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The Promise and Practice of Teaching Data Literacy in Social Studies: A Companion Site A Taxonomy of Data Visualizations Information can be visualized in multiple ways, from bar graphs to scatterplots, choropleth maps to distribution maps, timelines to time series. Designers can choose from an array of graphical elements such as points, lines, or icons used to represent data, and multiple aesthetic attributes such as color, shape, and size. Furthermore, designers can apply multiple combinations of titles, legends, and explanatory text to provide context for a data visualization. Given the almost dizzying array of data visualizations students may encounter in social studies, it is helpful to place them in categories related to the types of questions they will help us answer. How do students learn with data visualizations? Reading data visualizations in print and online social studies texts can improve students' overall comprehension and quality of reasoning. And there is evidence to suggest that reading data visualizations helps students better understand historical and geographic context, multiple causation, and change over time — all important concepts for students to grasp in social studies subject areas. However, students may face significant challenges in trying to make sense of different kinds of data visualizations. This section provides insight into both benefits and challenges of reading timelines, maps, and graphs and charts. How should students analyze data visualizations in social studies? The challenges that data visualizations present, coupled with their prevalence in social studies texts, standardized assessments, in online social studies resources, and as sources of information in society, suggest that teaching with and about data visualizations in social studies is essential. This module provides guidance for how teachers can support students' data literacy for social studies. Index of Lesson Plans This page contains a list of the minimal manuals and lessons found on this website. Minimal manuals are designed to be adapted to different grade levels and do not have a grade designation associated with them. Lesson plans are organized according to the school level for which they are designed. However, many of these lessons can be adapted for different grade levels.

Primary Source Data Visualizations for World History and Geography

This page provides two ways to view primary source data visualizations and their connection to Michigan social studies standards. First you can link to pages with a list of standards connected to data visualizations. Next, data visualizations are organized by the time periods that correspond to those in the Michigan State Standards for World History & Geography. The primary sources within each section are listed in chronological order and can be viewed more closely, along with their descriptions, by clicking on "go there."

Click HERE to see how these primary source data visualizations are connected to Michigan Social Studies Standards for Middle School World History & Geography.

Click HERE to see how these primary source data visualizations are connected to Michigan Social Studies Standards for High School World History & Geography.

Early Civilizations and Cultures and the Emergence of Pastoral Peoples, 4000 to 1000 BCE

Classical Traditions, World Religions, and Major Empires, 1000 BCE TO 300 CE

Expanding and Intensified Hemispheric Interactions, 300-1500 CE

The Emergence of the First Global Age, 15th to 18th Centuries

An Age of Global Revolutions, 18th Century-1914

Global Crisis and Achievement, 1900-Present Day

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This page shows primary sources data visualizations that can be linked to the the Michigan Social Studies Standards for 7th-grade world history. To see data visualizations connected to a particular expectation, look for standard codes that are highlighted with a little icon next to them. If you click on the code, the page will shift to show you primary source data visualizations that are related to the expectation.
This page shows primary sources data visualizations that can be linked to the the Michigan Social Studies Standards for high school world history. To see data visualizations connected to a particular expectation, look for standard codes that are highlighted with a little icon next to them. If you click on the code, the page will shift to show you primary source data visualizations that are related to the expectation.

