilization, from the time that man in his nomad stage first drove his herds into the valley in search of food and water. There, finding the soil productive, water unfailing in supply, and the valley protected from marauders by natural barriers, as desert or mountain walls, he fixes his home; in the course of time comfortable dwellings are constructed, land is cultivated and the place becomes a center of civilization.
In connection with this train of thought, the student by contrast notes the far different effects of environment as shown by life in the Arctic or other regions, and he turns to his map with renewed interest and eager inquiry.
Literature. The habit also of locating on the map every place, natural feature or country read about, should be cultivated, as it is of importance in obtaining a correct understanding of an author’s meaning.
If we did not have the knowledge of physical structure in mind as a stage on which the actors move, much of our literature would lose its value, becoming flat and uninteresting.
To know the great lake region adds to one’s interest in Longfellow’s “Hiawatha,” and the tales of the early explorers; and a knowledge of the Catskills and the geography of the Hudson River valley gives greater zest to the enjoyment of Irving’s “Rip Van Winkle” and “Sleepy Hollow.”
It is also necessary to the understanding of the stories of Holland (“Hans Brinker”) that we know the habits of the Hollanders arising from the physical characteristics of their environment.
To read intelligently Scott, Dickens, George Elliot and others is to understand the peculiarities of climate and structure of the British Isles. The old Greek stories and the German Folk Lore as well, demand for their understanding and interpretation, that we place them not only in relation to the habits and thoughts of the people, but also to the physical foundation of the country itself.
Relief Map. The nearer a map corresponds in its inherent form and material, to the surface features of the earth which it is designed to represent, the more of reality does it recall to the mind. The most effective map of this kind and the one which corresponds most closely to the reality is the modeled map of putty or plaster, showing structure in relief.
These maps have been in use for years, and have been of incalculable interest and benefit to those whose stock of knowledge concerning geographical structure had been mainly gathered from the flat political map and old modes of teaching.
On seeing a relief map of one of the continents for the first time, there arises a sense of wonder and surprise, and as the realization dawns upon one of the continuity of the great mass of land represented, with its altitudes and depressions, and that it is one stupendous aggregation of soil, rock and vegetation, surrounded by a great expanse of water, a feeling of awe and astonishment is awakened.
As this new light comes to the student, he looks with interest and eagerness to see the plan of it all. We do not mean to say that he sees in the map before him an actual correspondence to the earth’s surface structure, that is, forms that are reproductions in miniature of mountain range and valley, but he sees a representation of them calculated to arouse his imagination to a lively degree. He is enabled to picture to himself great slopes crowned by lofty mountain peaks, and the meeting of their lower edges where mighty rivers flow. He sees in imagination how these waters have cut deep channels into the great uplifted masses, how they have torn jagged gashes into their rugged sides as they leaped and tumbled through dark cañons, grinding off rocks that form sediment constantly to be deposited later on upon the plain below. He easily understands that they must act as a source of drainage for wet lands and as channels for the irrigation of dry areas.
In looking upon the great bodies of water, oceans, seas, lakes and gulfs, as represented on the maps, he questions the relation of these waters to the land, their depth and what place they fill in the economy of nature. Indeed, the relief map has an awakening effect, quickening the imagination and stimulating to mental effort—earnest thought.
They are invaluable in their place and have come to stay; yet on account of their weight and general unwieldiness they are not practically as useful as maps which are lighter and more easily handled.
The papier mache maps in relief, although much lighter in weight, are still very bulky if made large enough to be of much practical use as wall maps, since they cannot be folded or reduced in size to facilitate transportation, or removal from room to room.
The best of these, also, are modeled in such low relief that they are better adapted to the use of pupils in the higher than in the lower grades. Other maps of rather recent date are the typographical map and the contoured map. The former shows general altitudes by the use of shades of color, and is of great value to one who can interpret it, but only a confused mass of signs and symbols to the young student, and thus not much more helpful to him than was the old reference map.
In the contoured map, the altitudes are scientifically represented by lines drawn to an exact scale, and such maps are most valuable to students of the higher grades.
