D Block Physical Geography - Today we'll work on the foundations of Geography starting with the Five Themes. In order to understand the increasingly complex and interconnected world we live in we need to find a way to make sense of information in a way that doesn't overwhelm us. The Five Themes (Location, Place, Human-Environment Interactions, Movement, and Regions) are a framework for making sense of geographic data. It helps you to understand the holistic nature of geography of geography (emphasizing the organic or functional relation between parts and the whole, as each theme cannot be seen in isolation from the others).
Geographers ask two simple questions: Where are people and activities found on Earth? and Why are they found there? So we'll try to work on the Questions:
How do Geographers describe where things are? (Location or Site)
Why is each point on Earth unique? (Place or Situation and also Regions if you think of scale)
How are Places connected (Movement and Regions)
Why Are Different Places Similar? (Regions)
How do Humans interact with Environments in different places? (Human Environment Interactions)
We'll do this through the 5 Themes. Consider this, for absolute location instead of Lat & Long/Street Addresses/Grid Coordinates...Check out the "what3words" app/map is all about. What3words divided the entire world into a grid of 3 meter squares and gave each square a unique combination of three random words (a what3words address). This means that every building or station entrance, pop-up venue and meet-up spot in a park has its own unique address, allowing users to easily find, share and navigate to anywhere in the world. Young's desk can be found at
///dangerously.hydration.uphill
C Block Human Geography - You have two questions to work on for me today:
- Describe the four types of distortion AND for each type of distortion explain which type of map projection you would use to best minimize the distortion.
- GPS is most commonly used for navigation. Pilots of aircraft and ships stay on course with GPS. On land, GPS detects a vehicle’s current position, the motorist programs the desired destination, and GPS provides instructions on how to reach the destination. So, in your everyday life how do you use GPS and how does it affect your activities?
To help with question 1, check out yesterday's videos on map distortions and the following websites
Types of Map Projections from Geography RealmMap Projections from Axis Maps
Selecting a Map Projection from National Geographic
When to use which map projection from Flourish
Fundamentals of Mapping: Projections from Australian Intergovernmental Committee on Surveying and Mapping
Cartography Chapter 6 Part 3: Map Projection Distortions from KSU Geog 3305 AND...
Map Projections from the USGS (look at page 2 of the pdf - it looks like this
Now, there are a lot of good maps and a whole lot of bad maps in the world. One of the most important characteristics that distinguish good maps from bad is Clarity / Legibility. This means that the reader should be able to understand the map and be able to read it. So, here are some Mistakes to avoid when Creating Maps
- Over complicating the map with too much information.
- Misrepresenting the information, using the wrong symbols.
- Missing essential components, like a compass, legend, or scale.
- Missing important or useful information
- Not using proper colours and fonts to make sure that the map is legible.
Of course you could just be factually wrong
Or maddingly cluttered and confusing
Or you could have too much writing
Or you lack colour differentiation
Or you could layer too much information and have too much colour
ESRI What can I do with GIS?
National Geographic What is GIS?
Geolounge What is GIS
GIS Geography
VIU GIS programs
UVIC Geomatics program
These websites help a great deal as well:
Could the world cope if GPS stopped working?
What Happens If GPS Fails?
How GPS has revolutionized our lives
B Block Legal Studies - Today we'll review the five functions of law and then identify the divisions of Public (criminal, constitutional, and administrative) and Private law (tort, family, contract, property, and labour law).
What Happens If GPS Fails?
How GPS has revolutionized our lives
Public and Private Law (from India but a good text source nonetheless)
A Block Criminology - Today, to start the class, I would like you back in your pod/groupings where I'll give you a handout to help you with crime theories and I'd like your group to see where your crime theory categorized clusters (similar categories) fit in terms of Choice, Trait, Social Structure, Social Learning, and Conflict theories. The goal of criminological theory is to help one gain an understating of crime and criminal justice. Many disciplines factor into criminological theories, such as psychology, sociology, biology, political science, and criminal justice. Theories cover the making and the breaking of the law, criminal and deviant behavior, as well as patterns of criminal activity. Individual theories may be either macro or micro. Theories can be used to guide policy making, and can be evaluated on a number of criteria including: clarity, scope, parsimony (concise), testability, practical usefulness, and empirical validity. Many theories have common traits, but differences among them still exist. Understanding these differences is key to understanding the often contradictory views of crime and deviance they try to explain. Some good theories explanation videos can be found here at Criminology Web on Youtube. You could also look at the video from Rachael Means below
Next, we'll begin our look at the nature vs. nurture debate by focusing on the history of psychological and sociological criminology and our brief history of criminology (from B.C.E up to and including the current theories, which will help you with your first activity in the course).
Today's Fit...
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