The Environmental Observation Ability Test was newly added on in the 2008 “Taiwan National Geographic Championship”. The implementation of the test includes three steps: First, the students were provided with satellite image of the test site, graph paper and test item. Second, the students made thorough observation of the environmental characteristic of the site. Then, they drew a map based on the satellite image and their observation. These maps are independent works of the students, which serve as good materials for understanding their abilities of environmental observation, map drawing and space representation. The purpose of this study was to inquire the design concepts of the test, the test contents and test process. After the contest group of students finished the test, another group of high school students were invited to take the same test for comparing the differences between the contest group and non-contest group. It is through the maps they drew that we could further understand their ability of space representation. The results of this study reveal four features: First, among all the maps the students drew, the junior high group’s are more sophisticated than those of the elementary group and non-contest senior high group. Second, the elements missing most in the representation of the maps are labels, those most precisely revealed is the orientation, and those most misrepresented are map scale and labels. Third, plants are generally colored in green whereas architectures are depicted in multiple colors. Forth, in terms of legend design, elementary students rely on painting symbols while high school students mainly use geometric symbols or verbal language.