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How to Use This Site with Your Class

This site expands the content of the Our World Today program and The Nystrom World Atlas. It may be used by both teachers and students.

Teachers can:

  • Use the maps, graphs, and photo tours as digital resources in onscreen presentations.
  • Print the graphic resources or make transparencies of them for group or class discussions.
  • Conduct whole class or small group discussions based on these resources.
  • Use the sample questions from this guide for quizzes or discussions.

Students can:

  • Work through the Study Guide linked below for a comprehensive introduction to all resources on NystromWorldAtlas.com.
  • Download maps, graphs, and photographs for multimedia presentations.
  • Print maps, graphs, and photographs to include with reports.
  • Compare the data on this site with data in their program lessons and atlas.
  • Research Social Studies topics on the Internet with the help of the Research Links.

To print out this Teacher's Guide, click anywhere in this frame. Then click on the printer icon on your browser toolbar.

Tips on Teaching with Maps

Outline Maps
For the world, the seven continents, and selected countries and regions, this site offers two types of outline maps:

  • maps with boundaries
  • maps without boundaries

All of these maps can be downloaded and printed. Use them for any of the following purposes:

  • discussions on geographic, historic, cultural, or contemporary themes
  • hands-on mapping activities
  • reports, displays, and projects
  • review and testing

Reference Maps
The site provides basic reference maps for the world, the seven continents, the Arctic, and selected countries and cultural regions. These maps show countries in different colors and name most of them. The continent maps also show relief and drainage. Land cover maps use color and relief to show the predominant vegetation on each part of the earth's land surface and the major landforms on land and the sea floor. Use these maps for:

  • discussions
  • comparisons
  • reports and projects
  • review
  • current events research

Thematic Maps
There are 10 different types of thematic maps on this site. Each type focuses on a specific topic, or theme. These themes include:

The World

  • Climate
  • Land Use
  • Tropical Rain Forests
  • Major Religions
  • Adult LIteracy
  • People per Physician
  • Life Expectancy

The World and the Six Inhabited Continents (Quality of Life series)

  • Population Growth
  • People per Car
  • Energy Resources

For each thematic map or series of maps, this Teacher’s Guide includes:

  • a general description
  • sample discussion questions

World Maps

Climate
The colors on the Climate map show different climate patterns throughout the world. Have students identify the six main types of climate shown on the map. Remind your students that climate focuses on general patterns, not daily conditions of the weather.

Sample Questions:

  1. Which four continents do not have any regions with continental climates?
  2. Between which two lines of latitude are most of the world's tropical regions located?
  3. In the Northern Hemisphere, most of the polar climates are north of which line of latitude?
  4. In the Southern Hemisphere, most of the polar climates are south of which line of latitude?
  5. Compare the Climate map to a Land Cover map of the world. What is the defining characteristic of regions with a highland climate?
  6. What is the climate where you live?

Land Use
The colors on the Land Use map show the main economic uses of land throughout the world. Most land use is related to food production. Have students identify the 6 widespread uses of land. Urban land use includes trade, manufacturing, financial services, and other activities of cities and suburbs. Point out that in some regions the land is too dry, rugged, or cold for the land to be used for providing food or other resources.

Sample Questions:

  1. Which continent has the largest area of land that has no widespread use? Find this continent on the Climate map. Why do you think this continent has the largest amount of unused land?
  2. On which continents is nomadic herding a widespread economic use of the land?
  3. Which continents have large regions where subsistence farming is the main land use?
  4. In Australia, what is most of the land used for?
  5. Which continent has urban and commercial farming as the main land uses?
  6. How is the land used where you live?

Tropical Rain Forests
The colors on the Tropical Rain Forests map show the location of major rain forests throughout the world. Have students identify the continents where major rain forests currently exist.

Sample Questions:

  1. Between which two lines of latitude are most of the world's tropical rain forests located?
  2. Read the caption of the map. Why are tropical rain forests important?
  3. Compare this map with the Climate map. Which two continents have no tropical rain forests? Why?
  4. Are there any tropical rain forests in the United States? Why or why not? (Hint: Look at the Climate map.)

Major Religions
The colors of the Major Religions map show the main or dominant religions of different regions throughout the world. Point out to your students that the colored areas on the map indicate the main religion of a region, not the only religion. Have your students identify the nine religion categories shown on the map.

Sample Questions:

  1. Name three continents in which Christianity is the main religion.
  2. In which two continents is Islam a major religion? [You might want to mention to your students that Islam is the religion of Muslims.]
  3. Why do you think that Antarctica and many areas north of 60°N are represented by the color indicating "Other, mixed, none?"
  4. Which continent has the greatest number of major religions?
  5. Why do you think Christianity is the main religion in North America, South America, and Australia? [May require historical research.]
  6. Why do you think Islam is one of the main religions in Africa and Asia? [May require historical research.]

