Worldmapper

Screenshot 2014-04-01 11.41.02Worldmapper is a collection of world maps based on various subjects from meat imports to cholera deaths to absolute poverty.  As a young student, I remember looking up statistics about countries in various books.  However, without access to technology, much of this information was meaningless to me and it was difficult to make connections.  Today’s students have access to tools like Worldmapper and Google Earth, which brings the information to a whole new level!

I recently worked with some 4th graders and showed them various maps on Worldmapper.  After looking at each map, I had them write down a question about the map.  This led to some interesting discussions and connections.  Below are just a few of the maps we explored and the questions students wrote.  Check out Worldmapper and leave a comment about a map you found interesting!

Map # 1 Meat Imports: http://www.worldmapper.org/display.php?selected=50

  • How do they choose the shape of the countries?

Map # 2: Fruit Imports: http://www.worldmapper.org/display.php?selected=42

  • To be so big, how much fruit does Europe import?

Map # 3: Vegetables Consumed: http://www.worldmapper.org/display.php?selected=124

  • What is the most eaten food in china?

Map # 4 Poor Water: http://www.worldmapper.org/display.php?selected=186

  • What is the disease that is mostly caught through water?

Map # 5: Cholera Cases: http://www.worldmapper.org/display.php?selected=231

  • What is the usual age one gets cholera?

Map # 6: Yellow Fever: http://www.worldmapper.org/display.php?selected=236

  • Where would you get a yellow fever vaccination?
  • How much does it cost and how hard would it be to get to people in Northern Africa?

Map # 7: Absolute Poverty: http://www.worldmapper.org/display.php?selected=180

  • What would you most likely buy when you live on two dollars a day?

5 thoughts on “Worldmapper

  1. Q. How do they choose the shape of the countries?
    A. This map is different from normal maps, because it is sized by how much meat they have.

  2. Q. To be so big, how much fruit does Europe import?
    A. Europe imports about four times more fruit than any other country.

  3. Q. What is the most eaten food in china?
    A. The most eaten food in china is vegetables.

  4. Q. What is the disease that is mostly caught through water?
    A. The diseases that are mostly caught through water are debilitating diseases.

  5. Thanks! These maps were really interesting.

    Map 49: I noticed that The Netherlands, Australia, Brazil, and Canada were very large exporters of meat. I also noticed that Africa was small probably because it is so poor.

    Map 50: The largest importers of meat are Mexico, The United Kingdom, Italy, and Japan is huge. I’m surprised that China isn’t a very big meat importer. And what’s even more crazy is that China has almost one and a half billion people.

    Map 51: The largest fish exporters are in Asia. Some other big fish exporters are Chile, Ecuador, Denmark, Iceland, and Norway. The landlocked countries don’t export much fish obviously because the only water access the country has are rivers and lakes.

    Map 52: The largest fish importers are Western Europe, The United States, and Japan. I also noticed that the area between Japan and Europe looks like a spider web. That means that countries like Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan aren’t big importers of fish.

    Map 53: The biggest grocery exporters are Latin America, The East Indies, and Cote D’Iviore. I remember that there was a mini exhibit at the Lied Jungle at the zoo and it said that a lot of our everyday objects came from the rainforest, and the 3 biggest grocery exporting regions are located in the rainforest.

    F.Y.I., I will be posting another comment to cover the maps that I didn’t talk about.

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