Using Quiz the Map in the Classroom – A Guide for Teachers

Map quizzes are one of the few things in a geography lesson that students will happily do competitively. This guide covers how teachers use the site, which quizzes fit which age groups, how to run a live class game, and how to use the printable maps alongside the digital quizzes. Everything described here is free and needs no student accounts.

What's on the site

• 272 quizzes covering countries, capitals, flags, outlines, borders, population and area, plus oceans, rivers, mountains, deserts, islands, cities and landmarks, plus sub-national regions (US states, German states, Indian states, Japanese prefectures and so on).
• Regional quizzes that zoom the map in – Europe, the Balkans, West Africa, Southeast Asia, the Caribbean – so small countries are actually visible.
• Daily puzzles – Mystery Country (identify the outline), Border Hop (connect two countries by land), Country Grid, Odd One Out.
• Live class game – students join with a PIN and race on the same quiz.
• Printable maps – blank and labelled outline maps as PDFs.
• Progress tracking – mistake bank, flashcards and streaks, saved per device or per optional account.

Which quizzes for which age

Ages 8–11 (primary) Start with continents and the biggest countries. The Whole World quiz is too much at this age; use South America (12 countries), Oceania (14) or The Nordics (5) to teach the mechanic, then move to Europe. Flags are a good hook – the Europe flags quiz is colourful and most of the flags are distinctive.

Ages 11–14 (lower secondary) This is the sweet spot. Students can realistically learn Europe (46), Africa (54) and Asia (48) over a term. The Capitals quizzes add a second layer once the map is known. Mystery Country works well as a lesson starter.

Ages 14–18 (upper secondary) Whole World in all modes. Borders (name every neighbour) and Population / Size (rank countries) push beyond location into comparison. The Nature quizzes – rivers, mountain ranges, deserts – fit physical geography units.

Local geography Sub-national quizzes let you teach your own country's divisions: US States, German States, French Regions, Danish Municipalities, Indian States, Japanese Prefectures and more.

Running a live class game

1. Open Play live from the home page and choose a quiz.
2. A PIN appears on your screen. Project it.
3. Students go to the site on any device, tap Play live, and enter the PIN. No login needed – they pick a nickname.
4. Start the game. Everyone sees the same country name at the same time and taps it on their own map. Points for speed and accuracy.
5. A leaderboard updates live. At the end you get a summary of which countries the class found hardest – useful for planning the next lesson.

Tips: - Start with a short regional quiz (10–15 countries) so a round takes under five minutes. - Run the same quiz at the start and end of a unit and compare class scores. - Pair weaker students with stronger ones on one device for the first game.

Using printable maps

The Printable maps page has outline maps of every continent and region as PDFs, blank or labelled. A pattern that works:

1. Before – hand out a blank map and ask students to label what they already know. Five minutes.
2. During – play the regional quiz as a class or individually.
3. After – hand out the same blank map again. The difference between the two is the lesson's evidence.

Labelled maps make good reference sheets to keep in a folder.

Homework and independent work

• Set "get a clean run on the Balkans quiz" rather than "learn the Balkans". A clean run is checkable and students know exactly when they're done.
• The Daily quiz (10 countries, changes each day) makes a good standing homework – two minutes a day.
• The Mistake Bank is self-differentiating: each student's bank contains only what they personally missed.
• Students can compare times on the leaderboard for any quiz, which turns revision into a competition without extra work from you.

Accessibility and practicalities

• Works in any modern browser on phones, tablets, Chromebooks and desktops. No app to install.
• No student accounts are required. Progress saves on the device; optional accounts let students keep progress across devices.
• Country names follow the UN list: 193 members plus Vatican City, Kosovo, Palestine and Taiwan. Disputed territories are not included as countries.
• Map data is from Natural Earth; flags from the open flag-icons set and Wikimedia Commons.

Lesson ideas

The 10-minute starter. Mystery Country on the projector. Students write down their guess; reveal. Three rounds.

Border chains. Border Hop asks students to connect two countries overland in as few steps as possible – a good introduction to how regions connect.

Flag families. Use the "flags that look alike" guide to introduce pan-African, pan-Arab and pan-Slavic colours, then play the relevant regional flags quiz.

Country of the week. Each week one student presents a country page from the site – location, flag, five facts – then the class plays the region it's in.

Questions or requests for a quiz you need? Use the Contact page – quizzes for specific curricula are added regularly.