The World Population Map is a cartogram poster providing students a unique view of the Earth – the size of each country is shown in proportion to its population, rather than its land mass. 7,241 colorful squares are arranged to represent the 2013 global population of 7.2 billion people. The map is a powerful teaching tool for student exploration of how population data can be visually interpreted and how different map types can alter the perspective of how one sees the world.

These lessons in the Map Activity Guide have been designed primarily for the high school social studies classroom but all are interdisciplinary, relying on and applying knowledge and skills from mathematics, English language arts, and science.