The correct order of the continents from largest to smallest in terms of land mass is Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, Australia.
Throughout the interview process, we found inconsistent results among the interviewees. Our group interviewed a total of 16 adults, a mix of educators and people from around the world. Prior to the interview process, our group attributed that the misconception of the size of the continents was caused by the projection of maps that different schools use in the classroom and the textbooks that students read in their Social Studies class. However, results from our interviews suggest otherwise. The majority of interviewees chose the Mercator Map Projection, which represents the world with the correct shape of continents, but the wrong size. However, 75% of interviewees had ordered the sizes of the continents differently. In addition, the order of the size of the continents rarely correlated with the map they chose as being the one that depicts their understanding of the size the best. Through these observations, we have concluded that the map being used in classrooms and textbooks has not created a misconception.
After analyzing the data from the interviews, we found many other consistencies among answers that may have caused the misconception dealing with the size of the continents. One consistency was the idea that Europe is one of the biggest continents. Out of the 16 adults, 6 interviewees stated that Europe is in the top 4 largest continents. Many of their reasons were that Europe has a lot of countries within it causing it to be bigger. This has led to our first hypothesis that people have a narrow outlook on the world. Richard Monastersky (1992) called this the "Parochial Views of the World." In his studies, Monastersky (1992) found that students all over the world greatly enlarged the size of Europe when asked to draw a picture of the world. Another consistency we found was that 4 out of the 16 adults interviewed stated there were a total of 6 continents. These interviewees combined North America and South America and called it "America" or "Americas." Our second hypothesis is that a person's ideas about the continents comes from the education they received as a child. Many countries teach their students differently about the different continents of the world. Some countries teach 5 continents including Eurasia, America, Australia, Antarctica, and Africa (Frequently Asked Questions, 1996) while others teach of 6 continents including Europe, Asia America, Australia, Antarctica and Africa.
In conclusion, while maps have skewed the outlook of the world to many people, this is not a factor in the creation of a misconception dealing with the size of the continents. Some other factors may be the limited outlook of the world for many people or the experiences they have in the classroom.
Resources:
Field Listing :: Geographic overview. (2014, January 1). Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved July 21, 2014, from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2203.html
Frequently Asked Questions. (1996, January 1). , FAQ. Retrieved July 21, 2014, from http://www.nationalgeographic.com/faq/geography.html
Monastersky, R. (1992, October 3). The warped world of mental maps; students worldwide share a skewed vision of the continents.. - Free Online Library. Retrieved July 21, 2014, from http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+warped+world+of+mental+maps%3b+students+worldwide+share+a+skewed...-a012735579
Throughout the interview process, we found inconsistent results among the interviewees. Our group interviewed a total of 16 adults, a mix of educators and people from around the world. Prior to the interview process, our group attributed that the misconception of the size of the continents was caused by the projection of maps that different schools use in the classroom and the textbooks that students read in their Social Studies class. However, results from our interviews suggest otherwise. The majority of interviewees chose the Mercator Map Projection, which represents the world with the correct shape of continents, but the wrong size. However, 75% of interviewees had ordered the sizes of the continents differently. In addition, the order of the size of the continents rarely correlated with the map they chose as being the one that depicts their understanding of the size the best. Through these observations, we have concluded that the map being used in classrooms and textbooks has not created a misconception.
After analyzing the data from the interviews, we found many other consistencies among answers that may have caused the misconception dealing with the size of the continents. One consistency was the idea that Europe is one of the biggest continents. Out of the 16 adults, 6 interviewees stated that Europe is in the top 4 largest continents. Many of their reasons were that Europe has a lot of countries within it causing it to be bigger. This has led to our first hypothesis that people have a narrow outlook on the world. Richard Monastersky (1992) called this the "Parochial Views of the World." In his studies, Monastersky (1992) found that students all over the world greatly enlarged the size of Europe when asked to draw a picture of the world. Another consistency we found was that 4 out of the 16 adults interviewed stated there were a total of 6 continents. These interviewees combined North America and South America and called it "America" or "Americas." Our second hypothesis is that a person's ideas about the continents comes from the education they received as a child. Many countries teach their students differently about the different continents of the world. Some countries teach 5 continents including Eurasia, America, Australia, Antarctica, and Africa (Frequently Asked Questions, 1996) while others teach of 6 continents including Europe, Asia America, Australia, Antarctica and Africa.
In conclusion, while maps have skewed the outlook of the world to many people, this is not a factor in the creation of a misconception dealing with the size of the continents. Some other factors may be the limited outlook of the world for many people or the experiences they have in the classroom.
Resources:
Field Listing :: Geographic overview. (2014, January 1). Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved July 21, 2014, from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2203.html
Frequently Asked Questions. (1996, January 1). , FAQ. Retrieved July 21, 2014, from http://www.nationalgeographic.com/faq/geography.html
Monastersky, R. (1992, October 3). The warped world of mental maps; students worldwide share a skewed vision of the continents.. - Free Online Library. Retrieved July 21, 2014, from http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+warped+world+of+mental+maps%3b+students+worldwide+share+a+skewed...-a012735579