You are expected to follow all instructions.  Failure to do so will result in a reduced grade, so please, see me in advance of the due dates if you are having any trouble.  Papers not stapled together will be marked down a little; papers with grammatical errors will be marked down a lot.

Keep a copy of all your homework before you submit it.  In addition, keep all returned homework in case there is ever a discrepancy between your scores and my records.

You are invited to see me during office hours, and are encouraged to do so especially if you are not clear about how to proceed with a homework assignment.  Please give yourself plenty of time before due dates.

Lastly, give yourself enough time to enjoy (?!) these assignments and learn from them.  They allow a high degree of creativity, thoughtfulness and experimentation with geographical approaches.  If you wait until the last possible moment to read and begin the assignments, you will almost certainly face frustration, lose much of their pedagogical benefits, and could finish the course with a lifetime of hostility toward geography.  I can imagine nothing worse.  Don't let this happen to you.

Exercise #1:  Imagining Regions and Places

PART I.  This assignment encourages you to consider some of what takes place in creating and thinking of regions.  First, consider the South.  Before doing anything else, download a map of the US (blank pdf map of US) and draw onto it the region you think of when you think of "the South." Then, on a blank sheet of paper, make a list of all those characteristics and terms -- nouns, adjectives, images, names, places, etc -- you associate with the U.S. South.  Try to free think and avoid self-editing. Do thiswithout consulting any references.

PART II.  On another sheet of paper, as you did with the South, make a list of all those characteristics, nouns, adjectives, images, etc. that you associate with the Midwest.  On the same map as before, draw the region of the Midwest as you perceive it.   Once you have done this, make a clean version of your map -- this is the start of a perceptual map of the US; on the map, inside the two regions, clearly and creatively, write those words and characteristics that you associate with each region.  Label the map, put your name on it, and turn it in with the rest of the assignment.
     (1) a.Considering your list from PART I, from where do you get your information regarding the South?
          b. Considering your list from PART II, from where do you get your information about the Midwest?

PART III.  Now, read Edward Ayers article "What we talk about when we talk about the South" (pdf of Ayers article)  then type your answers to the following questions -- as well as question #1 above -- on the answer sheet provided (Exercise #1 answer sheet).
     (2) Identify those characteristics and attributes Ayers asserts that people perceive about the South; list them in the left hand column of the table.  Might people around the country say parallel or equivalent things about other regions or subregions of North America, Wisconsin or Minnesota, for example?  Demonstrate by completing the column on the right.  (We will return to this very concept later in the course when we talk about Canadian identity).
     (3) On page 66, Ayers writes, "Americans believe, hope the South is different . . . ."  Why, what does this mean?
     (3) On page 67, Ayers writes, "A considerable portion of what we see as Southern culture is manufactured to order."  What is Ayers talking about?  What is the difference between manufactured and "authentic" culture.
     (4) What is Ayers overall point?  What do you think he wants you, you Yankee, to take away from reading this article.
     (5) Does Ayers make a good argument?  What do you, in fact, learn from reading this article?
     (6) Last comments or thoughts.

TURN IN THE COMPLETED ANSWER SHEET AND A CLEAN ELECTRONIC VERSION OF YOUR PERCEPTUAL MAP BY THE BEGINNING OF CLASS ON THE DAY IT IS DUE.  PUT IN THE DIGITAL DROPBOX ON D2L. BE PREPARED TO DISCUSS WITH THE CLASS.

Exercise #2: State toponyms (place names)

BACKGROUND:
Read Linguistic Landscapes and the two short excerpts from Indian Names on Wisconsin's Maps and The Romance of Wisconsin Place Names to help you get started (click on links for pdf files). Beginning with the index of counties, cities and towns in  your atlas, examine the city and town names of the state.  What kinds of names do you find and what do these say about the geography of the state?  What do the toponyms tell you about the peoples of the state, their history, their priorities, value systems or interests?  What ethnic groups are prominent among the place names? How can you tell? What do the toponyms say about the physical geography of the state?

Next, look at the map of the state you are investigating.  Is there are regional clustering of any group of toponyms?  That is, are certain types of city/town names found in an region of the state.  For example, does one part of the state show a preponderance of Native American, French or other set of names?  Can you tell if there is prairie or swamp region, or can you find a line of cities with the name Falls in it?  Using a blank state map that you find off the internet or elsewhere, make a map of any significant findings -- you will very likely find some kind of regions that you can express on your state map.  Blank Maps are available on-line.  For pdf files, try the Census Bureau for blank state maps with counties labeled or infoplease for  entirely blank state maps or physiographically correct versions.

Part I.  We will choose states in class, one or two students per state (WI and MN will not be used). To determine which state you are assigned, divide the last two digits of your 7-digit UWEC ID number by 2 and round up, if necessary.  For example, the last two digits of the ID# 1234533 are 33, divided by 2 equals 16.5 and rounded up results in 17. Then, select the corresponding ranked number (17 = Lousianna, from the above example) from the list of states. Be sure you study only the state that you are assigned.

TABLE I (of Assigned State)

PART II. MAP
From your analysis, identify which of the types of place names that you have identified in Table 1 are the most distinctive -- in terms of frequency of occurrence and/or regional concentration. Plot these distinctive place names on your map.  Map must include title, source, legend, and label all place names.

PART III. ANALYSIS
Finally, assuming that place-names reflect physical and cultural geographical characteristics, write a 1 page analysis of your findings.  Bottom line:  What do the place names tell you about the state?  You will be graded on content, clarity, effort, cohesion, use of evidence and support, and significance.

