Geographic Thinking and

Communications
How we see the world
Mr. Zapfe
 Geography
• From Greek
• Geo – Earth
• Graphy – graphein – to study
 5 Themes of Geography
• Location – where are you?
• Place – what is it “like” there?
• Human-Environment Interactions
– Adapt
– Change
– React
• Movement
– People
– Goods
– Ideas
• Region – how do we refer to the area?
 Geography
• 3 Big Questions:
– What is where?
– Why There?
– Why Care?
 Google Earth
• Read the article and highlight the place
names in the article
• Using Google Earth, “Fly to” Toronto
• Add a Placemark to Toronto
– In the Description, indicate why it is important
in the context of the article
• Do this for all the other place names
• File – “Save to My Places”
 What is a map?
• an important communication tool in
Geography
– has a purpose and an audience
• a representation of the Earth’s features
• drawn on a flat surface
– uses symbols and colours to represent
features
– simplifies the real world
 How are maps created?
• Maps start as photos taken by
– airplane
– satellite
• eg RADARSat
(Canadian)
– shuttle mission
 How are maps created?
• Cartographers
(map makers)
transform the
photos into
digital imagery,
using computer
software.
 Becoming a cartographer
• What elements do you need to consider
when designing your own maps?
 All maps should have…
• Title
– identifies topic, purpose
– must stand out and easy to find
• Border
– borders of the map area are clearly defined
• Legend
– explain the meaning of symbols and colours
– locate in a corner of the map
• Scale
– compares distance on Earth to distance on map
• Directions
– North arrow or compass rose, usually on top of map
 Academic Maps
• Should also have…
• A cartographer’s or publisher’s name
– who or what organization created the map
• A date of when it was made or published
• A source and date of information
– where the information came from
 Mapping Symbols
• area symbols
– colour or pattern used
to represent a large
feature that covers an High
expansive area Airport
Park
 Mapping Symbols
• line symbols
– use lines to represent
connections between
places, boundaries or
natural features that
are linear (eg. rivers)

Bloor St. W.
 Mapping Symbols
• point symbols
Vancouver
– dots, stars, or simple
icons used to show the Washington
location of specific
places or services
power plant
 Mapping Symbols
• text (or lettering)
Vancouver
symbols
– modifying the font or BRITISH
size of a text to COLUMBIA
indicate a difference
between features Victoria
– ALWAYS label
features horizontally,
except natural features
(eg. rivers, mountains)
– use black ink or pencil
 Mapping Symbols
• colour (as a symbol)
Pacific Ocean
– BLACK is ONLY used
for lettering, not for ROCKY
shading an area MOUNTAINS
– BLUE is always for
water
– GREEN is usually for High
Park
forest or greenspace
(parks)
– BROWN is for natural
features
 Practice what you learned…
1. What is the topic?
2. What is the geographic region depicted?
3. What are 3 different symbols used by the
cartographer?
4. What do the symbols represent?
5. What type of map is it?
6. Is the map current?
Avalanche Regions of the
World
 Why are maps so important?
Maps are Used for:
1. Locating places
2. Planning where things will go
3. Looking for patterns/Solving Problems
 1. Locating places
• alphanumeric grids
– “alpha” – letter
– “numeric” – number
Practice:
1) At what grid reference is
most of Grovelands
Mansion? A2
2) Give one of the three grid
references in which the
lake lies. A-C3
3) What would you find at
grid reference B4? B ROAD and Entrance to the park
 Locating places
• Latitude • & Longitude
– imaginary parallel lines – imaginary lines that
that run LATERally, meet at the poles
across the earth

