Lab 3 Week 3

View Obama's Cabinet in a larger map

The above map is a map of where President Obama and his cabinet were born. It is interesting to see in the map that only 5 of the 15 cabinet members are from west of the Mississippi River, meaning that it is a mid-west and east-coast dominated cabinet (by birth). You can always tell a little bit about someone from where they were born and raised and I decided to create this map to see if there was any correlation between where members of the cabinet were from and the current political climate of that state. I can say confidently that almost every member of the President's cabinet was born in a state that voted for President Obama in 2008. In addition to where each member was born is a line to the White House, where they now work and meet with the President on a frequent basis.

Regarding nanogeography, the study and implementation has many positive and negative features associated with its use that is sure to shape the way we look at geography and maps. To start on the downside, one major downside of nanogeograph is its ability to "clog" up the information markets where people go for advice. Sure, everyone has an opinion on most things, but if each person created a map of their favorite places to eat, ski, shop, etc..., then it would be tougher to distiguish and find in a search the more relevant, better put-together, and profession maps. Also, nanogeography makes way for people to data-mine to find a pattern where infact there is none. Maps, like data, can always be squewed in a certain way to support a certain cause/idea, and with the tools of nanogeograph, the door is open for people to draw seemingly absurd ideas and prove them weakly with a map. Lastly, there are ways to create inaccurate maps and not enough people to fact-check every map, which could lead to people getting inaccurate information.

The positives in nanogeography I believe far outweight the pitfalls. Nanogeography makes the study and use of geography more acessable for everyone, letting them utilize powerful geographic tools for certain purposes. Nanogeography allows runners to better map out their favorite routes, a hiker their trail, and a road-tripper their itinerary. This ability to allow anyone to better use geographic tools can not only help themselves personally, but through publishing those maps on the web, help others find enjoyment aswell. Nanogeography lets viewers see patterns they may have otherwise missed or find new geographic information data that others have missed. By opening up the tools of nanogeograph, the world is more involved in the workings around them and allows everyone to be a scholar, participant, and viewer of the world.

Lab 2

Geography 7 Lab 2:

1. What is the name of the quadrangle?

The name of the quadrangle is Beverly Hills Quadrangle, California- Los Angeles- Co.

2. What are the names of the adjacent quadrangles?

The names of the adjacent quadrangles are Ganoga Park, Van Nuys, Burbank, Topanga, Hollywood, Venice, and Inglewood.

3. When was the quadrangle first created?

The map was first created in 1966

4. What datum was used to create your map?

The North American datum of 1927 and North American datum of 1983

5. What is the scale of the map?

The scale of the map is 1:24,000

6.
a. 5 centimeters on the map is equal to 1200 meters

b. 5 inches on the map is equal to 1.894 miles.

c. 1 mile on the ground is equal to 2.64 inches
d. 3 km on the ground are equal to 12.5 cm

7. What is the contour interval on your map?

The contour interval is 20 feet

8.

a. Public Affairs is 34 degrees, 5 minutes, and 30 seconds north and 118 degrees, 26 minutes, 30 seconds east

Latitude = 34.091667 degrees N, Longitude = -118.441667 degrees W

b. Santa Monica Pier is 34 degrees, 1 minute, 0 seconds north and 118 degrees, 30 minutes, 0 seconds east.

Latitude= 34.016667 degrees N, Longitude= -118.5 degrees W

c. The upper part of Franklin Canyon Reservoir is 34 degrees, 5 minutes, 30 seconds north and 118 degrees, 24 minutes, 0 seconds east

Latitude= 34.091667 degrees N, Longitude= -118.4 degrees W

9.
a. The elevation of Greystone mansion is 560 feet (170 meters)
b. The cemetery is 140 feet (42.7 meters)
c. The park is at a 620 feet (118 meters)

10. What is the UTM zone of the map?

It is in UTM Zone 1111.

11. What are the UTM coordinates for the lower left corner of your map?

The UTM coordinates for the lower left corner of the Beverly Hills Quadrangle are 3763000 northing and 362000 easting.

12. How many square meters are contained within each cell (square) of the UTM gridlines?

1,000,000 square meters are within each cell of the UTM gridlines

13. Obtain elevation measurements, from west to east along the UTM northing 3771000, where the eastings of the UTM grid intersect the northing. Create an elevation profile using these measurements in Excel (hint: create a line chart). Figure out how to label the elevation values to the two measurements on campus. Insert your elevation profile as a graphic in your blog.

The x's on the map indicate the 2 UCLA points

14. What is the magnetic declination of the map?

The magnetic declination is 14 degrees.

15. In which direction does water flow in the intermittent stream between the 405 freeway and Stone Canyon Reservoir?

The water flows from North to South

16. UCLA MAP!

Week 1 Lab

The map on the right is a geothermal map of the United States. The map can be found at http://smu.edu/geothermal/heatflow/heatflow.htm. The geothermal map here shows the heat of the earth under the surface by multiplying the well temperature gradient times the thermal conductivity. It is interesting because there is lots of talk in technology circles and the media about harnessing geothermal energy and by the looks of this map, it is apparent that the best place for this technology to be implemented would be in the Colorado Rockies and along the coast of California. It is also interesting to note that the east coast and mid-west has very little geothermal heat (comparatively) and implementing geothermal energy may be difficult and less efficient there.



The map on the right here is a map of the world population, broken down by each country and formatted to resemble how the landmasses of each country actually look. It can be found at the URL: http://sun-bin.blogspot.com/2005/12/map-world-population-and-gdp-scaled.html. It is interesting to compare this map with an actual scaled map of the land of the world and compare the countries that have a large population on this map with their actual land size. China obviously has a large population, but by looking at a land map, it also occupies a large landmass. Also, Australia has a large landmass but a relatively small population by looking at this map. Russia too comparatively has a small population when compared with China, but also has lots of land for further development in the country by looking at a landmass map.

The map on the right here is a map of how each district in California voted in the 2004 Presidential Election. Red districts are the ones where a majority voted for George Bush and the Blue districts are the ones where a majority voted for John Kerry. The map can be found at the URL: http://theelectoralmap.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/12-09-california-congressional.jpg. It is interesting to note in this map that a majority of the districts that Kerry carried in California were in larger urban areas like San Francisco, Los Angeles, Sacramento and San Diego. Also, these districts tend to be along the coast of California (with the exception of a few like Sacramento that is blue and the Orange County areas where are red). Also, all districts along the Nevada border voted for Bush and also the state of Nevada voted for Bush as well, maybe implying that the local political thoughts are border-less along the state line. However, it should be noted that Kerry did win the popular vote in California and all of its electoral votes, even though just by looking at the landmasses of districts that voted for Bush, they cover more area.