A structural map suitable to all grades of pupils, the lower as well as the higher grades, seems highly essential; especially should it be one that is adapted to the teacher’s use while before the class—one to teach from. This should be entirely different from a reference map. It should plainly show the great facts of physical geography or surface structure, as well as some detail, and this in a simple form. For the lower grades there should be no lines to mark the political divisions, neither should there be any names of countries, states, or cities to designate localities.
Everything should be omitted that would have a tendency to divert the attention from the chief function of the map which is, to aid in the formation of a mental picture or image, corresponding to the structural features of the real country or continent.
The Chalk Modeled Map. These maps, following the use of the putty or plaster relief maps, should be the only ones placed before the pupils of the third and fourth grades, or even higher grades, until they have gained mental power to read and understand the signs and symbols of the map, and realize clearly the chief structural features of the whole globe.
The student should be enabled by the use of maps to picture in his mind the configuration of the whole earth; the distribution and shape of land and water surfaces, the great structural division of continents, the slopes and counter-slopes with their crowned heights and level plains, the great land masses and river basins, peninsulas, gulfs and bays, islands and their relation to the mainland.
In fine, the whole world surface should become a reality to him if the map is rightly taught. This will be an easy matter for a teacher who is alive to the beauty of the world around us and who has a personal knowledge or clearly pictured concepts of the real country. Such an one will readily see the value of the maps as an aid to the pupil in gaining a comprehensive mental picture of the earth’s surface.
She will remember that the mere placing of the maps before the pupil is not enough, that they will be as unmeaning to him as the flat political map, unless he has already in mind the primary concepts acquired through observation of surface forms, and has made his inference as to cause from the effects seen.
Of what value will it be to him to know that certain lines indicate a mountain range or river, unless he has an approximate idea of what a mountain range or river is?
For the use of the more advanced pupils of the higher grades, who see the relation of structural environment to man in his development as a nation, the relation of natural structural divisions to political divisions, these maps should have lines drawn upon them to indicate the boundaries of such divisions. Names, also, of countries, mountain and river systems should be marked, and the large bodies of water of the interior. Later on, the smaller divisions of states and provinces, gulfs and bays, lakes and rivers, with their tributaries, should be shown, and important cities may also be located; in the end, all the data needed as a reference map.
The map devised to fulfil these conditions, and now in considerable use in this country, is called the “Chalk Modeled Map.” It is drawn to represent surface structure in relief, giving much of the effect of an engraving or photograph of a relief map, yet intrinsically more truthful and artistic than any such representation could be.
There is an immense difference between this and a drawing from a relief map, or from a photograph of one. In this map the delineator expresses at first hand his own concept of the continental structure, as the artist or poet expresses in his work his own original ideas. We feel his thought in the very quality of line used. We read how the truths have appealed to his own consciousness. It stands where the relief map itself stands, as representing the delineator’s own mental image of such structure.
There are no lines drawn in this map that contradict or confuse the meaning; all is direct, truthful and clear in statement of fact. Each line has its own particular meaning. If represents direction. Applied to land surface, a vertical line means a perpendicular mountain or side wall of plateau, horizontal lines indicate level areas, and oblique lines a sloping surface.
Until recently, this map has not been available for general use, except as each teacher made his or her own. The latter, however, is the ideal way of teaching. To draw a map of a continent or section of it, as is required, in order to illustrate or emphasize any particular point before the class, adds intensely to the interest of the lesson and to the adequacy of concept gained by the pupil.
Too often, however, the opposite course is pursued. The teacher’s conceptions of earth structure are perhaps vague, or, teachers may not have been in the habit of representing by drawings that which they may be able to picture quite clearly in their own minds, even the desirability of so doing may not have been entertained by them.
In fact, there are comparatively few who have been persistent enough to make maps, for though there may be a good knowledge of geography, clear mental pictures of structure and the ability, also, to draw them, yet lack of time necessary for their proper delineation has doubtless often compelled the busy teacher to forego their execution.
Printed Wall Map. The Chalk Modeled map has recently been presented to us in a more durable and serviceable form for general use; a printed wall map, which combines the latest geographical knowledge together with the best available skill in delineation.
