Easy Puzzles from Administrative Areas
THEME:
This puzzle is made from the well-known boundaries of the American states.
Such data is easily obtained and adapted to PuzzleMap's requirements.
The trick is simplifying it to optimize performance while still preserving adequate resolution and perfect fit.
• Total pieces = 51
• Total vertices = 7,939
CLUES: The clues are mostly historic facts that we might have learned in elementary school. They can help solve the puzzle if you know that the United States expanded from east to west. States that were created from several major tracts of land (the Northwest Territory, the Louisiana Purchase, the Mexican Cession and the 1818 Treaty lands) are obviously near each other. This combination of spatial manipulation and logical thinking are what make PuzzleMap such a wonderful learning tool.
BASEMAP:
The National Geographic basemap was selected for this puzzle because it clearly shows the states, provides useful labels at most scales and is similar to the wall maps and atlases from which most people learn the states.
• Min Zoom = 2
• Max Zoom = 9
VARIATIONS: Any set of administrative boundaries can be used to create a unique PuzzleMap. The nations within a continent or region, the provinces of any country or the counties or districts within any administrative area. It's surprising how easy it is to learn where these places are and to then recognize them by name and shape on a traditional map. It's the perfect way for anyone to get the "lay of the land."
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES: The United States presents some surprising geographic challenges. The District of Columbia is included because it is a part of the country although not a part of any state. It's also relatively tiny and almost impossible to find without the Piece Index. The ability to zoom in and out really helps with different size pieces — which is good because Alaska is immense in the web map projection. Alaska is also a conundrum because it is both the western most and eastern most state. In fact, extending PuzzleMap across the 180º meridian is still a programmatic problem which is why the Aleutian islands to the west (...or is it east?) have been eliminated.