Year 10 are studying the changing economic world and meet the idea that parts of Africa are 'switched off' from global flows of trade and people, an impression a live flight map can seem to confirm. Pairs first scan Flightradar24's live map over Africa and Europe, noting where the map looks empty and clicking aircraft to see where they are flying from and to. Each pair then takes two airports from a list of eight, among them Addis Ababa, Nairobi, Lagos, Kinshasa, Dubai, London Heathrow, Johannesburg and Istanbul, opens their departure boards and records every departure in the next three hours by destination continent in a shared Google Sheet. Because Flightradar24 depends on ground receivers, pairs compare the empty patches with the boards: a board full of departures under an empty patch of map means missing coverage, not missing flights. The lesson ends with each pair writing a judgement on the claim, and on what the live map can and cannot show, using at least three figures from the class sheet.
Tools: Flightradar24, Google Sheets Nine ideas for your own version in Generate
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