Subject(s): Computers & Internet, Social Studies Grades(s): Junior High/High School

Title – Exploring the USA and the World with Cartograms
Submitted By – Rick Hodges
Primary Subject – Social Studies/Geography
Grade Level – 9-12

Duration:

Two 55-minute sessions, or one session and independent study.

Description:

Students will use the SHOW® website ( http://show.mappingworlds.com)
that presents data about the 50 US states and countries of the world using cartograms
– maps that illustrate data in place of geographical size. They will analyze the
information and draw conclusions based on their observations. See the
Browsing Guide (below) for more information about the website.

The lesson is designed to meet in part the National Geography Standards of the National
Council for Geographic Education.

Goals:

1. Students will understand the concept of a cartogram and how to interpret information
   illustrated by one.
   
2. Students will understand the relationships between different sets of data about
   countries, including possible causal relationships.
   
3. Students will increase their general knowledge of the countries of the world and
   the United States.

Objectives:

1. Students will learn how different ways of analyzing and presenting data can lead
   to different understandings of a geographic region.
   
2. Students will learn to analyze and understand data by comparing two different data
   sets, as illustrated by different maps in SHOW®.
   
3. Students will learn the concepts of basic data about states and countries, such
   as population density, GDP, health, and development data, and how they contribute
   to an overall understanding of geography.
   
4. Students will learn basic knowledge about the US and the world related to demographics,
   development, environment, health, agriculture, culture, and other topics.

Materials/Equipment:

• Computer(s) with internet access
  
• Browsing Guide and Study Questions handouts
  (below)

1. Introduction to the site and the concept of a cartogram

   Tell students to go to the SHOW® USA website (by clicking on the USA icon
   at show.mappingworlds.com or going directly to show.mappingworlds.com/usa) on their
   computers. Give them a few minutes to learn to navigate the site and explore the
   maps, giving help when necessary.

   Let the students experiment with the zoom function to see the smaller states by
   clicking on the + symbol at the upper left of the map and then again over the map,
   and with using the resize function (the circular arrow under the + symbol) to switch
   between the geographic and cartogram views. Tell them to scroll through the list
   of states and data on the right by grabbing and moving the red bar. See the
   Browsing Guide (below) for help.

   Tell students to navigate to the Potatoes map, under the PLANET/Crops menu,
   for an example. Ask the students what the map indicates:

   1. Which state produced the most potatoes?
   2. Did Texas produce a large amount of potatoes?
   3. How many pounds of potatoes did Maine produce?

2. Introduce the concept of raw data vs. rates and ranking

   Tell students to find the Population map under the PEOPLE/Demographics menu.
   Ask for a definition of the term " demographics."

   Tell the students to find the population of their state. Ask them to name the most
   populous state.

   Tell the students to navigate to the Population Density map under the PEOPLE/Demographics
   menu. Pose these questions for discussion:

   1. Why is this map different from the Population map?
      
   2. What does population density mean? (Ask students for a plain language definition,
      such as "how crowded the state is.")
      
   3. Which state is the densest? Which is the least dense? What is the term for how high
      a state is on a list? (rank)

3. Explore analysis of data and cause and effect relationships

   Using the list of states, allow each student to pick a different state or assign
   a different state to each. Ask the students to guess whether his/her state will
   have a large or small number of chickens produced. Then tell the students to navigate
   to the Chicken Production menu under PLANET/Animal Resources and see the
   actual number. Ask these questions:

   1. Was their guess close? Too high? Too low?
      
   2. Using the text with the map, give some possible reasons why your assigned state
      ranks high or low in chicken production.

4. Explore analysis by using data from multiple maps and the importance of data
   definition

   Tell the students to navigate to Organic Farms under BUSINESS/Agriculture.
   Tell the students to note the number of organic farms in Alaska. Then have them
   navigate to Organic Farm Land under the same menu. Ask these questions:

   1. How can Alaska have so much land on organic farms, more than any other state, when
      the other map shows that most other states have more farms? (The farms in Alaska
      are larger in area.)
   2. Can you find a reason that the farms in Alaska might be larger somewhere on this
      page? Look carefully, the details about exactly what the map is measuring makes
      a difference. (By putting the mouse pointer over Details on the right, the students
      can see that the data includes livestock production, so the farms in Alaska might
      be ranches.)

5. Independent exploration

   If time remains, tell the students to find their assigned state, or any state or
   region of their choosing, on at least three other maps and offer possible explanations
   for why the data on that map rank high or low. Ask them to try to find possible
   explanations for data on one map by using data from another map. Suggest using maps
   related to a current event.

Assessment:

In small groups or independent study, ask students to answer the questions on the
Study Questions handout (below) using the SHOW® sites. Also consider
assigning a research project on a specific issue, state, or country of the student's
choosing using SHOW® as a starting point.

Tips for using the SHOW® USA and SHOW® World websites (show.mappingworlds.com).

SHOW® is a project of MappingWorlds (www.mappingworlds.com).
It is free to use, with no registration or personal information collected.

1. In SHOW® World, look at the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) map under BUSINESS/Economy.

   What does GDP mean? What does GDP tell you about a country? List two countries with
   a high GDP and two with a low GDP. Which continent has the most countries with low
   GDP? (use the resize button if necessary to see the continents)

2. In SHOW® World, look at the Under-5 Mortality map under PEOPLE/Health.

   What does Under-5 mortality mean? How is this map different from the GDP map? Can
   you think of a connection between the two?

3. In SHOW® World, look at the Refugees by Origin map under POLITICS/Conflict.

   What is a refugee? What are the two countries with the largest number of refugees
   leaving? Why are they the largest? Can you find a map on the website that tells
   you where they went?

4. In SHOW® World, look at the World Migrants map under POLITICS/Migration.

   What is a migrant? Is a migrant the same thing as a refugee? Can you think of reasons
   why the US has more than any other country?

5. In SHOW® USA, look at the African Americans map under PEOPLE/Demographics.

   From the information given, can you explain why there are many African American
   people in the South? Can you explain why there are many states in the North with
   a large number of African Americans?

6. In SHOW® USA, look at the Hispanics map under PEOPLE/Demographics.

   What does Hispanic mean? Is it the same as Latino or Latina? From the information
   given, can you give three reasons why there are so many Hispanic people in California?

7. In SHOW® USA, look at the Tornadoes map under PLANET/Environment.

   What is Florida's rank in number of tornadoes that hit the state? What percentage
   of all the tornadoes that hit the United States that year were in Florida?

8. Now look at the Tornado Deaths map under PEOPLE/Causes of Death. What is
   Florida's rank, and what percent of the total deaths occurred in Florida? Can
   you think of two reasons why Florida had so many tornado deaths even though other
   states had more tornadoes?

9. In SHOW® USA, look at the Unemployment map under BUSINESS/Employment.

   What does unemployment rate mean? How is the rate different from the number of unemployed?
   From the information given, can you explain why Michigan has the highest unemployment
   rate?

10. In SHOW® USA, look at the Wilderness map under PLANET/Environment.

    What is wilderness and how does this map measure it? Why do you think there so much
    wilderness in Alaska and states in the West, and not as much in the East?

11. Browse through the maps on both sites. What are the most surprising facts you see
    that you didn't expect?
    

E-Mail Rick Hodges