Let’s Watch: Map Distortion

It was a rainy, soggy day. Outdoor recess was canceled, and the students had to stay in the classroom to play. Tiff, Jamir, and Santiago were sitting at a table. They were bored.

Santiago was spinning the globe on the table around and around. Suddenly, Tiff had an idea! She suggested they play a guessing game with the globe.

Santiago and Jamir were happy to have something to do. Jamir grabbed his Geography book and found the world map.

Tiff went first. She described a large continent below Europe. Santiago and Jamir looked at the map. Can you guess which one it is? They guessed that it was Africa. They were correct!

Now it was Jamir’s turn. He described a really huge landmass that was next to North America. Tiff and Santiago looked at the globe. Santiago was confused. Greenland was close to North America, but it wasn’t huge. In fact, it was kind of small.

Jamir didn’t agree. Tiff, Jamir, and Santiago compared the map and globe. Greenland was huge on the map and much smaller on the globe! Now all three students were confused! Tiff called their teacher over. They explained what they had found to Mr. Morrow.

Mr. Morrow explained that maps and globes are different because of something called map distortion. He said that globes are round like the earth. It’s easier to have everything correct on a globe. He told them that maps are flat, and it’s impossible to get everything exactly right when you move from a round object to a flat surface.

Mr. Morrow also explained that maps can be distorted by distance, shape, area, and direction.

Tiff, Jamir, and Santiago were surprised to learn that maps could be distorted. They spent the rest of recess looking for more examples of distortion on the map. Do you think they found many more?