Thinking Critically About Geography
Be a cartographer&
A cartographer is someone who makes maps. Hundreds of years ago maps were very expensive. Each map was hand made. Some maps contained secret routes that very few people knew about. If you had a business exporting and importing things, a faster, safer route could make you lots of money. Eventually these routes became well known and there was no point keeping them secret anymore.
Today we use lots of different kinds of maps. If you go hiking in the woods you'll probably bring a map with hiking trails on it. If you're piloting an airplane you'll use special charts with wind streams and the routes of other airplanes. If youre a captain of a ship you'll want charts that tell you where the water is too shallow.
Think of all the places you go to; school, home, the movies, and your friend's house. Make a map of your school. Where's the cafeteria? The playground? The library? Give this map to a friend and see if their map compares to yours.
1. Does your friend's map have extra information about their favorite place?
2. Did they make some stuff closer or further away than it really is?
What would you change to make it more accurate?