It does not embody all the desirable points of the original, yet it has an added one, that of durability.
The introduction of “Nature Study” into the public schools has contributed largely to the demand for such a map. Pupils brought into close relations with nature, naturally seek to relate the knowledge gained in this basic study of geography, to the map; as in connection with the field lessons, after actual observation of surface areas, the student is led to model or draw what he has seen. This he represents in pictorial form, as it appears to him, or he charts or maps it from actual measurements.
Sometimes he tries to combine these methods so as to show elevations as altitudes on his map or chart, but the results are often very crude; a mere representation of hills and mountains piled up on level ground.
He realizes that this is not a proper representation and is often discouraged. He knows that peaks are related to level ground by continuity of mass: that they are the corrugated tops of great uplifted masses or swells of land, and his failure to find this illustrated in the old maps has led him to lose much of his interest in them, and to greet the new one with ardor.
It appeals to his reason as a symbol more nearly corresponding to the features of the country represented. It is indeed the link needed to connect the political map with the putty relief map.
Mass Without Outline. Not only can we say that the Chalk Modeled map has been a great factor in the better understanding of the surface contour and conditions of the continental mass, thus advancing the true study of geography, but that it has also awakened some of the teachers of the public schools of the country, to the lack of interest and lifelessness in the teaching of drawing as it has prevailed in the schools in the past. It has been the means of revealing to them the beauty and desirability of delineating mass without a continuous hard outline. The artist when inspired with his subject masses his material in boldly and each stroke counts for the thing he wants to say—it tells of the direction of surface, or edge of mass, or detail.
In the new map, the representation of solidity and land continuity as mass, with no hard and fast limitations of land and water, such as the outlines so prominent in the old reference maps, is a noticeable feature.
It is a well-known fact that a general or approximate shape of the coasts of continents is all that can be known from the most careful surveys; for in reality with every season there is more or less change in coast line, caused by wearing and building of ocean and river, as well as by the occasional rising or sinking of stretches of land along the coast. In course of time these changes become very apparent.
The omitting of outlines of continents, then, in the drawing of maps has been for a purpose. They have not been necessary to the showing of limitation of continental mass or the meeting of the surface plane of water with land surface; and as the direction of all lines used in delineating have their meaning, there can be truthfully none used to represent something lying between land and sea, as there is nothing there. Continental coast contours may be as accurately shown as the occasion demands without the use of any outline to confuse the eye or to contradict the direction of line used to delineate the structure of the land surface at the water’s edge. (See map illustrations in Part IV.)
The most prominent feature of the new map is the representation of the relief of the earth’s surface; showing, as it does at a glance, the great back bone of the continent, with its ragged broken line of peaks dividing the waters of the two slopes; its great land masses, primary and secondary; and its area or line of greatest depressions. Its river basins also are plainly seen, and we infer the reason for the general course of the rivers and read their history from the sculpturing they have done.
We may note also the character of the mountain ranges; whether they are young or old; where new land is being made, and where areas are sinking. One can often determine what the prevailing wind of a section may be and the regions of greatest rainfall, and can judge of the climate and vegetation; in short, very rational conclusions concerning the life and habits of a people may be formed from a study of the map alone, and the student can picture, in imagination, the growth or advancement of nations under the given conditions.
He will be enabled to see, as has been remarked in substance before, that the mighty influences bearing upon civilization have always been largely dependent upon the geographical structure of a country; the relation of natural divisions to existing political divisions will be noted, and the reasons for the locations of great centers of commerce, important cities, and military fortifications, will be understood.
Altitudes. In common with all relief maps, altitudes are shown in these, greatly exaggerated in comparison with the horizontal distances, but this is essential in order that the pupil may be able to grasp the general truths of the organization of the continent.
Relief maps in relatively exact proportions will not help to this, as the highest elevation would appear nearly on a plane with the ocean level, and would be of no better service for school use than the flat maps, from which no idea of the general organism can be acquired by the young student, if indeed it can be by one of riper years.
