The basic concepts and requirements for setting up educational environmental atlases, primarily to environmental atlases. Reasonable their relevance, described their main features and requirements of cartographic products. The role of design in the development of the feasibility of using atlases and other advanced materials (pictures, graphs, text material). There are defined the principles of design of these issues: selection of symbol conventions, imagine means, and methods of cartographic image, purpose of images and map arrangement for accepting enhancement of issues content.
Atlases as united cartographic issues is a set of maps of different themes which have a single scale and projection, was fulfilled in a unique style. Creating a school atlas it is need to keep to some especial demands which is actual only to school cartographic issues.
The maps which purpose is to serve as study book they count as study maps. They must provide the tuition in study institutions of all kinds which create the system of peoples education and specialists preparing.
The main sign which determine the education maps from others is they may accord with the education program and literature for this discipline.
The cartographic issues for school is the part of standard list of education and visual manuals and study equipment for comprehensive schools. This issues is common system which gives the possibility to standardize the educational process.
Keywords: map, atlas, ecology, education cartographic works, environmental maps.