The Need for Map Variety in Schools

I thought that the different types of maps were really interesting. I realized that I’ve seen the Mollweide, Van Der Grinten, and Robinson maps in school a lot. Something similar to those maps is what I think most people think of when they picture a world map. We would probably consider those maps the most accurate, just because that is what we have always been taught in school. However, this could really be a problem when teaching students how to perceive the globe. We learn from one or two versions of the world map how the world looks, but since these maps aren’t entirely accurate, many misconceptions could be perpetuated. For example, the book stated that President Reagan used a specific map projection, the Mercator map, because it made the Soviet Union look much bigger than it actually was, which could scare people into accepting the anti-USSR views of the US government during the Cold War. Also, the book points out that most maps have their break in between North America and Asia; it seems that the distances between Russia and Alaska, and between Japan and Hawaii, should be much larger than they actually are. Students believe what they see on maps, so when they are not told that maps are not entirely accurate, or are not shown different map projections, their understanding of world geography is not complete.
From reading the book, it seems like the Dymaxion Map might actually be more accurate in representing the surface area of countries than the other maps. Unfortunately, this map was very difficult for me to read, and I had to turn the page around in order to really distinguish what was where. It also makes it harder to see the distance between the countries. Therefore, even though the Dymaxion Map is more accurate in some ways, it may not be the most useful in getting a picture of the relationships of countries. Actually, a globe is probably the most useful tool in teaching students what the world looks like. The problem with a globe is that only a few people can study a globe at one time. Perhaps in the coming years, teachers will be able to use large projection screens with digital models of the world to educate students.