Also in all topographical surveys, and in the profile of vertical sections of country found in many geographies, we find the same exaggeration of height in relation to horizontal distances, used to illustrate elevations and slopes.
These, with photographs or pictures of relief maps are extensively used, as well as birds’-eye views, showing on the part of the map-makers, a recognition of the importance of the pupil’s gaining mental concepts of altitudes. The latter, of course, must exercise his judgment in relating the heights, to the horizontal distances given, as he so continually does in every-day life in regard to other matters.
The horizontal map distances should be related to the other horizontal distances of the map, and the altitudes to other altitudes, and these with reference, also, to the tabulated lists found in every geography, of the heights of mountain peaks and lengths of rivers.
“All knowledge of external things comes through observation, comparison, and judgment.” To judge of great altitudes, one must have a knowledge of the heights within experience. To be able to gain a proper conception of immense distances, as the distance across a continent, comparison must be made with the distances one has already measured or traveled.
In the measurements of areas, size of fields and gardens, width of ponds, or heights of trees and hills, the pupil has numerical facts from which he judges of other forms and areas; as forests, marshes, plains, the width of rivers and lakes, the heights of mountains and cliffs, or length of rivers and mountain ranges.
Also in the measuring of the deposition of silt in small streams, he may judge of the quantity that large rivers like the Mississippi or Nile must carry; and from measuring the yearly growth of vegetation in his own climate, he judges what might be the growth in other climates. Thus through observations, inferences, and comparisons, he is enabled to read his map with some degree of power to judge its distances and altitudes.
The aim in the preceding pages has been to show the vital importance to the would-be delineator of Chalk Modeled maps, of the thorough study of geography, in its truest sense, and that the foundation of such study lies in the field lesson, with its accompanying expression of the knowledge gained there, of surface forms, areas and structures.
The habit, also, of modeling and drawing in connection with the study of geography, is conducive to the wished-for end; i.e., an adequate knowledge and expression, of the surface contour of the continent.
The chalk modeling of maps is in itself the simplest of all modes of drawing. It may have been inferred from what has been said on the subject of maps, that drawing them consists merely in showing simple indications of slopes; short or long, abrupt or gentle, and summits; broken or rounded, river basins, character of water-partings, valleys, lakes, rivers and coasts either bold and rocky, or low and alluvial.
It would be as unnecessary for the purposes of geographical instruction, as it would be impossible, to draw absolutely correct maps of the earth’s surface.
Each mountain peak cannot be shown, nor every indentation of coast-line, but the general trend or direction of mountain ranges and rivers, and more or less of geological structure can be portrayed in a conventional manner.
It is not difficult to chalk model with reasonable accuracy. The ability to do this, however, with any degree of rapidity as well as accuracy, implies, as has just been said, an adequate knowledge of the subject to be represented. No mere imitation, or acquisition of technique, or copying of maps, is educational, nor has it any vital relation to the true study of geography. Like all dead copies, it betrays in itself its lack of life, or of real knowledge on the part of the delineator.
An instructor whose eyes are open to truth, can generally tell from a pupil’s representation whether it is the result of his own individual thought, the expression of his own knowledge of the subject, or the reflex of another’s thought.
If it is an expression of his own, there will be much revealed in the touch and in the quality of line itself, that could not be depicted in form or put into words. The representation, also, will indicate to what degree the subject has interested and inspired the individual, and how, with a clear mental image, he has instinctively expressed himself in the simplest and most direct manner possible with the medium at hand.
In the following pages will be found suggestions as to the method of chalk modeling, given in the form of a series of lessons; the underlying principles in the lessons being those on which is based all expression of thought in every field of study and among all peoples.
The illustrations are not intended to be models for the teacher or pupils to copy, but are meant to be helps or encouragement to those who desire and have courage to attempt to express their own mental images.
Busy teachers need only to realize that comparatively little effort is necessary in order to acquire a certain amount of success, if they have their subject in hand, that is, if they have an adequate mental image of the object to be sketched.
It is hoped that such success will prove a strong inducement to a deep study of the subject of art, and especially to the psychology of expression.