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Letter from Stephanie: Maps
http://www.amnh.org/education/resources/rfl/web/antarctica/s_maps.html
From DLESE Community Collection (DCC)
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This site helps answer the question of why there are over 100 types of map projections. Students learn that translating a globe onto a flat surface usually requires some compromise. A problem faced by cartographers is how to take a landmass that exists on a sphere, such as the Earth, and make it flat without distorting the edges or the area. Cartographers have made many attempts to address this problem. Each attempts to represent the sphere of the Earth on a flat surface and each fails in a unique way, distorting either distance, direction, area, or scale (or a combination). In this online letter, which is part of a series written by a glacial geologist working in Antarctica, Stephanie Shipp shares her work and discoveries. The letter discusses the pragmatic reasons why she and other researchers must work with maps, even though they are not as accurate as globes and when she can and cannot use Mercator maps in her work
Intended for grade levels:
  • Middle (6-8)
  • High (9-12)
Type of resource:
  • Text:
    • Ref. material
Subject:
  • Geographical Sciences:
    • Physical geography
Technical requirements:
No specific technical requirements, just a browser required
Cost / Copyright:
No cost
Copyright 2002 American Museum of Natural History, Rice University, and the Education Development Company, Inc. All rights reserved.
DLESE Catalog ID: DLESE-000-000-005-759
Educational standards:
  • National Science Education Standards (NSES):
    • 5-8:
      • Unifying concepts and processes:
        • Evidence, models, and explanation
      • F - Science in personal / social perspectives:
        • Sci. / tech. in society
    • 9-12:
      • Unifying concepts and processes:
        • Evidence, models, and explanation
      • F - Science in personal / social perspectives:
        • Sci. / tech. in local, national, and global challenges
  • National Geography Standards:
    • The uses of geography:
      • How to apply geography to interpret the past
      • How to apply geography to interpret the present and plan for the future
    • The world in spatial terms:
      • How to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report information
Resource contact / Creator / Publisher:
Publisher: American Museum of Natural History