Pac-man Earth shows more than 3/4's of the earth's surface at once with no distortion in actual land size. It also displays the direct route between places. This is achieved by placing the place of interest as the central triangle and forming 3 'pac-mans' around it.

Unlike rectangle maps which only show 'this way' and 'that way', this map shows 'this way' that way' and the 'other way'. It has 3 directions of orientation. Pretty cool Eh!.

It was quick and easy to make. Just download this public domain map NGDC's Global Relief Icosahedron Globe , Print if out, glue it onto some flexible magnetic sheet and cut them into 20 equilateral triangles. You can then arrange them on your fridge door and discover the world.

Supplies

Download and print of NGDC' icosahedron globe

Fexible magnetic sheet

Glue

Step 1: A New Map Whenever You Want

The triangles can be rearranged into many different ways. Not all triangles need to be used at once. I found the 3 pac-mans around a central triangle worked well and is 'pleasing to the eye'.

My original idea was to take an actual globe, draw 20 equilateral triangles onto it's surface, forming a icosahedron pattern, cut them out and then by squeezing their edges slightly make them into straight triangles so they could be connected to each other on a flat surface. Then I came across the NGDC's global relief model, which had basically already done this.

Using a magnetic sheet to display the map on a fridge door makes it easy to rearrange the map and study different parts of the world. The NGDC's relief map shows the different heights of land and interestingly, the different depths in the oceans. Fascinating stuff!. Did you know for example that the deepest part of the ocean is over 10km (6 miles) down? Or that more than half of all the world's water in the Pacific Ocean?

Step 2: Making the Map

Download NDCC's global relief map from here: Download map
Print it off (I had this done at an office shop)
Glue the map on to magnetic sheet (I purchassed this from the office shop)

Step 3: Cut the Map Out

Cut out the twenty equilateral triangles using scissors

Step 4: Arrange Map Onto a Fridge Door

Arrange the triangles onto a fridge door. I found also having a globe made from an icosahedron globe helped in the correct placement of the triangles onto the fridge door..

Step 5: Another Take on the World

As the pac-man map is made of 3 group of 5 triangles from the icosahedron sphere, another take is to show these as they are on the sphere, unflatened. This was achieved by photographing the sphere from each of its apexs and then arranging 3 sets of 5 triangles as they are connected on the sphere.