meridians
parallels
 Lines on the Earth
• Latitude
– imaginary lines that measure the distance
north or south of the Equator (0°)
– lines are parallel to the Equator at regular
intervals (approximately 111 kilometres
apart) North Pole o
90 N
Arctic Circle 66.5oN
o
Tropic of Cancer 23.5 N
Equator 0o
Tropic of Capricorn 23.5oS
Antarctic Circle 66.5oS
South Pole 90oS
 Lines on the Earth
• Longitude
– imaginary lines that measure the distance east or
west of the Prime Meridian (0°)
– all lines begin and end at the poles and therefore are
not at a fixed distance apart
– the Prime Meridian (0°) was arbitrarily chosen at a
point that runs through Greenwich, England
– the International Date Line (180°) is the point where
one day begins and one day ends
 Finding places
• GPS (Global
Positioning System)
– uses satellites to give
info to GPS units on
where you are on the
globe
– can also include map
info. to show you
which way to go
– eg. car, phone, bus
 Planning where things will go
• parks
• schools
• retirement homes
• bus routes
• sewer systems
• garbage dumps
• power plants
 Looking for patterns
• Using layers of
information to answer
a question or solve a
problem
• e.g. epidemiology
– Where did a disease
originate?
– Where will it go next?
– How can we prevent the
spread of disease?

• H1N1 on the Internet

Ebola Outbreak in Africa
 Using Maps to Ask and Answer
Geographic Questions
- What is where?
- Why there?
- Why care?
 What do you think is on the map?
• What does this map • Toronto Traffic Cameras
show you?
– Who would it be used
by?
– How can you describe
the pattern?
• clustered?
• linear?
• dispersed?
• Why are there no
cameras on the 407?
• Which neighbourhood in Toronto is the
most popular?
– By density
 Look for a pattern
• What is density?
• How would you
describe “where”
the dense
neighbourhoods
are located?
– Use compass
directions
– Use place names
– Use street names
– Use physical
features
 Make a prediction
• Which neighbourhood in Toronto is
hottest?
– In temperature!
 Look for a pattern
• Where are the
warmest and
coldest areas of
the city?
• Coolest?
• What shape are
the cool areas?
• What does the
shape tell you
about what is
probably there?

Landsat 7 derived surface temperature map of the Greater Toronto area, June
29, 2007. The imagery shows that suburb developments in Mississauga and
Brampton have the hottest daytime peak temperatures.
Find the pattern…
 The pattern, graphed
• What can you
say about the
relationship
between
vegetation and
temperature?
 Homework
• Find a digital (online) map of Toronto that shows
a human or natural feature
– eg. income levels by neighbourhood, distribution of
community centres, locations of Tim Hortons’ stores,
locations of beetle infestations in city trees
• Copy and paste the map into an e-mail
• In the email, describe the pattern that you see
on the map
– Where is this feature concentrated?
– Is it in a linear pattern? Clustered? Dispersed?
 Map Scales
• Map scale
– the relationship between a unit of length on a
map and the corresponding length over the
ground
• three different ways of describing scale.
 Scale
Area Detail Example
Small A lot Topographi
(streets, c maps,
Large road maps,
Scale Maps schools,
railways, city bus
…) maps
Large A little Globes,
Small Scale (borders, world maps,
Maps lakes, large atlases
rivers, …)
 verbal scale
– One cm to ten km
– clear and concise
– easily understood but
– difficult to apply accurately (i.e. calculate)
 graphic scale
• also called a “bar” scale
• a direct measure of the distance over the
ground

• simple to use
• remains accurate even if the map image is
enlarged or reduced
 using a graphic scale
• place the edge of a
sheet of paper on the
map and mark off the
distance between two
places
• compare the length
between the two
marks on the paper to
the length of the bar
scale printed on the
map
 bar scales-adding accuracy
• Practice: p. 54
– Woodstock – London
• measure with a ruler: 3.4 cm
• multiply by the km distance represented by 1 cm (12.5)
• 3.4 X 12.5 =
– Kitchener – Guelph
• measurement: 1.7
• “multiplier” – 12.5
• 1.7 X 12.5
– What is the multiplier ( 1cm : ____ km)
• p. 56 50 km
• p 60 50 km
• p. 65 120 km
– DIFFERENT MAPS HAVE DIFFERENT SCALES
Representative Fraction (RF) scale
• shows the relationship between one of any unit
on the map and the same units on the ground