Adult Literacy
The colors of the Adult Literacy map show the percentage of the population over 15 years old that can read and write in different regions throughout the world. Have your students identify the 5 categories of literacy shown on the map.

Sample Questions:

  1. Name three continents where more than 95 percent of its adults can read and write. Why do you think the literacy rates are so high in these places?
  2. Which continent has the lowest literacy rates?
  3. Identify two countries in Asia where only 0 to 40 percent of its people over 15 can read and write.
  4. What factors do you think contribute to low literacy rates?
  5. How might the ability to read and write affect a person's quality of life?

People per Physician
The colors of the People per Physician map compare the number of people to the number of doctors available to serve them in different regions throughout the world. Have your students identify the 5 different ratios of people per physician shown on the map. Make sure students understand that the lower the ratio, the more access people have to healthcare.

Sample Questions:

  1. Which countries or regions have few people per doctor?
  2. Which countries or regions have many people per doctor?
  3. What factors do you think contribute to having many people per doctor as opposed to few people per doctor in certain regions of the world?
  4. How might the number of people per doctor in a country affect a person's quality of life?

Life Expectancy
The colors of the Life Expectancy map show the average age that people live in different regions throughout the world. Have your students identify the 6 different age ranges of life expectancy shown on the map.

Sample Questions:

  1. In which countries or regions do people tend to have longer lives?
  2. In which countries or regions do people tend to have shorter lives?
  3. What factors do you think contribute to having a high or low life expectancy in certain regions of the world?
  4. Compare this map with the People per Physician map. How might the number of people per doctor in a country affect a person's quality of life?
  5. How might a country's average life expectancy reflect the quality of life of its citizens?

 

World and Continent Maps

Population Growth
Population Growth is shown on thematic maps for the world and each of the six inhabited continents. For each of these maps, have your students identify the different rates of projected population growth for 2005 to 2015.

Sample Questions (can be used with each continent):

  1. Which regions have the lowest projected growth? Why do you think this is so?
  2. Which regions or countries have the highest projected growth?
  3. Compare the Population Growth map with the People per Car map of the continent. Do you see any patterns between these two maps? What conclusions can you draw from comparing these maps?
  4. Compare the Population Growth maps of one continent with those of other continents. How do the projected growth rates compare?
  5. How might the population growth affect the economy of countries or regions?

People per Car
People per car are shown on thematic maps for the world and each of the six inhabited continents. The number of cars per people is one way to measure the standard of living in various regions. The fewer people per car, the higher the region or country's standard of living. For each of these maps, have your students identify the different ratios of people per car shown on the map.

Sample Questions (can be used with each continent):

  1. Which regions have the lowest number of people per car?
  2. Which regions have the highest number of people per car?
  3. Does the standard of living on this continent vary from country to country or region to region, or is it consistent throughout the continent? How would you rate the standard of living on this continent?
  4. Compare the People per Car maps of one continent with those of other continents. How do they compare? Which continents seem to have the highest standard of living? Which continents seem to have the lowest standard of living?

Energy Resources
Energy resources are shown on thematic maps for the world and each of the six inhabited continents. For each of these maps, have your students identify the different energy resources shown on the map.

Sample Questions (can be used with each continent):

  1. Which regions on the continent have large deposits of coal? Of oil? Of natural gas? Of uranium?
  2. Compare the Energy Resources maps with a land cover map of the continent. Do you see any patterns between energy resource deposits and landforms? If so, what are they?
  3. Compare the Energy Resources maps of one continent with those of other continents. How do the energy resources compare?
  4. How might the presence or lack of these resources affect the economy of countries or regions?

 

Tips on Teaching with Graphs

World Graphs
There are seven graphs that provide a general world overview by comparing selected characteristics of physical and cultural geography. These graphs include:

  • Land Areas of the Continents
  • Tallest Mountain of Each Continent
  • Population Growth Rate
  • Major Religions
  • Largest Cities
  • Largest Urban Areas
  • Top Energy Consumers

Land Area of the Continents
This circle graph uses different colors to compare the total land area of each continent.

Sample Questions:

  1. Which is the largest continent? The smallest?
  2. Compare this graph with the World map on page 6-7 of The Nystrom World Atlas. Does the map accurately reflect the information on the graph? Why or why not? [You may want to have your students compare the map and a globe.]
  3. Why does Antarctica appear so large on the map when it is only a small portion of the world's land area?

Tallest Mountain of Each Continent
This modified bar graph uses mountains instead of bars to compare the highest points on each of the seven continents. [You might want to mention that a mountain's height is measured from sea level, not from base to peak. Mount Kilimanjaro is actually taller than Mount Everest from base to peak, but Mount Everest has the greatest elevation above sea level.]