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This anonymous graph, from De cursu per zodiacum, was for a time considered the first line graph in the history of data visualizations. Today we know it was copied in many medieval manuscripts. The graph shows an intermediate rectangular coordinate system for representing the path of the planets across the sky. The grid is made up of 360 squares. Shown on the vertical axis are the longitudes of the celestial sphere, specified as the 12 astrological signs, and on the horizontal axis the celestial latitudes are shown.
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1. Primary Source Data Visualizations for World History and Geography
This manuscript map documents the politically powerful rivalries around new geographic discoveries. The Portuguese crown had supported seafaring for decades and required sailors to keep a logbook. Maps were created on this basis and were stored for safekeeping by the Portuguese marine bureau. The Italian envoy Alberto Cantino had this map copied secretly and smuggled it to Ferrara. It reflects the state of Portuguese knowledge around 1500--including the extensively mapped Brazilian coast, but also the fact that Brazil was thought to be its own landmass at the time. The map shows the struggle between European powers around the newly discovered regions--numerous sovereign flags along the coasts or on islands show the trading posts or regions laid claim to by different nations.
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1. Primary Source Data Visualizations for World History and Geography
This image is a tracing of the Bedolina Petroglyphs in Italy. The first scientific survey of the rock in which this was carved was investigated in 1960, and the map was determined to be created around 1500-1400 BCE. The rock art was found in Valcamonica, Italy, and is assumed to be a depiction of nearby cultivated plots, mountain paths, and villages. UNESCO has recognized the petroglyphs as an important cultural heritage site. This tracing image can be found at http://www.rupestre.net/tracce/?p=2422
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1. Primary Source Data Visualizations for World History and Geography
This map is a key work in the development of scientific geography. There is only one surviving example of this woodcut, which is made up of 12 individual pages. The German cartographers Martin Waldseemüller and Matthias Ringmann decided to call the new (to Europeans, at least) continent in the west "America," after the first name of the seafarer Amerigo Vespucci. This unusual visualization came about because Waldseemüller extended Ptolemy's second projection (which was conceived for a smaller circumference of the Earth) in order to integrate the Pacific Ocean and North and South America. At the top, Ptolemy and Vespucci are pictured.
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1. Primary Source Data Visualizations for U.S. History & Geography
2. Primary Source Data Visualizations for World History and Geography
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1. Primary Source Data Visualizations for World History and Geography
Herodotus, creator of this map, was born ~484 BCE in the Persian Empire and was an ancient Greek author and historian. He is known as “The Father of History” as he wrote a first historical account of an event, being the Greco-Persian Wars. He created his map of the world, questioning that the world was flat. He improved the knowledge of the shape and extent of the regions of the world (that were known at that time) and made known that the Caspian Sea was an inland body of water, debunking its status as a “northern ocean.”
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1. Primary Source Data Visualizations for World History and Geography
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1. Primary Source Data Visualizations for World History and Geography
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1. Primary Source Data Visualizations for World History and Geography
This map was discovered near ancient Thebes (now Luxor), between 1814-1821 by agents of Bernadino Drovetti, the French Consul General in Egypt. This is considered one of the oldest topographical, geological, and geographical map. Archaeologists and historians have determined that it was produced circa. 1150 BC by Scribe of the Tomb, Amennakhte. It is currently in the Turin Museum in northern Italy and was created to prepare for a quarrying expedition by Ramesses IV. It shows the ‘Valley of Many Baths’ with the source of the Nile at the top. The map shows locations of varying rock types as well as a quarry for bekhen stone, which was used to for statues of pharaohs and gods. This is known as the oldest surviving map in the world.
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1. Primary Source Data Visualizations for World History and Geography
The Carte Pisane (or Carta Pisana) is the oldest portolan chart (ancient nautical chart). It was probably of Italian origin, created in the second half of the 13th century. Evidence suggests that this chart was originally part of an atlas. Researchers have concluded that this map was not created by a professional clerk or scholar, based on the handwriting on the map. The map shows the entirety of the Mediterranean, the Black sea, and part of the coast of the Atlantic. Most of the accurate aspects of the map is limited to the Mediterranean.
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1. Primary Source Data Visualizations for World History and Geography
This English language map of the Panama Canal was published in 1915, one year after the completion of the project. A cross-section view of the elevation differences is linked with a detailed map of the stretches of land around the canal. The latter is oriented, against cartographic convention, toward the northeast in order to fit the length of the canal in horizontal format. The lower part contains an overview map of the isthmus and general information on Panama. Color-coded using two tones, the cross section depicts the successive stages of work on the canal: black indicates the first excavation work by the French Compagnie universelle du canal interoceanique de Panama. After they folded, the United States took over the project; their digging work is shown in red.
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1. Primary Source Data Visualizations for World History and Geography
This was a unique map of the Mesopotamian world. Babylon is displayed in the center, while Assyria, Elam, and other places are named. While it may look like this map shows the correct positions of these places, this map is today used for an explanation for the ancient Babylonian view of the mythological world. This data visualization can be found at https://www.ancient.eu/image/526/babylonian-map-of-the-world/
