Creating Maps in Geography
When producing maps make sure there are no more than 10-15 symbols used in the legend (ideally 12).
Legends should be hierarchically categorized (through use of colour and size of symbols) using all four types of representation (areas, lines, arrows, points). Places and names must also be correctly labelled on the map.
The 4 basic types of symbols that can be included on your map in order to represent information are:
Areas (e.g. state at the heart of globalization)
Lines (e.g. a communication route such as a railway)
Arrows (e.g. merchandise flows)
Points (e.g. the location of a city)
This document explains how to construct a map and organize the legend in a hierarchical sense:
Example Maps on the topic Seas and Oceans at the core of globalization:
fond de la carte pour le monde Briesemeister
There are many different types of map projections that exist, some that you may come across in lessons include:
– the familiar Mercator projection which is less accurate with distance from the equator:
One of the most common criticisms of the Mercator map is that it exaggerates the size of countries nearer the poles (US, Russia, Europe), while downplaying the size of those near the equator (the African Continent). On the Mercator projection Greenland appears to be roughly the same size as Africa. In reality, Greenland is 0.8 million sq. miles and Africa is 11.6 million sq. miles, nearly 14 and a half times larger.
– the Lambert projection which projects the surface onto a cone:
– and the Breisemeister projection developed in 1953 which presents land masses more centrally and with less distortion:
Each has advantages and disadvantages, watch the video below for more explanation: