Well, it’s not 3-D to the touch, but it looks 3-D. You could try the beautiful images from Raven Maps.
The map that shows the US landforms is really nice looking.
http://www.ravenmaps.com/Detail.bok?no=3

Choose!

http://omnimap.com/catalog/access/relief.htm

Most about 60 x 100 (cm. that is) as is probably
the limit of their vaccum pack.

So is there a vacuum pack in your area? Often
used to make false fronts and texture for movies
and TV sets, they put shapes under the plastic sheet and then run an air-pump to suck the air from under the frame to make a lightweight mock castle-wall, or space ship etc. Find one and do it yourself (several times as everyone will punch or kick Everest etc.)

I’m not sure you realize what you are asking for. If the relief of the texture is to scale with the horizontal distances, you won’t be able to feel much of any relief. Consider a map that is 8 m, end to end. (I don’t think you’ll find a map of that scale suitable, though, as it would be 4 m tall, pole to pole, and put the entire Nothern Hemisphere well over the heads of all young students.) That will represent roughly 40,000 km at the Equator. (To keep the math simple, I’ll use very rough approximations.) This puts the scale at 1:5,000,000, so 1 m on the map represents about 500 km at the Equator,and 1 mm 5 km. The peak of Mt. Everest would be a little less than 2 mm above sea level, and Challenger Deep only slightly further below sea level. Now, considering the fact that the surrounding terrain for both will be much nearer these extremes, there won’t be much to feel, nor to see, in terms of relief. Ranges like the Appalachian will pretty much be undetectable. (Clingman’s Dome, the highest peak in the Smokeys, is only 2.025 km tall, and thus about .4 mm above scale map sea level.)

This all ignores the issues of the projection used for the map you seek, and the projection does greatly affect perception of scale and location. I think you would be better off with two items instead of a single textured map: a large globe and software such as GoogleEarth. GoogleEarth allows you to “fly” anywhere on the planet, and (with some intriguing errors) see elevations from an angle. A subscription allows some interesting manipulations of maps that can be instructive. A globe is going to be more expensive than most wall maps, but everything is much closer to actual scale. Further, it is much easier to illustrate such things as why air corridors appear to arc to the North or South, depending hemisphere, and can be used to explain how and why stellar navigation works.

Wow, Richard, that was a pretty long explanation based on some pretty severe assumptions. First of all, vertical scale exaggeration is a very common technique used to communicate elevations, so using a major exaggeration in such a map would be perfectly acceptable, especially for children who would find it difficult to understand the concept of a constant scale.

Second, we all work with map projections all the time, and although a globe is also a good idea, there is no reason to shy away from a wall map simply because it will require a projection!

Having said all this, I don’t know of a source for such a thing. Good luck!

I think what the guy is looking for is one, or a set of the maps that use to be in every grade school classroom in the sixties through the seventies. Those big colorfull, bumpy pull down maps. One for every area of the world.
I found mine at an old elementry school that had been closed and was about to be torn down.

Richard,

You’re the kind of person who no one wants to talk to because you’re so literal and annoying. The teacher wants a map to educate her freakin’ kids with, not a know it all who’s going to lecture her about obvious geographical limitations of maps.

Good lord.

Check out the Tapestry of Time from the USGS. This is a beautiful map showing both terrain and time using shading and color. It is 2-d but looks 3-d and is approx. 36” X 55” Visit the web site: tapestry.usgs.gov

Steve,

One of the things I do for a living is working with the National Board on teacher certifications. One of the consistent problems with teaching quality is that teachers don’t always have the knowledge nor access to sources to determine which tools are best. Too often, they do not know the limitations of the resources they have. Also, one of the most consistent desires of the better teachers is MORE information, not less. So, fine, have your own opinion on the subject. I’ll do my job.

Richard

Mike,

The first post in response to the teacher’s request contains the URL for a site where such maps can be purchased, so I was not concerned with that issue. Rather, as some one working with National Board teacher certification, I was trying to say, “Have you thought about these issues?”

