How To Design A Map Quiz That Even A Cartographer Would Love

Q. How can I design an interesting map quiz?
A. You can’t. At least you can’t if you intend to design a map quiz where you draw some geographical areas and then ask “Where is South America?”. While that would definitely qualify as a map quiz, it wouldn’t make the grade of an “interesting” map quiz.
There is a thin line between geography quiz and map quiz. Once you cross that line, and get away from the simple geography, you can make a map quiz downright interesting.
For example, you might design a map quiz that asks questions about how maps are actually made. A lot of people don’t realize the magic that is needed to represent a round world on a flat piece of paper. Questions along this line could be very enlightening.
Another great set of map quiz questions could deal with how to navigate a ship using charts and a pair of dividers. You could ask them to determine how many nautical miles it is between two points.
Maybe you’d like to combine a map quiz with a scavenger or treasure hunt. Bury something valuable somewhere and then create treasure maps. The map quiz could ask questions that can only be answered by reading the map. As each question gets answered the person gets closer to finding the prize.
Another great idea would be to present a complex problem that has to be solved by being able to read and understand a map thoroughly. Here’s an example:
You have 10 days vacation and decide to take a car trip around the United States.
You can drive no more than 10 hours per day and you can drive no faster than 55 miles per hour.
Your trip must start and end in the same State. Other than that, you may not visit any state more than once.
You must exit a state at the opposite border that you entered it from. For example, if you entered a state from the North, you must exit from the South. if you entered from the Northeast, you must exit from the Southwest.
At the end of each 10 hour period you must spend the night (14 hours) in a town or city whose name contains the letter “e”.
Using the map, mark your daily route, including the number of miles driven, and circle the name of the town or city that you spent the night in. Be sure to write the day # as well.
The person who visits the most states in the 10 day period wins.
That ought to be a map quiz that will be remembered for some time to come.
Remember, a map quiz doesn’t have to be dull and boring; use your imagination to develop a map quiz that challenges and stimulates.

It is Almost Prom Season

Proms Season Is Almost Here
Is your child going to a school prom or formal this year? If so there are quite a few things you may want to consider. For starters make sure you know who your child will be going to the prom with. Make sure you ask all the questions, you’ll want to know where they’re going, what they will be doing, and what time they will be home.
If there are any parties afterwards you want to make sure it is either a school sponsored event, or if it is in someone’s home that there will be parental supervision. It is proven fact that kids are more than 80% more likely to try drugs or alcohol if they are left unsupervised in the mix of peer pressure.
You also need to make it perfectly clear that if there is any drinking involved, that they do not need to fear any repercussions should they need to call for a ride. Of course there will be repercussions, but don’t make that the reason for them not to call you. Thinking back to my senior prom, I would’ve been more afraid to call my parents for a ride and to tell him I had been drinking. They do not do anything to make me feel that way, they were just very strict, and did not come out and say it would be okay to call for a ride.

Acing the SAT Exam

Don’t cheat. This goes without saying for 999 out of 1000 students (hopefully even more!) but cheating is not the way to score high on the SAT exam. Not only do you sacrifice your integrity and trustworthiness, you do yourself the huge disfavor of taking something you did not earn, and I guarantee that it will catch up with you sooner or later.
Prepare ahead of time. If you fully grasp the importance of the SAT exam in determining your admission to colleges to which you will be applying, you’ll spend a little bit of time preparing before the test and I don’t mean the day before the test. Begin a few months in advance to review concepts you know you’re having trouble with.
Study on a regular basis. You’ll get a lot more mileage studying for the SAT if you set a day and time each week (or more often if you want) to study. This will also help your mind and body prepare for the test by getting them used to sitting and focusing for a long period of time.
Take practice exams. The more you are exposed to actual exam questions, the easier time you will have dealing with the real test. Simulate the testing experience (timed, sitting in a desk, etc.) to make sure that when exam day comes around, the situation is not new to you. This will help you relax and perform to the best of your abilities.
Make flashcards to help you study. If you play on a sports team or are involved in a school club, making flashcards can be a great way to find time to study even though you are busy. Just keep the flashcards in your backpack or sports bag and pull them out when you’re on the bus or you’re waiting for your ride. Math formulas and concepts are especially good for flashcards; so are vocabulary words.
Get a good night’s rest the night before the exam. Going to bed before midnight might sound impossible to you, but trust me on this one. Your mind is going to be pushed and stretched to its limits during the test, so the last thing you want is for your body to be tired and groggy. Remember: early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy and wise.
Show up to the exam site early. The SAT alone can get you pretty flustered, so the last thing you want is to show up late and not have plenty of time to get settled in and relaxed. Check the night before to make sure you have everything ready that you’re going to need in the morning. Then, when you wake up the next morning, rather than run around the house frantically looking for the things you need, you can take a nice hot shower and relax. Obviously the end goal of all of this is to make sure you’re able to do your absolute best work on the test.
Read all of the directions. Even if you think you know what you’re supposed to do, take a few seconds to at least skim over them. Taking 20 seconds to read the directions will make you lose much less time than if you complete the section of the SAT and realize at the end you did it all wrong.
When you’re taking the test, don’t get bogged down on one question. If you come to a question that you can’t work out right away, do not get flustered. Just skip it and come back to it. Unless you find yourself skipping a lot of questions, on the SAT it is usually best to skip the question rather than guess and then come back to it. You are penalized for every wrong answer you give, whereas leaving a question blank really has no huge impact on your score. Again, don’t leave very many questions blank as that lowers the score that you can potentially earn.
Review your answers with the extra time you have left at the end. You might not have time to review all of the questions you had trouble with, but at least go over as many as you can. Be careful not to second-guess yourself too. It seems that more often than not our first impressions are correct, so don’t change an answer unless you have good reason to.
Eat ice cream. But wait until after you have taken the test and done your best. Hard work and effort on your part should almost always be awarded with some kind of frozen dessert with high concentrations of sugar and fat.