Exercise #3: Agricultural regions of the United States

Go to the agricultural charts and maps website of the National Agricultural Statistics Service and familiarize yourself with the various types of crop, livestock and other graphs, charts and maps.  Pay specific attention to all the NASS county level and dot maps -- these are the primary data for your assignment.  The dot maps found among the Census 2002 US Agricultural Atlas Maps will be among the most helpful.

From all the data and maps available, and starting on a blank map of the US (perhaps one with the states outlined), divide the country into agricultural regions.  You decide the criteria for determining the regions, how to transfer the information to the blank map, the title, the legend, the layout, the labels, colors, and all the details that should be on the map.  If you are not sure of what should be on such a map, ask a geographer or find a good map to use as an example -- check out the student posters in the hall of Phillips 265 & 271 for good examples.  Be clear and creative.  Your map will be neat, and use colors.  It can be done by hand or by computer. HOT TIP:  Your map should be wholly self-explanatory to anybody who happens to pick it -- everything they need to know to understand it should be on the map.  Click here for a blank map of the US provided by the Arizona Geographic Alliance

Lastly, in no more than a page, present your map in a micro-essay.  Identify the data you used, why you chose it, what your map shows, how it reflects site characteristics & differences.  After making your map, compare it to other regional maps of the United States from our text, from on line, and/or from lecture.  Explain the similarities and differences.  What is the relationship between site, agricultural activity, and physical/cultural region?

You will turn in the following:  1) a great map; 2) your narrative; 3) a copy of the regional map to which you are comparing your map; 4) a bibliography of all your sources of info.

I will announce a computer session for any that want to begin the project with some hot tips on how one might want to proceed.

Exercise #4: Atlas of Popular Culture of the Upper Midwest

PART I. For this exercise, you will develop an entry for our class project, a web-based Atlas of Popular Culture of the Upper Midwest. There are numerous possible models for this project and we will use the Atlas of Popular Culture in the Northeastern United States. We will first compile a list of those entries that will be featured in our Atlas. Each student will then be responsible for developing an entry. Drs. Kaldjian & Hupy will take responsibility for organizing the overall website.

Go to the Atlas of Popular Culture in the Northeastern United States and make sure you understand what popular culture means (see definitions) and the kinds of things it includes. Then, think of your home town/region here in the upper Midwest. What is it known for? What kinds of things distinguish it from other places in the upper Midwest, and how does it represent the upper Midwest. You will need to submit a one page paper before spring break on what you will do your project on. PLEASE GET YOUR ENTRY APPROVED BEFORE YOU BEGIN SERIOUSLY WORKING ON IT.

PART II. Your entries will require maps, images, a narrative, and meaningful links to other resources. You will be required to compile all of this information as a web site. You may use examples from the Northeastern Atlas as your template. We will talk about the specifics in class.

Exercise #5: Canada's Site and Situation

PART I. Image
For this exercise, you are to choose a remotely sensed image of a place in Canada, and write a short geography of that place.  Those of you with Last names beginning A-F, find a site in Western Canada, G-K in Central Canada, and L-Z in Eastern Canada.  Search for an image on your own, or check out such sites as

1) Canada Landsat Images from Natural Resources Canada http://www.pfc.forestry.ca/eosd/resources/images_e.html#jpeg
2) The Gateway to Astronaut Photography http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/
3) NASA's Visible Earth website http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/
4) GE Source http://www.gesource.ac.uk/worldguide/satellite.html
5) Ikonos Space Imaging has interesting images (but they should not serve as your primary image)  http://www.spaceimaging.com/gallery/ioweek/archive/02-10-27/
6) Image gallery http://gallery.colofinder.net/ (you may have to hunt around this site)
7) 9,805 Shuttle images of Canada http://rove.to/canada/
8) Google Earth may also offer som great possibilities. Google Earth is available in numerous computer labs across campus. (List of Computer Labs with Google Earth).

Choose an image that is visually interesting and tells something important about Canadian people and place -- the quality of your image will influence the quality of your project.. (Note that you may to search for specific images with search words to find the right picture for you, for example, on NASA's website).

PART II.  Description
Do not simply describe the image.  Use the picture to launch a presentation of the geography of the place in which you explicitly identify the site and situation of the place and explain the significance of the two.  Think of such issues as how the picture represents the place?  How is what is shown in the image tied to the culture and environment of the people of the place captured in the image?  How is understanding what is in your picture important to understanding Canada?

Part III.  Format
To serve as a model and guide for your project, use excerpts from the small book USA From Space (by Anne-Catherine Fall, Firefly Books, 1997).  Click here for a PDF File that provides THREE EXAMPLES from that volume.  In other words, think of your homework assignment as an entry in the parallel volume that our class writes, Canada from Space. 

Your project will include the remotely-sensed image, a ground level image,  a locational map, and a bibliography of all sources.  The format of the written part will be  in four parts under the headings:  Introduction, Site, Situation, Conclusion.

A draft of your project is due a few weeks before the final and is worth 25 of the 100 points.  For the draft, you are to have identified the place you are doing, the picture you are using, sources you will use for information.  You are to provide a draft of the opening paragraph for your project as well as a list of all those site and situation characteristics and something about their significance.

Your final project is to be a 1-2 page entry with photos embedded into the text. Use any software with which you are familiar, though front page might work best so that we can easily put it on the web.  See the website to which your projects will be linked.  Click on the following:  Canada From Above.