Tag: maps

September 14, 2012

September 13th, 2012

Dear Migrants,

Throughout human history, people have moved around. They have migrated to find a better life for themselves, their families, and their people. Usually a better life is the result of better natural resources. As we know from yesterday, resources determine how and where people live. We will look at population density maps today that illustrate that truth.

However, natural resources never stay the same. Humans used to get almost all their energy from wood burning and animal power but now have more efficient methods. We are always finding ingenious new ways to use something that’s never been used before. When we do this, we can make life possible in previously uninhabitable places. Just imagine what the future holds: perhaps humans living at the bottom of the ocean or on the moon or maybe even on Mars.

Let’s have a great day,

Mr. Heimbuck
September 6, 2012

September 5th, 2012

Dear Cartographers,

Anytime we make a map, we do the impossible: we make a sphere flat. Think about it–the earth is round, yet maps are always flat. How do humans do it? We do it, quite simply, by making distortions. While trying to be as accurate as possible, cartographers (the fancy word for map makers) have to make choices about how they’ll change the land.

Anytime we make a map, we make choices about what’s important, what’s relevant, and what belongs where. When you make your personal maps, you’re going to make similar choices. As long as you can offer a reasonable explanation for your decisions, they are the right ones, but you have to really think about what distortions are important to your world.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck
September 4, 2012

September 3rd, 2012

Dear Geographers,

This year we’ll spend a lot of time looking at maps. We’ll study tons of US maps that break our country up into physical and cultural regions, but most importantly we’ll think about what maps say both about the land they describe and also the people who make them.

People really do wild and creative things with maps (I’ll show you some examples today), which is why maps will never be replaced by satellites or GPS. Maps tell stories about land, history, people, cultures, attitudes, fears, and so much more. When you study maps, you not only learn about boundaries, capitals, proximities, and regions, you also learn about how humans imagine the world.

Let’s have a great day,

Mr. Heimbuck

Tag: maps

September 14, 2012

September 6, 2012

September 4, 2012