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1. Primary Source Data Visualizations for World History and Geography
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1. Primary Source Data Visualizations for World History and Geography
Beginning in 1939, World War II was a global war that impacted and included the involvement of numerous countries on both the allied and axis powers. This map is a great representation that indicates where each country stood during the war. To the middle left, displays a legend to show neutrals, allied, and axis powers. It also shows which power occupied certain areas as of 1942. The creator of this map--Edwin L. Soundberg-- also incorporated on the bottom left the area each power obtained, the population, number of armies, air forces, and navies. On the bottom right includes dates of invasion and declaration of war. This image can be found at 40.641944, -73.978344
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Like many of his contemporaries, Dutch geographer Michael Florent van Langren searched for a reliable method for determining longitude. He proposed measuring how long the mountains of the moon are illuminated before they slip into darkness during various lunar phases. This required an exact mapping of the Moon and a clear appellation of its craters. Thus this work was created, which in considered the first printed map of the Moon. The oceans on the moon, hypothesized by von Langren and his contemporaries, are shaded with dots, and mountains and craters are also mapped out. In a long process, van Langren assigned 322 names as orientation points--they are borrowed from European sovereigns, scholars, and saints.
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1. Primary Source Data Visualizations for World History and Geography
William Playfair invented several types of diagrams to more clearly show abstract statistics. The second plate of The Statistical Breviary shows the current state of affairs in Europe in 1801. Circular diagrams represent different nations, with the size of the circle correlating to geographic extent. The lines to the left of each circle represent population and the lines to the right represent revenue. The line connecting them is problematic because it is affected by the circle's diameter. Naval powers are shown in blue and countries with armies are shown in red. The diagram for France shows its recent expansion due to a peace treaty. The fragmented position of Germany is notable. It is represented by the Habsburg Empire in Austria, various countries of the "German Empire," and Prussia. The diagram at the bottom of the page with overlapping circles illustrates opposing German interests.
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1. Primary Source Data Visualizations for World History and Geography
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This thematic map shows the distribution of various religions across the world from a Western Christian perspective. Only the large monotheistic religions of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism are included, and only Christianity is further differentiated into Protestantism, Catholicism, and Orthodox Christianity. The continents are colored broadly according to prevailing religious alignment. Only Judaism lacks its own region due to the diaspora. Regions in which none of these religions predominate are marked as "pagan." The diagram in the lower part of the map includes a list of countries and a vertical timeline beginning with the birth of Christ. White stands for the extent of Christianity and a gray tone for that of Islam. This map can be viewed at https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47db-b010-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99.
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1. Primary Source Data Visualizations for World History and Geography
From the end of the 18th century, the territory north of the Black Sea belonged consistently to the Russian Empire. By order of Russian general-governor Prince Vorontsov, the French engineer and geographer Xavier Hommaire de Hell undertook an extensive expedition through Crimea and the Caucasus to study the geological conditions and to locate raw materials. His map includes abundant and diverse information. In addition to classical topographical data on localities, bodies of water, infrastructure, and elevation, there is color-coded information on 19 different categories of soil characteristics of composition. Furthermore the map contains written information on individual regions (area, population, stationing of military units). This map can also be viewed at https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b53088046s#.
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1. Primary Source Data Visualizations for World History and Geography
This timeline graphic, The Temple of Time, was created in 1846 by Emma Willard. This temple shows Universal Chronology. The description on the left bottom corner reads, “This Temple exhibits at one view the whole scheme of Universal Chronology, from the Creation to the present time. Each pillar represents the century corresponding to the number at its base. The pillars are in groups of tens, four groups before Christ, and two after, the last thousand years being deficient by a part of the nineteenth and the whole of the twentieth century. As pillars in building are begun at the bottom, so the time of the century represented by each pillar, is reckoned upwards. (See pillar for the eighteenth century.) The names of the pillars are of those sovereign by which the age is chiefly distinguished. The floor-work shows what have been the principal nations of the world, through the several centuries, which may be known by tracing to the bases of the pillars on each side. Of the principal nations of Europe, the names of all the sovereigns now reigning, and of those who have reigned since the discovery of America, are inserted; but antecedent to that period, only the names of the principal sovereigns are set down. The roof of the Temple contains, in five compartments, the names of the most celebrated persons of the age to which they belonged. The Temple in so far as the pillars and the roof are concerned, might be called the Temple of Time and of Fame. All the names inserted on those parts are of persons not now living.” This data visualization can be found at http://www.mappingthenation.com/blog/how-emma-willard-mapped-time-in-the-nineteenth-century/