Regrettably, many teachers didn’t even minor in the subjects they teach. It isn’t even unusual for a teacher to be assigned to teach a subject he or she has never taken at the college level. So, even though you may work with maps all the time, I do not know whether this teacher has even had a college level course in geography, let alone one that got sufficiently into the issues of projections for him to explain such issues to students. Neither is it a given that he understands that any 3D map is going to be significantly distorted in vertical dimensions. So, information, points to ponder … whatever term you wish to use … may be useful for this teacher in deciding how to approach the problem. If it is more than this teacher wants or needs, fine. He can ignore what I wrote. If it helps him, all the better. But neither of us should assume that we are addressing someone who has an academic background in geography or cartography.

Richard

Richard’s last response points out a very sad and scary fact about today’s educational environment - most teachers don’t have a background in what they are teaching (besides reading writing etc for real young ‘uns). If I’m not mistaken, public schools require you to get a Master’s in Education (eventually), not in anything related to what you may be teaching. My friend Chris teaches 7th-8th grade history/civics, and he calls me one night saying “Do you have any good geography books to recommend? I’m responsible for teaching Geography this year too, and I’ve never really taken anything on it”. I kid you not. But, hell, he has a Master’s in Education, so he can educate them.
The sad fact is that with today’s rules, Earnest Hemingway would not be allowed to teach writing in public schools, and Einstein would not be allowed to teach physics - because they don’t have Master’s Degrees in Education. The absurdity of this astounds me so much I can’t put it in words. And they wonder why our kids are something like 18th in the world in Math and Science scores. The teachers don’t know the material, but they know “how to educate”….

I know that the “Teachers’ Discovery” catalogue for social studies offers wall mural maps—probably 8 feet high by 10 or 12 feet wide… You might contact them regarding a relief version.

Christ, folks… he wanted to find a map. Help him out or get lost.

Unbelievable!

Scott

One good place to start is ebay. When I checked they had twenty or so maps of all shapes and sizes.

hello - is this thing working?

I really like the Hubbard Scientific Raised Relief maps, especially since our geography club in Wisconsin took a tour to there (the’re based in Chippewa Falls). They dont have a big world map, but they do have a variety of other maps that may help.

http://www.shnta.com/Catalog/Raised_Relief_Maps.htm

Holy cow guys, anybody ever heard of Google?
http://www.worldmapsonline.com/raisedreliefmaps.htm
Or, for very large (up to 7.5 X 12 feet) and expensive, try, http://www.mapsales.com/products/world.aspx
Found numerous raised relief maps and it took less than 30 seconds.

Very thorough and knowledgable answer Richard and I actually found it very interesting, but …..

I used Google just now. I am also looking for a relief map making company in Chippewa Falls, WI. Before finding the map company though, I ended up with a 2 - 3 minutes laugh reading these e-mails. Thanks for the entertainment!
Public education for the most part is just long term babysitting. I admire teachers who try to teach something as best they can and use their creativity to inspire interest in a subject whether they’ve been trained in that particular subject or not. The main thing to model and attempt to pass on to students is that learning is fun and profitable. We can do that our whole lives and enjoy it. We are fortunate in the U.S. to have so many resources and interesting things to pursue. Good luck, Ted. I hope you found some good maps and enjoy leading your students to new discoveries.

One nice thing about the Hubbard maps (and the USGS 1:250,000 series they’re based on) is that you can tile them together to show a larger area.

Nystrom sells large (about 62” by 44”) raised relief maps of the world
(http://www.nystromnet.com/index.cfm?fa=Products.Product&CATEGORY_ID=1&CHILD_ID=407&PRODUCT_ID=204)
and the US
(http://www.nystromnet.com/index.cfm?fa=Products.Product&CATEGORY_ID=1&CHILD_ID=407&PRODUCT_ID=203)

Thank you for all your interesting replies. You have given me some helpful direction and certainly much to think about.