On most world maps Greenland looks about as big as Africa. In reality Africa is about 14 times bigger. Watch what happens when a globe becomes a flat map:

In this lesson you'll

• find out why you can't flatten a globe without stretching or tearing it
• see what the famous Mercator map gets right — and what it blows up
• drag countries to their true size and compare different world maps
• spin a globe and find the real shortest route for a flight

Time: about 45 minutes · You need: this screen, nothing else · Play with each picture, then press Next. There's a short quiz halfway and one at the end.