• shown as an actual fraction

– e.g. 1/25 000
– more usually written like a mathematical proportion
– 1:25 000

• “1 cm on the map is equal to 25 000 cm on the

ground” (how it is read aloud—NOT verbal
scale)
 Converting R.F. scales
• Creating a verbal or statement scale
• Scale to be converted 1:200 000
• There are 100 000 cm in a km
• to find out how many km are in 200 000
cm divide this number by 100 000
200 000  100 000
= 2 km
One cm represents 2 km
 Converting R.F. scales
• Practice converting the following:
• 1: 450 000
– “One cm to 4.5 km”
• 1: 6 000 000
– “One cm to 60 km”
• 1: 50 000
– “One cm to 0.5 km”
• 1: 25 000
– “One cm to 0.25 km”
 Measuring distance on a map
1. Find the scale for the map you're going to use - it might be a ruler-
looking bar scale or a written scale, in words or numbers.
2. Use a ruler to measure the distance between the two places. If the
line is quite curved, use a string to determine the distance and then
measure the string.
3. If the scale is a representative fraction (and looks like 1/100,000 or
1:100,000), multiply the distance of the ruler by the denominator,
giving distance in the ruler units.
4. If the scale is a word statement (i.e. "One centimeter equals one
kilometer") then determine the distance.
5. For a graphic scale, you'll need to measure the graphic and divide
the scale into the measured units on the ruler.
6. Convert your units of measurement into the most convenient units
for you (i.e. convert 63,360 inches to one mile)
 Let’s Try It…
• Open your textbooks to page 47, and
answer questions 1-15 on pages 47 & 48.
– Be sure to write you answers on a separate
piece of lined paper.
– Also, ensure your name and date is also
written on your response sheet
– GOOD LUCK!!!
 Types of Maps
• general reference
– eg. Toronto streets map,
Ontario road map,
political map of Canada,
political map of the world
– Where are there general
reference maps in our
classroom?
 Types of Maps
• topographic
– show detailed
elevation of a small
area;
– used when going out
onto the land, into the
“bush”, surveying
– eg. canoe routes map
 Types of Maps
• thematic
– eg. Levels of Income (GDP)
 What Kind of Map is It?
• Looking at all the maps, put each
NUMBERED map into one of the
categories:
– General reference
– Thematic
– Satellite Image (it’s NOT a map…)
Q: What is the only
representation of the
world that does not
distort its features?

(warp, bend, misrepresent)

 Map projections
• the globe is the only way to accurately
reproduce the 3 dimensional surface of the
Earth
• all maps contain inaccuracies, or
distortions
• different “projections” (ways of transferring
3-D data onto 2-D surface) for different
purposes.
 Map projections activity
• On the Mercator projection
map (cylinder) you have
been given, label & shade
the following:
– Greenland, Australia, Russia,
Canada, India, Argentina,
Indonesia, Sudan, Saudi
Arabia, Brazil, Algeria
 Map projections activity
• Rank the countries by SIZE
from largest to smallest
according to how they
appear on the Mercator
map.
1. (largest)
2.
3.
… 10. (smallest)
 Map projections activity
• Find the World Stats. p. 184 in the atlas
• Look up the actual area of each of the 10
countries you labelled.
• Write down the country and area.
• Rank them again, by actual area.
1. (largest)
2.
3.
 Map projections activity
1. Compare the two rankings: How do they
differ?
2. How does the Mercator Projection distort
the surface of the Earth?
3. Which countries or areas of the world
might object to the use of this projection?
Why?
4. (Which type of map projection has less
distortion of area?)
Peters Projection
Winkel-Tripel Projection
 TEST – Oct. 8
• Mapping conventions
• provinces + territories
• Great Lakes and 3 Oceans
• capitals, + Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal
• Latitude + Longitude
• Major lines of lat. + long.
• Canadian Time Zones – converting times
• Map Scales
• DON’T FORGET: RULER, CALCULATOR