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How do you know if contour lines on a topographic map are going up a hill or down?

I apologize profusely, but I'm definitely lacking in all-things-science department... So my teacher handed out a huge topographic map and drew a line across it randomly from A to B. I know that each line represents a certain distance, but I have no idea how to tell if the lines are representing going up or down a slope. The map is way too big to follow the few heights it actually gives, and my eyes hurt. How do I do this?! Any information appreciated..

Public Comments

1. There is no set convention for showing at a glance which topo lines are higher or lower than others. Generally, every few lines will have an altitude shown on them. You simply have to keep track of those numbers and use them to tell whether you're going up or down. Yeah, they can be hard to read - this is the mark of a poorly drawn map! My eyes would hurt, too. Maybe use a magnifying glass?
2. Another way to tell direction on topographic maps is by the streams. If your maps shows streams, then the topographic lines will form a 'v' shape points to the top of the hill.