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Activity 1: Design your own planet

You will need:

• a large plain ball
• A3 sheet of paper
• felt-tip pens

NB: This activity is done most easily by one group at a time. If you want the whole class to do it simulatneously, you will need to prepare four balls.

Preparation:

Make a globe of an imaginary planet by drawing four land masses on to the ball. Mark them A–D. These can be quite simple shapes for younger pupils, for example squares and circles. You can just draw outlines or put in details, such as hills and areas of ice.

You could make up some information about each land mass on the planet, for example the type of vegetation, temperatures, and landscape. This will encourage pupils to identify with their part of the planet, and think of it as their own.

What to do:

1. Assign a particular land mass on the planet to the group. Tell them that they have been appointed cartographers (map-makers) and it is their task to draw maps of the whole planet, not just their own land mass. Encourage them to do rough drafts first.

As they are drawing their map, they will be deciding such issues as:

• Who is their map for?
• What land mass is going in the middle?
• What is the top of the planet?
• Where are they going to put things that are on the other side of the planet, i.e. out of view?
• Are they going to leave anything out?

Repeat the activity with each group, giving them a different land mass to work on.

NB: As they are drawing the planets, pupils may decide to leave out certain land masses. It is important not to correct them, as many world maps do not include all of the land masses on the globe, e.g. Antarctica. If pupils have done this, they can explain why at stage 3 (below).

2. Once all the groups have drawn their maps, put them on the wall and discuss.

• How different are the maps?
• What problems did they have in drawing them?
• Which land masses did they draw first?
• Was it difficult to fit the whole planet on the map? If so, how did they resolve this?

3. Ask each group to prepare a presentation to convince a visitor from Earth that their map is the best one of the planet. They will have to justify the way they have chosen to draw it (the projection),and who they have drawn it for. If they have left off or moved any land masses, they will have to explain why.

> Activity 2: Whose World?

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