Chapter 1

True Maps, False Impressions:Making, Manipulating, and Interpreting Maps

What is geography?

The spatial perspective:

how human activities are organized

in space and how they relate

to the natural environment.

1) Location

2) Place

3) Region

4) Movement

5) Human-Environmental InteractionTable 1.1 (p. 2)

The Five Themes of Human Geography

Maps

A two-dimensional

graphical

representation

of the surface

of the earth.

Projection

Simplification

Scale

Aggregation

Type of Map (reference / thematic)

Ways that Cartographers Manipulate Maps

Map Projections

Figure 1.1 (p. 4)

Mercator

Mollweide

Figure 1.1 (p. 4)

Van Der Grinten

Robinson

Map Projections

Figure 1.1 (p. 4)

Polar

Polar

Map Projections

Figure 1.1 (p. 4)

varying point of orientation

Dymaxion Map

Map Projections

Map Projections

Figure 1.2 (p. 6)

Lincoln, Nebraska

Map Simplification

Denver International AirportFigure 1.3 (p. 7)

Map Scale

Figures 1.4 (p. 8)

Map Aggregation

Percent of the population age 25+with a bachelor's degree, 1990.

Figures 1.4 & 1.5 (p. 8)

Percent of the population age 25+with a bachelor's degree, 1990.

Map Aggregation

Map Aggregation

Map Aggregation

USGS Southwest Pueblo Quadrangle

Map Type: Reference Maps

Figure 1.2 (p. 6)

Figure 1.6 (p. 9)

Isoline:Average Daily Solar Radiation

Choropleth:Florida Senior Citizens

Map Type: Thematic Maps

Figure 1.6 (p. 9)

Dot:Wisconsin Acerage in Potatoes

Map Type: Thematic Maps

Name That Key Term

The flow of people, goods, money, ideas, or materials

between locations near or far (the fourth theme of geography).

Movement

The local human and physical characteristics that uniquely define a

place and give it meaning to its inhabitants (the second theme of

geography).

Place

An area characterized by similarity or by cohesiveness that sets it

apart from other areas (the third theme of geography).

The absolute position of something on the surface of the earth and its relative proximity to other related things (the

first theme of geography).

Location

Region

The ways in which human society and the natural

environment affect each other (the fifth theme of geography).

Human-EnvironmentalInteraction

The ratio of map distance to earth distance, measured in the same units. Map Scale

A systematic method of transferring a spherical surface to a flat map.

A two-dimensional graphical representation of the surface of

the earth (or of events that occur on the earth).

Map

Map Projection

Elimination of unimportant detail on maps and retention and possibly exaggeration and distortion of important information, depending on the purpose of the map.

Simplification

The level of detail for dividing a thematic map into geographic units, ranging from a coarse division (e.g., countries) to a fine

division (e.g., zip codes).

Aggregation

A thematic map in which a dot represents some frequency of

the mapped variable.Dot Map

A map that demonstrates a particular feature or a single variable.

Thematic Map

A thematic map in which the size of a symbol varies in relation to the frequency or intensity of the

mapped variable.

A general-purpose map that shows recognizable

landmarks, roads, and political units.

Reference Map

ProportionalSymbol Map

A thematic map with lines that connect points of equal value. Isoline Map

A thematic map in which ranked classes of some variable are

depicted with shading patterns or colors for predefined zones.

Choropleth Map

Information obtained indirectly from another source that was previously

collected, processed, and made available to a larger audience.

Secondary Data

Information collected directly by the researchers or their equipment

without any intermediary. This can include surveys, interviews,

observations, or measurements obtained in the field.

Primary Data

A computer hardware and software system that handles geographically

referenced data. A ___ uses and produces maps and has the ability to

perform many types of spatial analysis.

GeographicInformation

Systems (GIS)

Explanatory list of symbols in a map. Usually appears in a box in a lower corner. Legend

The study of the distribution of humans and their activities on the surface of the

earth and of the processes that generate these distributions.

Human Geography

Information that has a geographical or locational component. Spatial Data

True Maps, False Impressions:Making, Manipulating, and Interpreting Maps

Chapter 1

Case Study

After completing this chapter, you will be able to:

• Convert map scale to real-world distances.

• Recognize choropleth, proportional symbol, isoline, and dot maps.

• Recognize that changing the scale and type of a map changes its message.

• Understand the difference between changing scale and changing level of aggregation.

• Use GIS to change the class limits on a choropleth map.

• Describe the geographic distribution of African-Americans in the United States.

(pp. 15 & 16)

Activity 1: Scale

Figures 1.11 & 1.12 (pp. 17 & 19)

Spatial Data & GIS

• Primary vs. secondary data

• Geographic information systems (GIS)

Historical Geog. of African Americans

• Slave trade 1619-1808

• Emancipation in 1863

• Post-World War I — Northward Migration

• Post-1970 Reversal in Migration Flows

• Census treatment of race and ethnicity

• Race and ethnicity as socially constructed variables

Activity 2: Thematic Maps

Which format includes more detail?

Which format can be read more quickly?

Table 1.2 (p. 25)

Online Activity

Online Activity

UnderstandingIsoline Maps

Figure 1.13 (p. 28)

True Maps, False Impressions:Making, Manipulating, and Interpreting Maps

Chapter 1

Case Study

Canadian Examples

Online Activity