In Social Studies, get the RAFT finished. You are either an Explorer writing a Letter to a king about how the Map you use is the best available projection so he'll give you money, or as an Educational Advisor writing a Report to Congress about which map projection is the best to use in classrooms.
Be sure to check in on the Maps as Projections Lesson page for a copy of the projection map comparison examples. Also, click on the map names below for websites with more info!
We discussed the Mercator Map, which has coordinate lines and fairly accurate shapes, although areas close to the poles are extremely enlarged. This makes Mercator maps very useful to navigators, sailors, and traders, because the areas where most trade occurs between Europe, Asia and North America are clearly represented. The Mercator Map and similar maps have been popular since the Renaissance and Age of Exploration over 500 years ago.
The Dymaxion Map was instead first made about 70 years ago. It is a projection that breaks the world up into triangular sections that can be unfolded and flattened out. While this means that sections of the map that are connected in reality appear separate on the map, the map is extremely accurate in showing shape, area and distances. Since it is a relatively accurate map, it is favored by scientists. Also, this map is not centered on any particular nation or area, but instead uses the North Pole as its focus. In this way, it avoids some of the geographic favoritism of other maps.
The Peter's map was made originally in the 1850's, and more recently remade in the 1970's. It compresses the latitudes close to the poles to reduce the appearance of enlarging those areas, and instead enlarges area closer to the equator like South America, Africa, and Southeast Asia. This clearly has more appeal to inhabitants of those areas, and it also appeals to political liberals who feel more attention should be given to "third world" countries.
Note to self: turn this into a presentation for less year. Yes, it is less organic, but it uses less ink, and is easier to post.