Choose the right map, and see what each projection distorts
Grade 9 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence
Circle the best answer.
Ari wants to show where goods moved between ports and how much. Which map on Card A fits?
- Map A, the reference map, because it already shows the ports and the roads that link them to the cities
- 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
Luz reads Map B and says the darkest country has the most people. What is the error?
Use the picture in question 1.
- The key is wrong, because it should say one dot equals 10,000 people, as on Map C does for dots
- Darker means more people per km², so a small crowded country can be darker than a large one with more people
- Nothing is wrong, because shading on a map of people marks the places with more people living in them
- The darkest country must be the smallest one, because a choropleth gives its darkest shade to the smallest area
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 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
- 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
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.
Pia reads the dot map on Card B. Which district has the most people, and which is the densest?
- Z is the densest, because its 20 dots are spread over the largest district and so look the most settled
- Y has the most people, because its dots are packed the closest together on the map
- X has the most people (35 dots), but Y is the densest, with 12 dots on 12 km²
- X is both, because the district with the most dots is the one with the most people per km² too
Milo applies Card B's choropleth key to the three districts. Which shading does each get?
- X dark, Y dark, Z light, because 5,000 is close enough to 6,000 to be rounded up into the top class
- X dark, Z medium, Y light, because shading follows the number of dots in each district
- 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
Zee says: "District Y has fewer dots than X, so it must be less crowded." Why is that wrong?
- Y is less crowded, because 12 dots on 12 km² is one dot per km² and X has more dots in total
- Each dot on a dot map is a village, so Y has fewer villages than X, but its villages are larger
- 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
Kira shades Card B's districts by total people. What is the fair fix for comparing how crowded they are?
- 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
- 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
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.
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, and also the area, because the dots fill the district to the border
- It gives the number of people, 350,000, but not density, which also needs the district's area of 70 km²
- No, X has 35,000 people, because a dot on a dot map stands for 1,000 people
- It gives both, because the district with the most dots is also the most crowded one on the map
Esme maps average yearly rainfall for each country. Which map type fits, and why not a dot map?
- A dot map, with one dot for each millimeter of rain, because dots can stand for any amount
- A flow map, because rain moves from the sea over the land and arrows show movement
- A reference map, because it shows rivers, which are the places where the rain has run off
- A choropleth, because rainfall is a rate for each area, like density; dots count separate things
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.
Noah needs to see where the people of District X sit within the district. Which Card A map type fits, and what does it show that a choropleth cannot?
- A reference map, because the road lines show where the dots would be and so where the people are
- A choropleth, because its shade for the district shows where inside the district the people are packed
- A flow map, because wide arrows show where people live and how far they commute
- A dot map, because dots show where people sit inside a district, which one shade for the whole district cannot