Minty Daily Islands of Different Sizes

Influenced by flat maps for too long, we often have inaccurate impressions of country outlines. The Minty Daily™ team presents the "Islands of Different Sizes" special project, allowing you to see the world from a new perspective through interactive, proportionally scaled cards. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tncfn7mijb0 We’ve often heard people say, “Taiwan is just a small island.” And in saying so, we’ve come to see ourselves as small. But in reality, Taiwan isn’t small at all, and the countries we perceive as “large” aren't necessarily so. When we watch international news, our judgments are often swayed by these “imagined sizes,” leading us to underestimate ourselves and overestimate others. That's why Minty has created a brand new educational product – "Islands of Different Sizes Let’s Map!" By comparing and interacting with proportionally scaled cards, it debunks our myths about country sizes and helps us understand the world from a fresh perspective. **The Earth is round, but maps are flat. Is country size not as it appears?** Most maps use different projection methods to transform the 3D curved surface into a 2D plane. The Mercator projection, developed for the Age of Exploration and prioritizing accurate orientation, is the most common type. While it displays the most accurate area and outline near the equator, it tends to distort or deform areas at higher latitudes. If you have a chance to carefully compare a globe with a flat map, you'll discover that Greenland isn't as large as it appears, Canada and the United States have similar actual areas, Russia's landmass isn't twice the size of China, and Taiwan is not as tiny as we might imagine! While collecting international information, the Observation Calendar team realized we've long been influenced by flat maps, leading to inaccurate impressions of country outlines. Thus, they launched the "Islands of Different Sizes" special project, inviting Wiseman Geography as consultants. Using azimuthal equidistant projection, they obtained the relatively accurate areas and outlines of 56 countries, designing games and interactive scenarios to observe, experience, explore, and understand the world from different angles. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52767600119_5bc74aca66_b.jpg "Islands of Different Sizes" depicts the outlines of 56 countries using azimuthal equidistant projection. By utilizing the characteristic that accuracy increases closer to the center, it invites you to see each country from a new perspective! **📍 Contents:** Country Cards: Three sizes: Large x4, Medium x9, Small x40, totaling 53 cards. (Taiwan has three extra cards) Country Outline Sheets: Two sizes, totaling 6 sheets. Guessing Cover Sheets: Three sizes, totaling 3 sheets. Flag Stickers: National flags for 56 countries, 2 sheets. Illustration Stickers: Special illustrated stickers, 1 sheet. World Maps: Peters Projection and Mollweide Projection, one A3 sheet each. **📍 How to Play:** **#Country Size Comparison** The host selects a country from the 2023 International Observation Calendar. Participants then choose or combine cards from their hand to get the closest land area to the designated country. The closest wins points. **#Country Outline Puzzle** Choose a country card/outline sheet as a base. Participants use the cards in their hands to piece together and arrange them. The goal is to fit the most country cards within the outline without overlapping. The most successful player scores points. **#Guess the Flag and Capital** The host covers a country card with a cover sheet, inviting participants to guess the country name, flag, or capital based on the outline. Additional country information can be found in the International Observation Calendar and on the dedicated webpage! * Product Specifications | Product Name: Islands of Different Sizes Item Number: 81314-2023-002-8 Country Cards Specifications | Small Cards: 41 pcs (W74 x H105 mm) Medium Cards: 8 pcs (W105 x H148 mm) Large Cards: 4 pcs (W128 x H210 mm) Material | PET Country Outline Sheets Specifications | Outline Sheets: 5 pcs (W297 x H210 mm) Outline Sheet: 1 pc (W420 x H256 mm) Material | Japanese coated paper Guessing Cover Cards Specifications | Small Card: 1 pc (folded W74 x H105 mm) Medium Card: 1 pc (folded W105 x H148 mm) Large Card: 1 pc (folded W128 x H210 mm) Material | PET Flag Stickers Specifications | 56 countries, 2 pcs total (W210 x H128 mm) Material | Low-tack sticker Map Coloring Sheets Specifications | 2 pcs (W420 x H297 mm) Paper | Domestic beige comic paper Game Instructions Specifications | 1 pc (W210 x H390 mm) Paper | Japanese coated paper Storage Box Specifications | Lid and base box (W145 x L223 x 20 mm) Paper | Thick paperboard mounted with paper Total Weight with Box | Approx. 520 g (±5g) **【Minty Daily™ - International News in Your Pocket】** Every international event is closely related to our lives. It is Minty Daily's mission to promote international news to everyone. We lead viewers to understand international events in an easy-to-understand way, analyze the causes and effects, learn from the past to inform the future, and cultivate the ability to gather information and think critically.