You only have to answer the qs that are in the handout page of our class website. The first three assignments. The adobe file that you open should help you to answer these questions but you do not have to do the activities in the adobe file. Below are the quesitons you answer. Check out the class blog as well. You can find the blog by going to the website and clicking on the class news section and going to the ap human geo news.
Maps and Charts Questions
The handout for this assignment is the link directly below the questions.
1. Describe how longitude and latitude are used and
include any other relevant concepts or terms.
2. What is projection and what problems occur with projection?
3. Describe the difference between a site and a situation.
4. What are the differing types of regions and when
and why do they get used?
5. Describe the difference between environmental determinism
and possibilism. / I will post information on the blog for this one
6. What is the difference between concentration and density? /on the blog
7. Explain how an isoline map works. / handout
8. What is the difference between a chloropleth map and a dot
map and when is it useful to use one or the other?
9. When would use a thematic map?
10. Why would it be useful to use a proportional
symbol map when looking at world population?
I realize some of these questions are tough so I will start posting
hints on the blog for these ones starting July 8th. But also use the handout
below.
Kuby Handout for completing homework questions
Best State and Maps Exercise
1. Explain how map scales work and include the following terms: large scale;
small scale; smaller area; larger area; 1:60,000; 1:4,000,000; Illinois; and world
2. Fill in this handout / Best State handout
3. What country would be the best to live in and site five statisitics that
prove your country is the best / trying using nationmaster.com for statistics
4. Choose 5 key characteristics and how to map them in your state.
Why is each map the ideal for the characteristic?
Extra Materials Question Set #1
1. Map pages questions
a If the map scale is 1/31680 and city A is 4 inches from city B, how many inches
apart are they in reality?
b A bakery needs to supply goods to every store within 20 miles. How many
inches is that on this map?
c Answer the questions to the summer Kuby handout pages 15 to 17.
2. Read the cholera section and answer the following section
a Why did Snow believe that Cholera had to have another way of spreading
besides physical contact between people?
b Explain GIS and explain how it could be used to both eliminate factors and to
find the factor that did cause the spread of the disease.
c Explain how a GIS map and population demographics can prove the way cholera or any disease spreads.
3. Text Questions
a Explain uneven development
b Explain the concept of space-time compression
c Define globalization
Broad Street Pump Map
Broad Street Pump Map Special New Edition
choropleth maps
Choropleth Maps are thematic maps based on predefined aerial units. Think of it as a multi-colored checkerboard map. Some maps, (ex. road maps), show many types of data while thematic maps are made to show only one specific set of data. Because each group of data is organized as a ratio value, (a zero value for comparison is present), we use what a graded color series to show least intensity to most intense (shown using a light to dark color pattern). Using the colors of the rainbow is not a good idea for making a graded color scheme. I would look at the red shaded areas and assume they are showing the most intensity, but somebody else may assume that violet is most intense. The rainbow color scheme works better for nominal data. This would be a choropleth map showing the various religions preferences by zip code or the car models most prevalent on a state by state basis. Nominal maps are based on name features of places.
The following three maps were created using the FactFinder feature on the U.S. Census Website. I was not able to get the map to show all the northern edge of Florida without cutting out the majority of the state. If you use this program to create your own maps, you will see that it is not an easy process. I got frustrated different times when things did not work how I wanted. With more practice (and a faster internet connection), the process would become easier.
Map 1
This is the first map that I created. This choropleth map shows the Percent of People who are Hispanic per county in Florida based on Census data from 2000. The data is divided up into 5 natural breaks. That means the groups are divided into unequally sized groups that attempt to group like data together. The program did this for me, but a map maker can do this by hand if no computer program is available. Looking at the legend, you can see where it skipped intervals where no data applied (ex. between 3.9 and 4.1%). This is one way to show the data, but is not the only correct way.
Map 2
This map is also showing the Percent of People who are Hispanic per county in Florida. The map looks remarkably different since there are fewer counties showing up in the highest data class. I choose to change the legend to five equal intervals. Here the data groups are not distributed according to natural grouping but rather equal intervals, about 11% in this case. In Map 1, the 1st group goes from 1.5 to 3.9, but in Map 2 (above), the first group goes from 1.5 to 12.7.
Map 3
Here in my third map, I chose to show some of the additional features of the FactFinder website. The data is divided into four quartiles according to the program. Quartiles divide the data into a certain number of groups (in the Map 3 there are four quartiles but any number will work), where each group has the same number of counties (if there were 124 counties in the state and you used quintiles, or 4 quartiles, then each group would include 31 counties). This map is deceiving since we are missing part of north Florida where less Hispanic people live. You can see that Miami (Dade County) area is in the bright red 9.5 to 57.3% Hispanic area. I also had this map show major roads, railroads, and jails, but as you can see, the railroads and jails did not show up zoomed out this far. I also changed the color to an orange scale. The red counties tended to cover up the major roads, so in the future, I would not use this color if I were going to show the major roads.
