Project 2: Map Design

Country and Capital Place Names in the U.S. by Country

Maps are critical, particularly in a geography class. Making maps requires consideration, care, and thought. Neat work is important for well-designed maps. Edit them as you would your papers.

Each map consists of several parts:
1) title: at the top of the map indicate the kind of data mapped and by what geographical scale. For my Geography 111, Human Geography, students remember how you did the Third World and Europe mapping assignments.

2) categorize the data: the data by geographical unit will vary. Classify these data into several classes. Don't use too few -- because such a map will show no insightful patterns. And, don't use too many (10 or more) -- because such a map shows too much detail and is confusing!
For example, when you counted the number of place names by country, you found that some countries had many and others had very few occurrences. Group these data into more than three categories but not more than five. You have to make some decisions here. Making maps is both a science and an art!

3) legend: in this project, you are only dealing with one variable, so decide on the shading or colors that will represent the frequency of occurrences in each country. Remember, the lowest values must be the lightest color and the largest numbers, the brightest and/or the darkest colors. For an example, see the map of the black population in Goode's World Atlas. Don't label the legend with the word "legend" (you don't label the sheet of paper, "paper"!) and indicate what the numbers mean (e.g., simply numbers, percentages, or z scores.)

4) source: at the bottom of the map cite the specific source of the data plotted, e.g., 1990 US Census of Population. Don't just give the web address you used, but rather the full and proper name of the organization and in brackets give the web address.

Look at an example of a finished map by John E. Barbey or Don Porshien. Critically assess these maps and use the good ideas and avoid the bad ones. Now, that you have seen these maps, I expect your maps to be better!

Created by Ingolf Vogeler on 30 March 1996: last revised on 24 January 2011.