Understanding Mapmaker
Understanding Mapmaker
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Mapmaker is an online tool designed for teachers and students to use in schools.
It acts as a "digital twin" of the planet, allowing users to explore the Earth's surface using satellite and aerial imagery.
The platform also lets you incorporate various data sources to fully explore different topics.
Using the 3D feature, we can use our fingers to zoom and change the orientation of a map and also transition from a flat map to an immersive, ground-level view.
This allows students to gain a realistic perspective and better understand the context of different areas as if they were physically there.
Mapmaker has a number of different base map galleries that allow different information to be conveyed using colour and shape which can help us visualise our planet.
Mapmaker's measurement tool allows them to measure the distance of objects such a hill or location and switch between metric and imperial units.
It can also seamlessly switch between 2D and 3D views is especially useful for helping students understand complex concepts like contour lines.
The tool also lets users compare different landforms and geographic features, such as measuring and contrasting cliffs in various locations to understand their scale.
The measure distance feature is used to not only answer a direct question about distance but also to spark deeper discussions about direction and global geography.
The measure distance feature is used to not only answer a direct question about distance but also to spark deeper discussions about direction and global geography.
The speaker emphasises that this method helps students link isolated case studies, like the favelas of Rio, to their own location and see them as part of a larger global context.
The 'Open map' tool offers a range of commonly taught map types, carefully curated to match the most commonly taught topics and themes across the geography curriculum and beyond.
The resource allows students to analyse various types of information about rivers to determine which is the "biggest" based on different criteria, such as length, area, or discharge.
It also encourages a look into human geography by considering which river is most prominent in UK popular culture. The atlas provides a detailed look at these river basins, prompting students to explore them more deeply.
The UK Rivers Atlas is an interactive map that displays all of the world's major river basins.
By clicking on a basin, users can access an information panel detailing its length, area, and discharge.
The tool allows for easy comparison between different rivers, such as the Amazon and the Nile, by using a filter to highlight them on the map
The English Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) is an online tool for analysing neighbourhood inequality. It provides an accurate view by using a "buildings" feature that removes empty land from the map.
The tool is also useful for planning fieldwork, as it helps users find nearby areas with contrasting levels of deprivation for easy comparison.
The "Way Back" is a classroom resource that uses historic satellite imagery to show how locations have changed over time.
Users can launch the app to explore anywhere on Earth, with instructions and teaching ideas provided.
The app displays a timeline of satellite images, and you can filter it to show only areas with significant change.
The "swipe" tool helps compare historical and recent satellite images side-by-side, which is ideal for showing changes over time, such as urban development, regeneration, or deforestation.
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About Us
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Quick Links
Quick Links
For quick access to important sections, you can explore: Introduction to Mapmaker, understanding and using Mapmaker. We also have several Stories of Success where schools have embedded Mapmaker across the curriculum
Next steps
Next steps
So you have seen what Mapmaker can do, now meet the teachers and pupils that have been using it as part of their everyday teaching and learning with their Stories of Success>
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