Nebraska law could change students’ views of the world: ‘Be honest with kids’

Rex Cammack, chair and associate professor in the Department of Geography and Geology, pulls out a map in the map library in the Durham Science Center at University of Nebraska at Omaha.

MEGAN NIELSEN, THE WORLD-HERALD

Cammack said map projections have been used for propaganda purposes, such as making the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics appear bigger and more fearsome.

“People pick these projections to strengthen a point, usually,” he said, adding: “We need to teach people more about how to understand maps and understand place.”

As alternatives to the Mercator projection, Nebraska’s new law requires schools to use the Gall-Peters projection map, the AuthaGraph projection map or another equal-area projection map.

All do a better job of showing the comparative size of countries and continents, although the Gall-Peters projection distorts the shape of areas, while the AuthaGraph version distorts distance and direction. Cammack said he prefers the Equal Earth projection, which shows accurate sizes and minimizes distortions of shape and distance.

At the hearing, Charles Riesdel, a Beatrice Public Schools board member, objected to the proposal in part because of the flaws inherent in all maps and in part because of concerns about the Legislature directing curriculum.

“State mandates such as this do not respect Nebraska’s philosophy of local control,” he said. “Please leave it to the teacher to decide which map is most appropriate for their particular purpose.”

Jack Moles, executive director for the Nebraska Rural and Community Schools Association, said superintendents at member schools have similar concerns about “legislative overreach” in areas typically left to local boards and the state Department of Education.

At the same time, superintendents told him the law would not change the way maps are used in their districts. They said their teachers already talk to students about the ways in which flat maps distort sizes, distances and shapes of different areas and that some use on-line projections that help show and explain the distortions.

The law does not require districts to get rid of or replace books and materials bought before the law took effect. Nor does it change state standards, which call for high school students to be able to evaluate geographical information sources, such as the strengths and weaknesses of various maps.

Omaha Public Schools replaced and upgraded older materials at all grade levels using federal COVID-19 relief funds, according to spokeswoman Bridget Blevins. She said the new material does not include Mercator maps and staff were to inventory and remove any existing material that did not comply with the law.

State education officials have provided guidance for schools about implementing the new law, along with links to downloadable maps and to a map tutorial created by the GIS Research & Map Collection at Ball State University Libraries in Indiana.

Photos: First day of school at McMillan Middle School in Omaha

Students in Anthony Marino’s sixth grade class work through a worksheet on the first day of school at McMillan Middle School in Omaha, on Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024.

LIZ RYMAREV, THE WORLD-HERALD

Anthony Marino, sixth grade teacher, hands out papers to his students on the first day of school at McMillan Middle School in Omaha, on Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024.

LIZ RYMAREV, THE WORLD-HERALD

Crayons, colored pencils and markers are on a table in Anthony Marino’s sixth grade classroom on the first day of school at McMillan Middle School in Omaha, on Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024.

LIZ RYMAREV, THE WORLD-HERALD

KhaMani Hawkins, center, and Ja’cionn Grimes, right, work on a worksheet as Jessica DeWitt, left, sixth and seventh grade teacher, walks around on the first day of school at McMillan Middle School in Omaha, on Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024.

LIZ RYMAREV, THE WORLD-HERALD

Sixth grader KhaMani Hawkins colors in a worksheet on the first day of school at McMillan Middle School in Omaha, on Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024.

LIZ RYMAREV, THE WORLD-HERALD

Sixth grader D’Riyah Key, center left, walks to the front of the class on the first day of school at McMillan Middle School in Omaha, on Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024.

LIZ RYMAREV, THE WORLD-HERALD

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Publish date : 2024-08-16 01:45:00

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