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This data visualization created in 1945 by Stanley Turner and C.C. Petersen is a collection of various maps that show domination and places that were conquered. The large map in the center presents events of WWII in the Eastern Hemisphere and conquered countries. Invasions, battles, and naval bases are included in the map. A legend is provided in the bottom center of the map. On the left sidelines includes conquerers of the past and their empires. Some of these include the Persian Empire, the Empire of Alexander the Great, the Roman Empire, the Conquests of Islam, Europe under Napoleon, and Asia under the Mongols. This image can be found at https://www.davidrumsey.com.
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This wall chart created in 1803 is a novel combination of chronologic methods and influences from cartography. Its creator, the Prussian educator and historian Johann Gottlieb Friedrich Strass, was the head of pedagogical institutions and also taught history. In addition, he published history books for use in schools. The Stream of Time introduces a new visual metaphor: world history structured as the history of political entities--that is, kingdoms or nation states--with each being represented as a river. Territorial and political changes are indicated by a division of or a connection between individual rivers. A vertical timescale provides structure for these historical events. The visual can also be viewed at https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/s/ar91g4.
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1. Primary Source Data Visualizations for World History and Geography
This type of train schedule in the form of a line graph was widely distributed in France in the late 19th century. The schedules, in which the vertical axis shows the route of the railway line and the horizontal hours of the day, offered an efficient visual tool to plan the traffic on a route and to publicize the schedule. This approach can be traced back to the French railway engineer Charles Ibry, who presented it to the French Minister of Public Works, according to a report in the Annales des ponts et chaussées in January 1847. He had previously introduced it to the French northern railway system where it was already in daily use for many years, per reports from this time. This image can be viewed at https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b531363101/f1.item.
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1. Primary Source Data Visualizations for World History and Geography
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1. Primary Source Data Visualizations for World History and Geography
Not much is known about the French doctor Joseph Vimont except his impressive work on phrenology. The main thesis of this field of research, which today has long since been considered antiquated, was that intellectual abilities and individual personality traits are associated with specific areas of the brain. Through meticulous brain dissections, measurement of individual skulls, and the detailed mapping of the brain, researchers attempted to demonstrate these relationships. This visual shows the "skull of a fine conformation and of an adult man" and a sketch that illustrates "the seat of cerebral organs."
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1. Primary Source Data Visualizations for World History and Geography
There Hereford Mappa Mundi is a medieval map of the known world, dating from 1300. It is on display at Hereford Cathedral in England, and is the largest medieval map known to exist. It is 52 inches in diameter, depicting 420 towns, 15 Biblical events, 33 animals and plants, 32 people, and five scenes from classical mythology. Jerusalem sits at the center, while the Garden of Eden is a circle near the edge of the world. While flat-earth thinking was common during the Middle Ages, the spherical shape of earth was already known in ancient times, and thus the circular depiction of the earth in this visualization is probably an attempted spherical projection onto a flat surface. However, only the Northern Hemisphere was known to inhabit humans, so the circular representation was adequate for the time. Researchers believe that this map was created by multiple people, first by Richard de Bello (“Richard of Haldingham and Lafford”) and was passed onto a younger cousin.
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1. Primary Source Data Visualizations for World History and Geography
This chart of world history, created by Emma Willard in 1836, shows time as very fluid and flowing as a river. The birth of Christ is depicted by the bright light on the right side. The explanation in the top right corner reads, “That events apparently diminish when viewed through “the vista of departed years” is matter of common place remark. Applying the principle to a practical purpose, we have here brought before the eye, at one glance, a sketch of the whole complicated subject of Universal History. Names of nations and a few distinguished individuals are found in the Ancient; of the most distinguished sovereigns in the Middle; and of all the sovereigns of the principle kingdoms in Modern History.” This data visualization can be found at http://www.mappingthenation.com/blog/how-emma-willard-mapped-time-in-the-nineteenth-century/
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The Catalan Atlas is a Medieval world map that was created in 1375. It is considered the most important map of the medieval world in the Catalan language. It was created by Cresques Abraham, a Jewish book illuminator who was described as a master of compasses. It is made up of six leaves, with the first two consisting of texts in Catalan that cover cosmology, astrology, and astronomy, accompanied by illustrations. The other four remaining leaves consist of the map itself, with Jerusalem close to the center.
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For a long time anatomical knowledge was obtained indirectly, as many old cultures objected to cutting up corpses. The Persian author Mansur Ibn-Ilyas based his anatomy on the European-Latin teachings established by the Greek doctor Galen, which were in circulation in numerous medieval manuscripts. In particular the division of Mansur's work into five anatomical systems--bones, nerves, muscles, veins, arteries--as well as the schematic illustrations (here arteries with kidneys) that accompany the work reflect the remarkable continuity of anatomical knowledge across cultures. This particular anatomical illustration was thought to be created in 1390.
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1. Primary Source Data Visualizations for World History and Geography
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1. Primary Source Data Visualizations for World History and Geography
