Using Area Cartograms in Teaching Geography in Secondary Schools

Abstract. An area cartogram is one of the cartographic presentation forms. It is a unique way of presenting statistical data, in which the surface of the individual spatial units is proportional to the value of the phenomenon. Due to its specificity, the area cartogram is an interesting way of graphical representation of phenomena, in particular, the demographic and economic problems of the world.

In my research, I discuss an empirical study that I have conducted among pupils of the secondary school in Poland. On the basis of the list of advantages and disadvantages of area cartograms collected by B.D. Denta (1999), I assumed that contiguous area cartograms seem to be more useful in teaching in the secondary schools than non-contiguous cartograms. I compared the three types of contiguous area cartograms (preserving the spatial continuity of the presentation, having no gaps between neighboring units – Figure 1): square cartograms, mosaic cartograms and diffusion-based cartograms (Gastner-Newman algorithm).