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American Museum of Natural History

Making Map Projections

making-map-projections_thumb

Don't toss that empty soda bottle! Grab a knife and test out your cartography skills. You'll never look at a map of the Earth in the same way again.

Antartica: Making Map Projections Activity



 

  • More About This Resource...

    • In this classroom activity, students cut apart a plastic soda bottle and create a planar (polar) and a cylindrical (Mercator) projection to understand the challenges of creating maps of the Earth. The printable six-page handout includes:

      • A series of inquiry-based questions to get students thinking about the challenges of mapping a spherical object like the Earth.
      • Detailed activity directions.
      • A worksheet that helps students use the activity results to understand how polar and Mercator projections are created and how both distort their subjects.

    • Completion Time

      approximately 1 period

    • Topic

      Earth Science

    • Subtopic

      Tools and Methods

    • Subtopic

      National Science Education Standards
      Grades 5-8:
      Science as Inquiry CONTENT STANDARD A: 

      • abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry

      Earth and Space Science CONTENT STANDARD D: 

      • structure of the earth system

      Science and Technology CONTENT STANDARD E: 

      • abilities of technological design• understandings about science and technology

      History and Nature of Science CONTENT STANDARD G: 

      • nature of science

      Grades 9-12:
      Science as Inquiry CONTENT STANDARD A: 

      • abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry

      Science and Technology CONTENT STANDARD E: 

      • abilities of technological design• understandings about science and technology

      History and Nature of Science CONTENT STANDARD G: 

      • nature of scientific knowledge

    • Learning Standard

      National Science Education Standards
      Grades 5-8:
      Science as Inquiry CONTENT STANDARD A: 

      • abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry

      Earth and Space Science CONTENT STANDARD D: 

      • structure of the earth system

      Science and Technology CONTENT STANDARD E: 

      • abilities of technological design• understandings about science and technology

      History and Nature of Science CONTENT STANDARD G: 

      • nature of science

      Grades 9-12:
      Science as Inquiry CONTENT STANDARD A: 

      • abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry

      Science and Technology CONTENT STANDARD E: 

      • abilities of technological design• understandings about science and technology

      History and Nature of Science CONTENT STANDARD G: 

      • nature of scientific knowledge