Why every flat map stretches something

Grade 6 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. 1.

   Esme peels an orange in one piece and presses the peel flat on a table. What happens to the peel?

   • It shrinks to half its size
   • It lies smooth with no gaps if peeled carefully
   • It splits or stretches, like a world map
   • It turns into a perfect rectangle
2. 2.

   Data: Wikidata and Wikipedia, read Nov 11, 2026, rounded. Beside it, a Mercator map with Greenland drawn larger than Brazil. On a globe, Brazil is about 4 times as big as Greenland. On Jun's Mercator map, Greenland looks bigger than Brazil. What did the map change?

   • Greenland's distance from the equator
   • Greenland's shape
   • Greenland's size
   • Greenland's latitude
3. 3.

   On an equal-area map, Greenland looks flatter and wider than it does on Kira's globe. What did this map change?

   • Greenland's latitude
   • Greenland's size
   • Greenland's shape
   • Greenland's neighbors

4. Read this first

   Use the table

   Place	Real area (million km²)
   Greenland	2.2
   DR Congo	2.3

   Data: Wikidata and Wikipedia, read Nov 11, 2026, rounded. Beside it, a Mercator map with Greenland drawn far larger than DR Congo.

5. 4.

   DR Congo and Greenland are about the same size. On Luz's Mercator map, Greenland looks many times bigger. What did the map change?

   • Greenland's shape on the map
   • Greenland's real area
   • Greenland's place on the globe
   • Greenland's size on the map

6. Use the table

   Place	Real area (million km²)
   Greenland	2.2
   DR Congo	2.3

   Data: Wikidata and Wikipedia, read Nov 11, 2026, rounded.

7. 5.

   On Milo's Mercator map, Greenland looks much bigger than DR Congo. Using the table, which is bigger in real life?

   • DR Congo, a little
   • It depends on the map
   • They are exactly equal
   • Greenland, by a lot
8. 6.

   On Noah's Mercator map, Greenland looks bigger than India. Using the table, which is bigger in real life?

   • They are exactly equal
   • India
   • Greenland
   • It depends on the map
9. 7.

   Data: Wikidata and Wikipedia, read Nov 11, 2026, rounded. Beside it, a Mercator map where Greenland looks bigger than India. Pia lists four places by real area. Which one is the smallest in real life?

   • Greenland
   • DR Congo
   • India
   • Brazil
10. 8.

    Ren's sailing club draws a course that keeps one compass direction the whole way. Which map shows that course as a straight line?

    • A globe
    • A Mercator map
    • A city street map
    • An equal-area map
11. 9.

    a Mercator map, an equal-area map, a road atlas, a city street map. Tala wants to compare how much land different countries cover, fairly. Which kind of flat map is best?

    • A Mercator map
    • A city street map
    • An equal-area map
    • A road atlas
12. 10.

    Zee needs to see true shapes, true sizes and true directions all together. Which should Zee use?

    • A city street map
    • An equal-area map
    • A globe
    • A Mercator map