Misconceptions
Some common geographic mental misplacements
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Geopolitical curiosities & troubled lands | Part 1
Misconceptions often seem to have a life of their own.
If learned early on, a foundationally incorrect view of the world can perpetuate, as students naturally build knowledge in light of a past, incorrect, understanding. Something as basic as our assumptions about the relative locations of Earth's continents is an interesting, and actually sort of fun, example of how we can get things wrong right off the bat. Ultimately, everything is learned, but some curious geographic errors tend to persist more than others.
So what are some tantalizing locational mistakes that seemingly come pre-installed in American students’ minds that geography teachers wrestle to overcome?
So glad you asked! Here is a cherry-picked handful of examples that we’ll dive into…
- The northiness of Africa
- The northiness of Europe
- The eastiness of South America
A F R I C A
In the mental map of students, and many used-to-be-students, the continent of Africa is positioned much farther south than it really is...
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Speaking of places that are farther north than we give them credit for...
E U R O P E
The Mediterranean climate of Europe is reasonably comparable to climates found in the United States. Students, therefore, generally misjudge just how far north Europe actually is...
Weird, right? Our mental images of these places don't seem to line up. But line up, they do.
Lastly, we'll take a look at the continent of South America.
S O U T H A M E R I C A
South America's name has much to do with its misplacement. What could be clearer than the location of South America? Certainly it's south of North America, no? Well, yes, but...
And that concludes our whirlwind tour of the globe and how it may or may not square with our impressions of place.
In the day-to-day teaching of physical geography, a number of misconceptions seem to resurface again and again. What is the point of sharing a list of geographic gotchas? So we can arm ourselves with a stack of trivia to (also mistakenly) entertain others with surprising tidbits? Only partially...
W h a t N o w ?
These examples can serve as a handy first step in challenging students, and others, to question the existence of their notions and to understand if or why they might be inaccurate. Dispelling myths is an engaging introduction to the use and value of visual explanations. What could be a better visual explanation than a model of our world in the form of a map or a globe? Geography has some unique and interesting misunderstandings. But we also happen to have unique and interesting tools to inform and foster a framework for understanding.
What could be better?
Interested in more geographical oddities? Visit Part 2 of this series, Enclaves & Exclaves , or jump ahead to Part 3: Bruised Borders .