Kissimmee Homeschooling
Cartography
What is Cartography?
Cartographers design, prepare and revise maps, charts, plans, three-dimensional models and spatial information databases, often using computer-based techniques, and applying principles from science, mathematics and graphic design. Cartographers may specialize in topographical maps (which show earth surface features and land use); or maps used for operational purposes in fields such as town planning, weather forecasting, tourism, hydrography, geological or mineral exploration and the military.
Cartography, the art and science of graphically representing a geographical area, usually on a flat surface such as a map or chart; it may involve the superimposition of political, cultural, or other nongeographical divisions onto the representation of a geographical area.
Cartography is an ancient discipline that dates from the prehistoric depiction of hunting and fishing territories. The Babylonians mapped the world in a flattened, disk-shaped form, but Ptolemy established the basis for subsequent efforts in the 2nd century ad with an eight-volume work on geography that showed a spherical Earth. Maps produced during theMiddle Ages followed Ptolemy’s guide, but they used Jerusalem as the central feature and placed East at the top. These representations are often called T-maps because they show only three continents (Europe, Asia, and Africa), separated by the “T” formed by the Mediterranean Seaand the Nile River. More accurate geographical representation began in the 14th century when portolan (seamen’s) charts were compiled for navigation.
The discovery of the New World led to the need for new techniques in cartography, particularly for the systematic representation on a flat surface of the features of a curved surface (see projection; Mercator projection). The 17th and 18th centuries saw a vast outpouring of printed maps of ever-increasing accuracy and sophistication. Noteworthy among the scientific methods introduced later was the use of the telescope for determining the length of a degree of longitude. Modern cartography largely involves the use of aerial photographs as a base for any desired map or chart; the procedures for translating photographic data into maps are governed by the principles of photogrammetry and yield a degree of accuracy previously unattainable. Satellite photography has made possible the mapping of features of the Moon and of several planets and their satellites.
Learning Map Skills
What is a Map?
A map is a flat drawing of a place or part of the world. It looks as if it were drawn from the view of someone sitting in an airplane. They help us find our way from one place to another. Maps also show where things or places are located and can be used to show how far one place is from another.
COMPASS ROSE
A compass rose tells thedirections (which way) on a map.
* North is at the top of a map.
* South is at the bottom of a map.
* West is on the left side of a map.
* East is on the right side of a map.
LEGEND
The map legend shows thesymbols on a map and gives their meaning.
The map legend is often called the key.
Different parts of the map:
Clear Area
Clear areas are good places to build things.
Farm
Farms produce food for your blobs, and also provide employment. You need roads to transport the food to homes and to allow blobs to get to work. If farms are flooded, the farmer will pack up and leave.
Houses
Blobs live in houses, and travel to work on roads. Each housing area can have up to 7 houses. An empty lot is dark gray, and an occupied house is red.
Roads
Roads are necessary for blobs to go to work and for food to be transported to homes. They can also be used to help your military units travel faster. If a road is under water too long, it may deteriorate.
Walls
Walls provide defense against opponents. Enemy soldiers have to go around or destroy a wall to get through. Walls can also be used to mark boundaries, to hold back river waters, or to build dams along a river. Walls also block the spread of fire.
Canals
Canals are forty foot deep channels for water. They allow you to bring water to drier areas or control the flow of water in other areas. Canals can also be built around residential areas to provide some protection against flooding.
Towers
Towers are good places to position blob soldiers. They are as high as walls, but stronger.
Trees
Trees can be cut for lumber, which can be turned into paper and wood materials for your town’s growth. Cutting them too fast may lead to a dead forest; cutting them too slowly may lead to slow town growth. Forests have to be protected by walls and military if another town wants to harvest them.
Water
Water flows from high areas to low areas, forming rivers and lakes. Walls can be built to keep river floods from damaging your town, to form artificial lakes, or to redirect a river along a different path. Darker water areas are deeper.
Cartographer: A person who makes maps.
Key Map Elements: A good map should tell you what it is about (title), which direction north is (orientation), when the map was made or updated (date), who made the map (author), what the symbols mean (legend or key), how distances on the map relate to distances on the ground (scale), where to find selected places on the map (index), how to find places on the map (grid), and where the map's information comes from (sources or credits). However, not every map will identify all of this information. The more information provided, the better you will be able to evaluate its content, credibility, and appropriateness for a given purpose or audience.
Orientation: In most cases, the direction “north” is assumed to be at the top of a map. A north arrow is a symbol indicating the direction in which north lies; a compass rose is a symbol indicating the cardinal directions (N, S, E, W) and sometimes intermediate directions (NE, NW, SE, SW).
Index: A listing of the places on the map and where to find them using grid coordinates— either latitude-longitude (77°53’W, 38°02’N) or letter-number (B4).
Grid: Intersecting lines (called a “coordinate system”) drawn on a map to pinpoint location. The grid can be a simple set of intersecting perpendicular lines identifying rows and columns with letters and numbers (often used on a street map) or a set of intersecting lines identifying selected latitudes and longitudes (often used on topographic or world maps).
Latitude and longitude are imaginary lines encircling the globe, intersecting each other to form a grid that helps us pinpoint location—our "global address." They are measured in terms of the 360 degrees of a circle, sub-divided into minutes and seconds. For example, the White House in Washington, DC is located at 38°53'51"N, 77°02'11"W—that means it is 38 degrees, 53 minutes, 77 seconds north of the equator, and 77 degrees, 2 minutes, 11 seconds west of the Prime Meridian.
Latitude lines (also called "parallels") run east-west, parallel to the Equator and measure distance north and south, from 0 degrees at the Equator to 90 degrees at the North and South Poles.
Longitude lines (also called "meridians") run north-south and meet at the poles, measuring distance east and west of the Prime Meridian, from 0 degrees at the
Prime Meridian running through Greenwich, England, to 180 degrees at the International Date Line (mostly in the Pacific Ocean). Sources: Text identifying where the map’s information comes from (like a bibliography for the map).
Additional Map Elements
The following features may or may not be present on a given map: Neat line: A box drawn around the map to give a “neat,” or tidy, appearance to the product.
Insets: Additional, smaller maps set within the larger main map.
Graphs: Pictorial representations of numeric data, often used as an additional method of displaying the data represented on the map. Line graphs, bar graphs, and pie charts are common types.
Timelines: Text and graphics arranged sequentially along a line to give information about when events or phenomena occurred. Timelines are sometimes used on maps to give a better idea of how time relates to the data or theme represented.
Explanatory Text: Text that is not part of the map’s title, legend, or credits, used to give the map reader a deeper understanding of the map, its data, and/or its theme.
Credits: Text that may include sources, author, photographers, individuals, or organizations involved in creating the map or its contents.