Decius wrote:
] Palindrome wrote:
] ] ] What's your score?
]
] 88%, 35 miles... This test would be better if the map was
] blank for each state.

96%, 5 miles, on the first full run-through. 98%, 4 miles, on the second.

I agree that the map should be blanked after each state. With the current test scheme, your score depends far too much on the order in which the states appear. And the average distance is artificially reduced -- quite dramatically, actually -- by the way in which the map "fills up" as you go along. My average error would have been much higher if I had been asked to place all of the non-coastal states on an otherwise blank map.

However, even a "blank" map should not be without features. It should be a relief map, showing the major rivers, lakes (not just the Great Lakes), and mountain ranges. An overlay of the interstate highway system would also be nice, but that might be going too far.

Even so, it would still be flawed as a "geography" test. For the border states, it basically resolves to a shape match game. You don't have to know anything about which state is where as long as you can line up the ragged coastlines.

The most complete test would not be a "match" game. Starting from the "blank" map, you would draw in the borders of all the states and then label each one of the states. Only then would you be "graded." Your score would be based in two parts: first, on a comparison of the center point for each state -- that is, for example, the distance between the center of Kansas as you drew it, and the center of Kansas as it really is. This is the proper "placement" test. Second, the score would be based on a "shape" test, in which the border of each state as you drew it is compared to the shape of the actual border.

RE: Test your knowledge - US geography