During World War II, Nazi Germany had been an leading power against many other countries in the world. In 1945, Nazi Germany had experienced a two-way invasion which put Germany in tactical dilemma to stay in power. The pictorial map shown, created in 1945 by Charles H. Owen, shows lines of attack, many major cities, roads, railroads, army bases, distances, mountain elevation, and relief. There are also historical notes and text within this colored map. This image can be found at https://www.davidrumsey.com/.
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This map is from the second half of the 6th century and is considered to be one of the most important discovered artifacts from Western Asia and is one of the first pieces of evidence concerning ancient cartography. During construction of St. Georges Church in Madaba, Jordan, this map was discovered on the foundations of a Byzantine church. Only a quarter of the original mosaic was able to be preserved. The representation of Madaba was lost and was the most important part of the map which was directly in front of the pulpit of the Byzantine church, in line with Jerusalem. The original map displayed the area from Lebanon in the north to the Nile delta in the south, and from the Mediterranean Sea to the desert in the east. The Dead Sea and Jordan Valley form the central north-south axis. This mosaic was not necessarily used for traveling or typical map purposes, but was a complex work of Christian art with multiple layers of meaning.
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This is one of the oldest surviving world maps from East Asia and is important in understanding and reconstructing the original form of the 14th century Korean map. This map reflects the Korean and geographic knowledge of China during the Mongol Empire. Islamic geographers provided geographical information about Western countries. This map displays the form of the “Old World”, with Europe and Africa in the East and Japan in the east. There are currently two known copies of the map today, and are located in Japan containing modifications which were added later on.
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1. Primary Source Data Visualizations for World History and Geography
The Dunhuang Star Chart is one of the first known graphical chart of stars from ancient Chinese astronomers. This chart is dated back to the Tang Dynasty, 618-907. This scroll containing this chart was found in the Moago Caves in China. This chart shows over 1300 stars visible to the naked eye, before the telescope was invented. Celestial movements were incredibly important to Chinese culture and the actions of the emperor, and therefore the emperor hired many astronomers to make nightly recordings of the stars. These are valuable for astronomers today, as the sighting of a comet thousands of years ago can provide information for their locations today.
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This Fra Mauro map is a map of the world by Italian cartographer Fra Mauro. This map is considered to be the greatest memorial of medieval cartography. It is an incredibly detailed, major cartographical work. It is very large, measuring at over two by two meters, took several years to complete, and was very expensive. This map marks the end of Bible-based geography in Europe and the beginning of creating science-based maps. It was created for rulers of Venice and Portugal, the two seafaring superpowers of the time period.
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1. Primary Source Data Visualizations for World History and Geography
The Sawley world map was preserved in a late 12th century manuscript of De imagine mundi, a medieval encyclopedia, at Cambridge College in England. This map has 240 legends, with a large amount of unnamed cities, mountains, and rivers. There are around 225 geographical names, with cities and regions that are shown with an archeological symbol. Many of these symbols are significant in and allude to Christianity, with many symbols of significant Christian landmarks. The Sawley map has the Mediterranean Sea in the center, with Africa and the British Isles at its edges, and Paradise at the top. Biblical cities sit alongside contemporary places and characters and people from ancient legends are placed with current standing landmarks.
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Doctor Henry Acland published a comprehensive study on the cholera outbreak in Oxford in 1854. This treatise documents the intensive search for the sources of the terrible epidemic, the cause of which was unknown. It was often assumed that infection spread through bad air, which suggested weather-related influences. Thus Acland compared infection statistics with weather data, among other things in order to find causal relationships. This diagram combines the mortality rates during the epidemic with a series of meteorological data related to air pressure, ozone, wind, and humidity. Although he did not reach any clear conclusions, he hoped that future studies--if only they could be carried out fully enough--would shed light on the relationship between the epidemic and the weather.
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Tabula Puetingeriana (Peutinger Table/Map) displays the Roman road network. The African continent is at the bottom, the European at the top, with Rome on the far left and the tip of Italy on the far right. The body of water is the Mediterranean Sea. Take note that this looks nothing like the Mediterranean region as seen from a birds-eye view, yet is still a good example of a practical map of linear Roman road routes. This map was created by Agrippa during the reign of Augustus (27-BCE – 14 CE). This data visualization can be found at https://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/geographia-from-antiquity-to-the-space-age/
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The broader political situation in Europe in the year 1914 brought forth many humorous illustrated maps, of which this is perhaps the most well known. It was drawn by John Henry Amschewitz and published by the London map publishing house Geographia Ltd. The major and minor powers in Europe were symbolized by figures or animals that were supposed to demonstrate their "national character" as well as their stance in the run up to the world war. The German eagle swoops aggressively toward his neighbors, with France and Great Britain, in turn, confronting it with resolve. Austria-Hungary is ascribed a ridiculous role with the clown figure, Russia steps into the ring as a clumsy bear, while Italy seems to be singing an aria. The map also appeared in a pirated German edition--as a "document of Great Britain's treachery."
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1. Primary Source Data Visualizations for World History and Geography