Sample Questions:

  1. On a physical map of the world, or a globe, locate each of the mountains shown on the graph.
  2. What is the name of the mountain range where each mountain is located?
  3. In what country is each mountain located?

Population Growth Rate
This graph uses different colors to show the population growth of the six inhabited continents from 1650 to 2025.

Sample Questions:

  1. Which continent has the largest population? Which has the smallest?
  2. Which continents have populations that have increased dramatically in the last 50—60 years?
  3. Which continents have experienced a more gradual population increase over time?
  4. Around 1950, the world's population began to increase at a faster rate than it had during the previous three hundred years. Why do you think this is so? [May require research.]

Major Religions
This circle graph uses different colors to compare the number of adherents of the world’s major religions.

Sample Questions:

  1. What religion has the most followers? [You might want to introduce your students to the term adherents.]
  2. Compare this graph to the Major Religions map. What religions might be included in the "Other" category on the graph?
  3. On the Major Religions map, Hinduism and Buddhism are major religions only in certain parts of Asia. Why do you think these religions have enough followers to appear as separate categories on the graph? (Hint: Look back at the Population Growth Rate graph.)

Largest Cities
These two bar graphs use different colors to compare the most densely populated cities and urban areas throughout the world.

Sample Questions:

  1. What is the largest city in the world? How many people live in this city? How many more people live in the largest city than in the second-largest city?
  2. What is the average population of the twenty largest cities in the world? [Hint: remind students that in order to find an average, they must add up all the data and divide by the total number of data; in this case 20.]
  3. Which continent has most of the largest cities in the world?
  4. What countries have more than one of the largest cities in the world?

Largest Urban Areas
This bar graph compares the populations in the twenty largest urban areas in the world. Colors show the continents in which these urban areas are located. [You may want to remind students that an urban area includes a city and its surrounding suburbs.]

Sample Questions:

  1. What is the largest urban area? How many people live in this urban area? How many more people live in the largest urban area than in the second-largest urban area?
  2. Which continent has most of the largest urban areas in the world?
  3. What countries have more than one of the largest urban areas in the world?
  4. Compare this graph with the largest cities graph. Which cities are also one of the largest urban areas in the world? Find Shanghai on both graphs. What can you conclude about where people live in the Shanghai area, given that it is the world's largest city, but the ninth largest urban area?
  5. Which two continents do not have any of the largest urban areas in the world? Why do you think this is so?

Energy Consumption
These bar graphs show how different countries consume the world's major energy resources. Percentages show the amount of each energy resource consumed by the top five countries and then all other countries using this resource.

Sample Questions:

  1. Which country is the largest consumer of oil? What percentage of the world's oil does this country consume? What country is the second-largest consumer of oil? About how many times more oil does the leading consumer country use than the second-leading consumer country?
  2. Which country consumes the most energy resources?
  3. What other countries are the leading consumers of more than one of the world's energy resources?
  4. What percentage of the world's uranium does the United States consume? How does this compare to the percentage consumed by all other countries?

Continent Graphs
For each of the six inhabited continents, there are sixgraphs that compare characteristics of physical and cultural geography for selected countries or regions. These graphs include:

  • Climate and Climographs
  • Urban and Rural Population
  • Balance of Trade
  • Major Religions
  • Life Expectancy
  • Technology

Climate and Climographs
This map-graph combination compares the temperature and precipitation patterns of different climate regions throughout the continent. The colors on the Climate map represent these different climate patterns. The climographs show each city's longitude, latitude, elevation, and average monthly precipitation and temperature. The color of each city's climograph matches the climate type of the city's location on the map.

Sample Questions (can be used with each continent):

  1. How does latitude affect climate? (Which generally have warmer climates–cities near the equator or near the poles?)
  2. How does elevation affect climate? (Which generally have warmer climates–cities in the mountains or cities at sea level?)
  3. What precipitation patterns do you notice in polar climates? In tropical climates? In mild climates?
  4. Compare the climates of cities in different continents. What similarities do you notice? What differences?

Urban and Rural Population
These circle graphs, titled Where People Live, use different colors to show the percentages of people living in urban areas and people living in rural areas for selected countries in each continent. Have your students identify which color represents a country's urban population and which color represents the rural population.

Sample Questions (can be used with each continent):

  1. Identify which countries have populations that are mostly urban and which are mostly rural.
  2. Which country has the most urban population? Which has the most rural population?
  3. Do you notice any patterns of urban-rural population on the continent? If so, what are they?
  4. Do you live in an urban area (cities and suburbs) or a rural one? How are the population patterns different?

Balance of Trade
These bar graphs use different colors to compare the value (in U.S. dollars) of the imports and exports for selected countries in each continent. Have students identify which color/bar represents the value of a country's imports, and which represents the value of its exports.