The next four maps were done using a different program located at the Center for International earth Science Information Network website. I used the DD Viewer version 2, but they also have a newer version 3 to use free of charge. I found this to be a much easier program to use than the FactFinder program I used to make the maps above.
Map 4
For this series of maps, I choose to look at the opposite end of the nation. I choose to make some choropleth maps detailing the % Black Condo Owners in California. I hoped that this would show me where the affluent minorities live. This doesn't take into the fact those minorities living in large houses or mansions. Here, as the title indicates, I have used the 4 quartiles (or quintiles) method to show my data. I used the default yellow to red graded color scheme.
Map 5
In the second map of the series, Map 5, I switched to a 4 equal steps division system. This means that each group is an equal number. In this case, every group is 5%. As above in Map 2, we notice very few counties made it into the largest percentile bracket. I doubt that this is the case for all maps, it just happened that both of the themes I chose were minorities. If I had looked at the Percent of People who are Caucasian, then the majority of the counties would have been the darker color.
Map 6
Here I wanted to make my own graded series. I think it turned out well although it would be easier to see if the background was white instead of black.
Map 7
Instead of choosing my own graded series, I used the feature on the Ceisen website where it helps you create your graded color series. I picked a creamy pink color to be the starting point of the series and a dark maroon to be the ending point and let the computer pick the middle two colors for me. I like how this one turned out. The only complaint is the light color may appear to white making it look like I had no data for those counties.
posted by mrlewishistoricalsociety @ 11:46 AM 0 comments
Best state
Of all of the best state questions I would have to say that the map scale and this one are the hardest:
4. Choose 5 key characteristics and how to map them in your state.
Why is each map the ideal for the characteristic?
For this one, what you want to do is take any of those characterisitcs you chose and then think about which map stle would go best for it. For weather, for example, an isoline map would work best. This map style links areas together based off of a common value. So if you want to know which area has a weather temperature value of 70 degrees, an isoline map will show you. It will draw a line around the area that has a 70 degree temp. For crime a dot map might be best. You want to know exactly where crimes occur and with what frequency. A dot map places a dot down on a map for each time (or in some times a dot will be placed down based off of a certain value - one dot for every one hundred cases or crimes or whatever). If you want to know how the people in an area vote in general, you probably need a formal region in a choropleth map. These types of maps show a region as a whole and mark a color for each region based off of how dominant that trait is. For example a state that votes democrat will get a blue color and a republican state a red color. You could do the same thing with counties. You could do this with income or other features and a choropleth map would tell you how dominant the feature is throughout an entire region. For example, if you were looking at income, you could have darker red regions for weathier counties and lighter red for less wealthy counties. Examples of all of these map styles can be found in the galleries.
Cartograms - More posts tomorrow
http://www.ncgia.ucsb.edu/projects/Cartogram_Central/
Gallery 4 in our webstie has a cartogram of the world population.
Some info on Maps - the handout I linked to under the q set is better but these are good and helpful
isoline A map containing continuous lines joining all points of identical value. A map made up of lines that join points of equal value (An example is a contour map which has lines of equal elevation)
A choropleth map is a thematic map in which areas are shaded or patterned in proportion to the measurement of the statistical variable being displayed on the map, such as population density or per-capita income. It provides an easy way to visualize how a measurement varies across a geographic area. Choropleth is often misspelled as chloropleth - with an extra "L" - because it is mistakenly assumed that the name of the map refers to its use of colour.
Map forms
Choropleth maps
These maps, where each spatial unit is filled with a uniform color or pattern, are appropriate for data that have been scaled or normalized in some way. For example, density information, expressed as "per unit area," is appropriately represented using a choropleth map. Tax rates, expressed as "per cent," are also a form of ratio data, which is most easily and correctly visualized using choropleth maps. Choropleth maps are also appropriate for indicating differences in kind of an area data, like ownership or use of land or type of forest cover.
The purple fills of the Czech voting results map represent percent of eligible voters who voted. This representation is (correctly) a choropleth map.
Isopleth maps
Isopleth maps differ from choropleth maps in that the data is not aggregated to a pre-defined unit like a political area or watershed basin. These maps can take two forms:
Lines of equal attribute value are drawn such that all values on one side are higher than the "isoline" value and all values on the other side are lower, or
Ranges of similar attribute value are filled with similar colors or patterns.
This type of map is used to represent continuous area data that varies smoothly over space. Temperature, for example, is a phenomenon that should be mapped using isoplething, since temperature exists at every point (is continuous), yet does not change abruptly at any point (like tax rates do as you cross into another political zone). Elevation maps should always be in isopleth form for this reason.
Proportional symbol maps
As the name implies, these maps scale icons (most often circles) according to the data they represent. Proportional symbol maps are not dependent on the size of the spatial unit associated with its attribute. In other words, on a proportional symbol map of Europe, tiny Liechtenstein would have the same visual importance as Spain if their respective attribute values were the same. This would not be the case with a choropleth map.
