1. True Maps, False Impressions:
Making, Manipulating, and Interpreting Maps
© 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. This presentation may be used and adapted for use in classes using the fourth edition of Human Geography in Action. It may not be re-distributed except to students enrolled in such classes and in such case must be password protected to limit access to students enrolled in such classes. Students may not re-distribute portions of the original presentation.
Chapter 1

2. The spatial perspective: how human activities are organized
What is geography?
The spatial perspective:
how human activities are organized
in space and how they relate
to the natural environment.
DISCUSSION:
* Re-state this concept in your own words.

3. The Five Themes of Human Geography
1) Location
2) Place
3) Region
DISCUSSION:
* What are some examples of each theme?
4) Movement
5) Human-Environmental Interaction
Table 1.1 (p. 2)

4. Maps A two-dimensional graphical representation of the surface
of the earth.
DISCUSSION:
* Break this definition down and explain what each part means.

5. Ways that Cartographers Manipulate Maps
Projection
Simplification
Scale
DISCUSSION:
* What do you think is the most important out of these? Why?
Aggregation
Type of Map (reference / thematic)

6. Map Projections Mercator Mollweide Figure 1.1 (p. 4) DISCUSSION:
* How are these two map projections different?
* Which do you prefer? Which one is more popular?
Mollweide
Figure 1.1 (p. 4)

7. Map Projections Van Der Grinten Robinson Figure 1.1 (p. 4) DISCUSSION:
* How are these two map projections different?
* Which do you prefer?
Robinson
Figure 1.1 (p. 4)

8. Map Projections Polar Polar Figure 1.1 (p. 4) DISCUSSION:
* Why don't we see maps from this perspective very often?
Polar
Figure 1.1 (p. 4)

9. Map Projections varying point of orientation Dymaxion Map
DISCUSSION:
* How are these two map projections different?
* Which do you think of each one?
* Out of all the projections shown on page four in your textbook, which one do you prefer?
Dymaxion Map
Figure 1.1 (p. 4)

10. Map Projections DISCUSSION:
* Do you recognize these projections? [Albers Equal Area Conical & State Plane 1983 for Central Arizona]
* How might choice of projection vary based on scale?

11. Map Simplification Lincoln, Nebraska Figure 1.2 (p. 6) DISCUSSION
* Imagine a map that shows all roads, bus stops, boundaries, landmarks, business locations, rivers, hills, parks, and government buildings.
How big would this map have to be? How easy would it be to find something on a map that is so crowded?
* Is Lincoln, Nebraska really shaped like a pixelated dot with a fifth of its land mass taken up by an interstate?
* How has the blue map been "simplified"? [it only includes state boundaries and interstates]
Figure 1.2 (p. 6)

12. Map Scale Denver International Airport Figure 1.3 (p. 7) DISCUSSION:
* Think about the nearest major airport to where you live. How close is it to the center of the city whose name it carries?
* Can you think of examples around the country where the airport is not even in the city whose name it carries? Why is this?
* Does this issue matter when viewing a map at the national scale? Urban scale?
Denver International Airport Figure 1.3 (p. 7)

13. Map Aggregation Percent of the population age 25+
DISCUSSION:
* Is it likely that educational levels within California are the same in all parts of the state?
* Are there parts of your state or province that you think probably have a higher than average percentage of Bachelor's degrees?
Percent of the population age 25+
with a bachelor's degree, 1990.
Figures 1.4 (p. 8)

14. Map Aggregation Percent of the population age 25+
with a bachelor's degree, 1990.
DISCUSSION:
* What can you learn about educational levels within West Virginia and Massachusetts on the local map that you can't see on the national map?
Figures 1.4 & 1.5 (p. 8)

15. Map Aggregation DISCUSSION:
* Can you imagine that this is four ways of mapping the same data?

16. Map Aggregation
DISCUSSION:
* Does it make sense now?

17. Map Type: Reference Maps
DISCUSSION:
* When was the last time you used a reference map and what did you use it for?
* Encourage students to go to a site like and create a personalized reference map.
Figure 1.2 (p. 6)
USGS Southwest Pueblo Quadrangle

18. Map Type: Thematic Maps
Isoline: Average Daily Solar Radiation
DISCUSSION:
* Do you have a preference among these two types of maps?
* Do you find one of these easier to understand than the other?
Choropleth: Florida Senior Citizens
Figure 1.6 (p. 9)

19. Map Type: Thematic Maps
DISCUSSION:
* What are some of the advantages of each of the four types of thematic maps?
Dot: Wisconsin Acerage in Potatoes
Figure 1.6 (p. 9)

20. Name That Key Term

21. Location Place Region Movement
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
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).
Region
The flow of people, goods, money, ideas, or materials between locations near or far (the fourth theme of geography).
Movement

22. A systematic method of transferring a spherical surface to a flat map.
The ways in which human society and the natural environment affect each other (the fifth theme of geography).
Human-Environmental
Interaction
A two-dimensional graphical representation of the surface of the earth (or of events that occur on the earth).
Map
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.
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

23. A map that demonstrates a particular feature or a single variable.
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 general-purpose map that shows recognizable landmarks, roads, and political units.
Reference 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.
Proportional
Symbol Map
A thematic map in which a dot represents some frequency of the mapped variable.
Dot Map

24. 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

25. Information that has a geographical or locational component.
Spatial 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.
Geographic
Information
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

26. True Maps, False Impressions:
Making, Manipulating, and Interpreting Maps
Case Study
Chapter 1

27. 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.

28. Activity 1: Scale
(pp. 15 & 16)

29. Figures 1.11 & 1.12 (pp. 17 & 19)

30. Spatial Data & GIS
• Primary vs. secondary data
• Geographic information systems (GIS)

31. Historical Geog. of African Americans
• Slave trade
• 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

32. Activity 2: Thematic Maps
Which format can be read more quickly?
Table 1.2 (p. 25)
Which format includes more detail?
Online Activity

33. Online Activity

34. Understanding
Isoline Maps
Figure 1.13 (p. 28)

36. True Maps, False Impressions:
Making, Manipulating, and Interpreting Maps
Case Study
Canadian Examples
Chapter 1

37. Online Activity