Culture, People, and Education / Culture, peuples, et éducation 04 Index Session / Séance 38-C The Interaction of the Didactic of Cartography and Geography Byron Nakos Cartography Laboratory, Department of Rural and Surveying Engineering National Technical University of Athens bnakos@central.ntua.gr Vassiliki Filippakopoulou Cartography Laboratory, Department of Rural and Surveying Engineering National Technical University of Athens bfilippa@survey.ntua.gr Evanthia Michaelidou Cartography Laboratory, Department of Rural and Surveying Engineering National Technical University of Athens emicheal@survey.ntua.gr Abstract In this paper, the interaction of the basic elements of the didactic of geography and those of cartography, are examined and discussed and an implementation approach of introducing cartography in the elementary schools is proposed. Although the didactic of geography is an independent scientific topic, is based on the theory and the results of other sciences, such as geography which determines the content, general didactic, psychology and pedagogics which help to form the teaching methods on the one hand and evaluate the teaching process on the other. But, what is the role of map inside the body of such a complex mixture of scientific topics? This question could be answered theoretically by examining the relation between geography and cartography. Considering the didactic of cartography in isolation from the didactic of geography, three keywords: why, what, and how of school cartography are determined. A theoretical approach is developed for the determination of these keywords, and methods of introducing the cartographic concepts to primary school students are proposed. Introduction Cartographic procedures determining the content and the form of school maps depend on both educational and psychological issues. Specifically, the targets of education and the curriculum of subjects related to space define the thematic content of the school maps. From the aspect of psychology, conclusions of studies affect the way spatial information is portrayed on maps and specify the quality and the quantity of information, which can be assimilated by children. In Greece as well as in other countries a systematic educational approach of teaching cartography is not included in the primary school curriculum. Mainly, the subjects related to space are included in geography, which uses the symbolic language of map to communicate spatial information. The targets, the curriculum and the means of teaching geography are issues of interest of the didactic of geography.