Sample Questions (can be used with each continent):

  1. Which of these countries spends the most on imports? Which spends the least?
  2. Which of these countries earns the most on exports? Which earns the least?
  3. Which of these countries import more than they export (negative trade balance)?
  4. Which of these countries export more than they import (positive trade balance)?
  5. Compare the Balance of Trade graph with any of the Quality of Life maps. What patterns do you notice between a country's balance of trade and the quality of life in the country?

Followers of Major Religions
These bar graphs use different colors to compare the percentage of adherents of different religions in selected countries in each continent. Have your students identify the colors that represent followers of each religion. [You might want to introduce your students to the term adherents.]

Sample Questions (can be used with each continent):

  1. Is any single religious group dominant in many or all of the countries on the continent? If so, which group is it? Why do you think this religion has more followers than other religions?
  2. Ask your students to explain patterns of religion in a country, region, or continent. [May require historical research.] Examples include:
    • "None" in China
    • "Roman Catholic" in the countries of Latin America
    • "Protestant" in the United States
    • "Muslim" in the countries of Southwest Asia and North Africa [You might want to remind your students that Muslims are followers of Islam.]
    • the greater variety of religions in the United States and Canada than in most other countries of North America

Life Expectancy
These bar graphs use two different colors to show the average number of years man and women in diferent countries are expected to live.

Sample Questions (can be used with each continent):

  1. Which country has the lowest life expectancy rate for men and women?
  2. Which country has the highest life expectancy for men and women?
  3. What is the difference between the highest and lowest expectancy rate for men?
  4. What is the difference between the highest and lowest expectancy rate for women?
  5. Do you notice any continent-wide patterns? If so, what are they?
  6. Calculate the average life expectancy for men on the continent. Calculate the average life expectancy for women on the continent.

Technology
These two sets of bar graphs use different colors to show the number of cell phones and personal computers per 1,000 people for selected countries in each continent.

Sample Questions:

  1. In which countries is a person most likely to have a cell phone or personal computer? In which countries is a person least likely to have a cell phone or personal computer?
  2. Compare the Technology graph with the Balance of Trade graph. What patterns do you notice?
    • In countries where the value of imports and exports is low, are people more or less likely to have a cell phone or personal computer?
    • In countries where the value of imports and exports is high, are people more or less likely to have a cell phone or personal computer?
  3. Compare the Technology graph with the Urban and Rural Population graph. What patterns do you notice?
    • In countries where the population is mostly rural, are people more or less likely to have a cell phone or personal computer?
    • In countries where the population is mostly urban, are people more or less likely to have a cell phone or personal computer?
  4. Compare the Technology graph with the Adult Literacy map. What patterns do you notice?
    • In countries with low literacy rates, are people more or less likely to have a cell phone or personal computer?
    • In countries with high literacy rates, are people more or less likely to have a cell phone or personal computer?

Tips on Teaching with Photos

There are six photo tours on this site. Captions emphasize social studies topics or regional points of interest in large type. The images help make the concepts more concrete by showing:

  • physical features (such as mountains, rivers, and islands)
  • cultural features (such as cities, canals, and buildings)
  • people
  • cultural events
  • land use
  • land cover

These photos are especially helpful in providing a visual resource for features unique to specific continents, such as the Sahara in Africa, the outback in Australia, or the Amazon rain forest in South America. Students can use the Photo Tours to:

  • gain a visual sense of people and places around the world
  • compare/contrast continents geographically and culturally
  • clarify geographic and cultural concepts
  • enhance reports and presentations

Encourage students to locate specific places on maps or globes for further analysis.

Tips on Teaching with Links

These Links can help both teachers and students find sites related to world and regional geography and culture. These sites have been reviewed and selected to provide useful links to online resources that support world geography and world cultures curricula.

  • Because Web sites change from time to time, Nystrom cannot guarantee or be responsible for their content or the possibility that their addresses (URLs) may change.
  • Although Nystrom has attempted to select links to Web sites with no endorsements or advertising, it has not always been possible to do so. Please note that when sites do include endorsements or advertising, Nystrom does not endorse or intend to promote them in any way.

There are seven sets of links on this site. There is a set of links for the world and for each of the six inhabited continents. Each listing includes a direct link to the site, the site's URL, and a short description of the site.

These links can be used for:

  • answering questions
  • extending a lesson
  • day-to-day assignments
  • research projects

Teachers might feature a link of the day or the week for students to access during their free time.

Atlas Test

Teachers can download and print the following test that will assess what students know about using The Nystrom World Atlas. This tests can be used as both pre- and post-tests to evaluate student knowledge before and after using the Our World Today program.

Click on the test below to download.