Scaling proportional symbols. Much research has gone into the optimal scaling for proportional symbols. As a general rule, make sure that the area, rather than linear proportions like radius or length of a side, is the scaled parameter. For example, if there are four times as many cars in Los Angeles County than in Orange County, the area of the symbol should be four times greater for Los Angeles County. If the symbol choice is a circle, the radius of the Los Angeles symbol should thus be only twice as great (since area scales with the square of the radius).
The total number of voters in each Czech district is represented with proportional symbols on the Czech voting results map.
Dot maps
Used to represent themes that vary smoothly over space but are discrete, dot maps create a visual impression of density by placing a dot or some other symbol in the approximate location of one or more instances of the variable being mapped. Dot maps should be used only for raw data, not for data normalized or expressed as a ratio. Appropriate themes for dot maps include livestock farms, utility poles, and population distribution in a region.
Dot map parameters. When constructing a dot map, two parameters must be considered: the graphical size of each dot and the value associated with each dot. For example, you might stipulate that each dot be 2 pixels in diameter, and each represent 100 persons. In general, many small dots, each representing relatively few instances of the attribute, is more effective than a few large dots, but is more tedious to construct.
Warning: Dot map generation in present GIS is, from a cartographic standpoint, fatally flawed in that dots are arranged within each spatial unit in a random fashion. For example, a dot map of alligator population aggregated to the entire U.S. would be rendered with just as many dots in Iowa as in Florida. To create a dot map that does not mislead, the map must be saved as a vector image and brought into a drawing package like FreeHand or Illustrator, where each dot is physically moved to a more logical location. Unless you wish to go to this trouble, dot maps should be used only for very detailed spatial information (for example, county- or township-level data of alligator population for the entire U.S.) or with a great deal of caution and awareness.
Many reference maps could be considered dot maps, the location of each dot representing the location of a point of interest, a building, or some other discrete point information.
Regions
formal/uniform region A bounded territory with one or more features present within it. An area of near uniformity (homogeneity) in one or several characteristics.
functional/nodal region A region created by the interactions between a central node and surrounding locations.
perceptual/vernacular region An area defined by subjective perceptions that reflect the feelings and images about key place characteristics. When these perceptions come from the local, ordinary folk, a perceptual region can be called a vernacular region.
These are differing types of regions. A formal region has set boundaries and is often used to distinguish if one set characteristic is present or dominant in an area. A nodal region is used when a key characteristic is shown to be strogner at the center and weaken as it gets out further. An ethnic neighborhood or a radio signal or newspaper readership would be an example of this. A vernaculr region shows public perception of an issue.
See if you can find out more about these and I will write more over the next few days.
Environmental determinism, also known as climatic determinism or geographical determinism, is the view that the physical environment, rather than social conditions, determines culture. Those who believe this view say that humans are strictly defined by stimulus-response (environment-behavior) and cannot deviate.
Environmental possibilism A philosophy seen in contrast to environmental determinism that declares that although environmental conditions do have an influence on human and cultural development, people have varied possibilities in how they decide to live within a given environment. Page 15
Some help with math projection from wikipedia and the University of Colorado
A map projection is any method used in cartography (mapmaking) to represent the two-dimensional curved surface of the earth or other body on a plane. The term "projection" here refers to any function defined on the earth's surface and with values on the plane, and not necessarily a geometric projection.
The Mercator projection shows courses of constant bearing as straight lines. While common, scholars advise against using it for reference maps of the world because it drastically inflates the high latitudes.
Flat maps could not exist without map projections, because a sphere cannot be laid flat over a plane without distortions. One can see this mathematically as a consequence of Gauss's Theorema Egregium. Flat maps can be more useful than globes in many situations: they are more compact and easier to store; they readily accommodate an enormous range of scales; they are viewed easily on computer displays; they can facilitate measuring properties of the terrain being mapped; they can show larger portions of the earth's surface at once; and they are cheaper to produce and transport. These useful traits of flat maps motivate the development of map projections.
Introduction
Map projections are attempts to portray the surface of the earth or a portion of the earth on a flat surface. Some distortions of conformality, distance, direction, scale, and area always result from this process. Some projections minimize distortions in some of these properties at the expense of maximizing errors in others. Some projection are attempts to only moderately distort all of these properties.
Conformality
When the scale of a map at any point on the map is the same in any direction, the projection is conformal. Meridians (lines of longitude) and parallels (lines of latitude) intersect at right angles. Shape is preserved locally on conformal maps.
Distance
A map is equidistant when it portrays distances from the center of the projection to any other place on the map.
Direction
A map preserves direction when azimuths (angles from a point on a line to another point) are portrayed correctly in all directions.
Scale
Scale is the relationship between a distance portrayed on a map and the same distance on the Earth.
Area
When a map portrays areas over the entire map so that all mapped areas have the same proportional relationship to the areas on the Earth that they represent, the map is an equal-area map.
