One of the easiest ways to introduce a child to the world is to hang a map. Just like seeing "You are here" on a map at a mall, amusement park, or subway, helping a child locate his or her home on a world map provides instant orientation on the globe.
Book stores sell a wide variety of world maps. For example, the DK Eyewitness Travel Guides provide pull-out maps and additional information about 100 worldwide destinations. Free maps also are available at motor clubs and travel agencies. Satellite and aerial maps can be downloaded at earth.google.com and purchased from the U.S. Geological Survey. Since countries are prone to change their names, break up, join together, or adjust their boundaries, outdated maps and old atlases and globes frequently turn up at antique stores, flea markets, and garage sales.
Not all maps are equal. Selecting a map would be less complicated, if the world were flat. In the process of projecting the global sphere onto a two-dimensional piece of paper, distances and shapes of countries at the nearly 25,000-mile Equator remain relatively unchanged. Toward the North and South Poles, however, flattening causes distortion. The Mercator projection developed by 16th century Flemish geographer, Gerardus Mercator, failed to compensate for distortion at the poles. His map shows Africa almost the same size as Greenland even though Africa is nearly 15 times larger. Using a technique reminiscent of the one employed by Matteo Ricci, a Jesuit missionary in 17th century China, Arthur H. Robinson created his egg-shaped, elliptical map to more accurately reflect the size of the polar regions in relation to the continents. The U.N.'s white on blue symbol overcomes distortion by viewing the world's inhabited continents from the North Pole.
Children can replicate the way J. Paul Goode reduced distortions on his flat map, if they make one vertical cut on an orange, carefully remove the peel in one piece, and smash the peel flat on a piece of paper. The sections will be irregular, just as Goode's map has irregular sections. Nonetheless, the sections can be reassembled to fit perfectly without distortion on a spherical orange or globe.
Some atlases, collections of flat maps, are especially designed for children. Mercator was responsible for naming a map collection an Atlas, because his title page showed the mythical Greek giant holding a heavenly globe on his shoulders. For each country in the world, an atlas often includes its political divisions, such as cities and provinces, on one page; its lakes, rivers, mountains, and other geographical features on another; and its agricultural and manufactured products, power plants, oil fields, highways, and railroads on another. The new book, Maps, by Aleksandra and Daniel Mizielinska has great illustrations and geographical features, plus fascinating facts associated with every region of the world. Also check out the site, "Maps4Kids.com.
Atlases might include a collection of historical maps showing how the world was divided by the Greeks and Romans, during the Crusades, at the time of the American Revolution, after World Wars I and II, and how its political pattern looks today now that African states are independent and new states have been formed out of the former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. At timemaps.com, maps are connected to world history in an easy-to-use interactive way. In August, 2013, under "World" at washingtonpost.com/blogs, there was an interesting entry about 40 maps that explain the world. The maps showed expected divisions according to religion and language but there also were unusual maps showing, for example, the best and worst places to be born, where gay rights are legal, and where people are most and least: loved, racially tolerant, and emotional.
It also is easy to make maps and globes part of a child's every day life. Map motifs appear on umbrellas, shower curtains, balloons, beach balls, coffee mugs, jackets, and Signals' world map bangle bracelet and world map poncho (signals.com). Modern and antique globes are sold as informative and decorative home accessories. Soft globe-shaped pillows sold at many map stores enable children to cozy up to the countries or continents stamped on them, while they can fall asleep using illuminated globes as night lights.
Maps and globes also are designed as toys. Youngsters who have mastered wooden, magnetic, and floor puzzles of the United States can test their skills on continent and world puzzles as well as three-dimensional puzzle globes that stand by themselves. A giant, 252-piece world map floor puzzle is a best seller at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art (store.metmuseum.org). The Metropolitan Museum, National Geographic, MindWare, and Young Explorers also have interactive globes students can use to find information about country statistics: population, weather, currency, and more. Rand McNally makes an electronic game that explores the world's geography, history, ecosystems, oceans, wildlife, sports, and art. Using the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art's new "Global Glowball" children six months and older can touch one of 39 areas to make the globe light up and play a regional song. A number of board games, such as Atlas Adventures, rely on maps. On a rainy day, it is handy to have on hand blank outline maps (sold at map stores and teacher supply outlets) that children can fill in with the names of countries. Older children can go to geosense.net to test their knowledge of city locations throughout the world.
On a world map or globe, youngsters can use a star, photo of home, or another symbol to indicate where they live. They also can use a world map as a bulletin board where they tack up their outgrown clothes on the countries that produced them. Kids who follow sports may wish to tape photos of their basketball, baseball, soccer, tennis, and other athletic heroes to the countries where they were born. Maps that include time zones enable children to set clocks to reflect the different times in parts of the world they would like to visit and where their relatives and friends already live or plan to travel.
Like spelling whizzes, would-be chess masters, musical proteges, and athletic phenoms, children who have grown up interacting with maps and globes are primed to test their knowledge against the competition. Millions in grades four through eight begin their quest to win scholarships in the National Geographic Society's annual Geography Bee by checking the website,
nationalgeographic.com/geographybee. In the end, children require no board games or national competitions to send them looking for geographical answers. Locating on a map what is happening in the news is a daily challenge. Map study provides the foundation for an informed citizen of the world.
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