Table X below contains data on the distribution of Groundnut production in four regions of country M in the year 2013. Use the data in the table to answer the questions that follow.
Country
Groundnut production in metric tones
A
100,000
B
260,000
C
200,000
D
80,000
(a) Using the map of country M and a scale of one dot to represent 20,000 metric tonnes, produce dots to represent the data. (b) State three disadvantages of dot maps. Map of country M showing groundnut production in the year 2013
Explanation
Production of dot map, calculation of dots A = \(\frac{100,000}{20,000}\) = 5 dots B = \(\frac{260,000}{20,000}\) = 13 dots C = \(\frac{200,000}{20,000}\) = 1 dots D = \(\frac{80,000}{20,000}\) = 4 dots (b) Disadvantages of dot map: - Difficult to find dot value to show high and low densities. - Difficult to represent fractional dots. - Difficult to calculate actual values of production from dot maps - Dots may coalesce - Evenly spread dots over the various areas may not reflect true distribution. - Avoiding boundary lines in the placement of dots create false impression about their production - Areas without dots give false impression about the distribution, -Dots may be placed in areas representing other features, e.g marshes, lakes, rivers, mountains.
