Choose the right map, and see what each projection distorts

Grade 9 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

2. 1.

   Ari wants to show where goods moved between ports and how much. Which map on Card A fits?

   • Map C, the dot map, because one dot can stand for a set amount of goods at each port
   • Map D, the flow map: arrows show movement and their width shows how much moves
   • Map B, the choropleth, because darker shading for countries with more ports shows where goods end up
   • Map A, the reference map, because it already shows the ports and the roads that link them to the cities
3. 2.

   Luz reads Map B and says the darkest country has the most people. What is the error?

   Use the picture in question 1.

   • The darkest country must be the smallest one, because a choropleth gives its darkest shade to the smallest area
   • Nothing is wrong, because shading on a map of people marks the places with more people living in them
   • Darker means more people per km², so a small crowded country can be darker than a large one with more people
   • The key is wrong, because it should say one dot equals 10,000 people, as on Map C does for dots
4. 3.

   Tala wants to show that a country's people cluster in a few towns instead of spreading evenly. Which map fits best?

   Use the picture in question 1.

   • Map C, the dot map: dots pile up where people cluster, while Map B shades the whole country alike
   • Map B, the choropleth, because the darkest shade shows the towns where people have grouped together
   • Map A, the reference map, because the towns are labeled on it and labels show how large each town is
   • Map D, the flow map, because wide arrows show people moving into the towns that grow the most
5. 4.

   Jun asks whether the biggest flows of goods go to the most crowded countries. Which two maps are compared?

   Use the picture in question 1.

   • Map D alone, because wider arrows already show which ports are in crowded countries
   • Map D beside Map B: the flow map shows the flows and the choropleth shows how crowded each country is
   • Map D beside Map A, because the reference map shows borders and cities, which is how crowded a country is
   • Map C beside Map A, because dots show the people and the reference map shows the ports they use

6. Read this first

   Use this

   Card B (made up for practice). A region with three districts, drawn on a dot map where one dot = 10,000 people. District X covers 70 km² and holds 35 dots. District Y covers 12 km² and holds 12 dots. District Z covers 200 km² and holds 20 dots. A choropleth key for the same region: light shading under 2,000 people per km²; medium 2,000 to 6,000; dark over 6,000.

7. 5.

   Bo shades Card B's districts by their total number of people instead of density. Which district looks busiest, and why is that misleading?

   • Y looks busiest, which is misleading because it has the fewest dots on the dot map
   • X looks busiest and that is not misleading, because the district with the most people is the most crowded
   • X looks busiest by total, but Y is denser; totals ignore the land each district covers
   • Z looks busiest, because the largest district must hold the most people and the total shows it
8. 6.

   Milo applies Card B's choropleth key to the three districts. Which shading does each get?

   • X dark, Z medium, Y light, because shading follows the number of dots in each district
   • X dark, Y dark, Z light, because 5,000 is close enough to 6,000 to be rounded up into the top class
   • X medium, Y dark, Z light, from their densities of 5,000, 10,000 and 1,000 per km²
   • X medium, Y medium, Z light, because Y's 10,000 is a small step above the medium class
9. 7.

   Zee says: "District Y has fewer dots than X, so it must be less crowded." Why is that wrong?

   • Y's 12 dots sit on just 12 km², so it has 10,000 people per km² against X's 5,000
   • Fewer dots means fewer people, and fewer people means less crowded, so the note is right
   • Each dot on a dot map is a village, so Y has fewer villages than X, but its villages are larger
   • Y is less crowded, because 12 dots on 12 km² is one dot per km² and X has more dots in total
10. 8.

    Kira shades Card B's districts by total people. What is the fair fix for comparing how crowded they are?

    • Shade by people per km², dividing each district's total by its area
    • Switch to a reference map, because totals of people cannot be mapped with shading
    • Shade by people per dot, dividing each total by the number of dots in the district
    • Keep the totals, because the district with the darkest shade then marks where people are most crowded

11. Use this

    Card A. Four maps on one page. Map A, a reference map, shows rivers, roads, cities and borders. Map B, a choropleth map, shades each country by its population density. Map C, a dot map, uses one dot for each 10,000 people. Map D, a flow map, draws arrows whose width shows how many goods move between ports. Key: on Map B, darker shading means more people per km²; on Map C, one dot = 10,000 people; on Map D, a wider arrow = more goods. Card B (made up for practice). A region with three districts, drawn on a dot map where one dot = 10,000 people. District X covers 70 km² and holds 35 dots. District Y covers 12 km² and holds 12 dots. District Z covers 200 km² and holds 20 dots. A choropleth key for the same region: light shading under 2,000 people per km²; medium 2,000 to 6,000; dark over 6,000.

12. 9.

    Ren counts X's 35 dots on Card B and says X has 350,000 people. What does that count give, and what does it leave out?

    • It gives the number of people, 350,000, but not density, which also needs the district's area of 70 km²
    • It gives the number of people, and also the area, because the dots fill the district to the border
    • It gives both, because the district with the most dots is also the most crowded one on the map
    • No, X has 35,000 people, because a dot on a dot map stands for 1,000 people
13. 10.

    Esme maps average yearly rainfall for each country. Which map type fits, and why not a dot map?

    • A reference map, because it shows rivers, which are the places where the rain has run off
    • A flow map, because rain moves from the sea over the land and arrows show movement
    • A dot map, with one dot for each millimeter of rain, because dots can stand for any amount
    • A choropleth, because rainfall is a rate for each area, like density; dots count separate things