The World of Mapping
Seeing & Enjoying The Bigger Picture
Mapping and its relation to
local, national and global geography enables us to better understand
and enjoy our surroundings. This area of the site dishes up all
kinds of fun and interesting sections from information on mapping,
to various facts and figures and history, to games and quizzes
that everyone can explore and have fun with. The topics covered
below include:
So check out all the resources in each
section below, open your minds, have fun, and let the exploration
begin!
North
American Geography
Canadian Geographic - Games &
Quizzes
Welcome to The Canadian Atlas Online Games
& quizzes arena. Canadians are renowned for their love of
a challenge and their spirit of competition. Have fun demonstrating
your knowledge and learning fascinating new facts about Canada
from a selection of puzzles, quizzes and crosswords presented
for your enjoyment.
www.canadiangeographic.ca/atlas/games.aspx
National Geographic - Geography
Slideshow & Multimedia
This section provides a link to the National Geographic's Education
area and their Encyclopedic Entry for a rich source of details
on the physical geography of North America. It includes a slideshow
that can be maximized full screen, as well as vocabulary highlights
and glossary, images, links to maps and multimedia (left side
of page), Worksheets and Handouts (bottom of page), and more.
www.
education.nationalgeographic.com
Learning Games For Kids.com - Geography
A resource with links to simple educational games such as Word-O-Ramas,
Letterfalls, Wordsearches, Spelling, Jigsaw puzzles and more.
Online Learning
Games for kids are a great way to build the skills that kids need
to succeed in school. These educational games for kids make learning
fun.
www.learninggamesforkids.com/geography_games/north-america.html
World
Geography
Canadian Council for Geographic
Education
While there are hundreds of reasons why
students should study geography, here is the CCGE’s list
of the Top 10 reasons. Download and post a copy of this list in
your classroom today!
Top
10 Reasons to Study Geography
(PDF file, 2 pages)
Classroom Activities: Canadian Geographic
Poster Maps, Human Geography, Physical Geography, Environmental
Geography and Geomatics.
www.ccge.org/resources/learning_centre/classroom_activities
National Geographic - Geography
Skills Article
Next is an interesting article discussing the importance of
developing geographic knowledge and skills.
“Geographic
skills provide the necessary tools and techniques for us to
think geographically.”
The Importance of Geographic Skills
“Geographic skills provide the necessary
tools and techniques for us to think geographically. They are
central to geography’s distinctive approach to understanding
Earth’s physical and human patterns and processes. Geographic
skills are used in making decisions important to everyday life—where
to buy or rent a home; where to get a job; how to get to work
or to a friend’s house; and where to shop, vacation, or
go to school. All of these decisions involve the ability to
acquire, arrange, and use geographic information. Daily decisions
and community activities are linked to thinking systematically
and spatially about environmental and societal issues."
...
http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/geographic-skills
National Geographic - Video
"Why is Geo-literacy Important: Prepare
for Decision-Making in the 21st Century"
(Video - 4:13 minutes)
www.education.nationalgeographic.com/education/media/why-is-geo-literacy-important
National Geographic - Interactive
Map
MapMaker Interactive
"Explore your world with map themes,
data, and tools for customizing your map."
This may take a while to download depending
on your Internet connection, but once it does it's quick ... and
very cool. Play around with the interactive map functions and
tools on the left side, go full screen, zoom in/out, and discover
details and information overlayed on the map about: physical and
water and land systems, sea surface temperatures, population densities,
language diversities, global time zones, electricity generation,
see where all the "big cats" in the world live, view
the patterns of night time lights across the world, and more.
All features are able to be enabled/disabled, turned on &
off to display the corresponding information over the map. View
longitude/latitude details as you move your mouse around. You
can even adjust transparency settings of different details, draw
on the map, and show streets and satellite views, add many different
types of markers to the map, and much more. A fun, interesting
and engaging way to spend some time while learning more about
the world we all share!
http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/mapping/interactive-map/
More World/Geography Map Links
This collection contains a selection
of content from National Geographic Education about maps. Use
"Search" to find more.
http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/topics/maps
"Investigating
Your World With My World GIS A Collection of Guided Inquiry Exercises
for Explorers of All Ages"
http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/my-world-gis/?ar_a=1
Sheppard Software - Learning Games
Some fun and simple to intermediate online World Geography Games
by Sheppard Software. By playing Sheppard Software's geography
games, you will gain a mental map of the world's continents, countries,
capitals, & landscapes!
www.sheppardsoftware.com/Geography.htm
History
of Mapping
This section provides a few links that
harken back to the development of maps by our ancestors from days
long gone as they explored and made new discoveries about the
world around them.
We owe our current knowlege and advanced
mapping systems to the efforts they made in building the foundation
upon which we and all future generations will benefit.
Historical Maps of Canada - Destination:
The Past
"Take a walk through the history of
Canada. See the maps and read the history by selecting a year."
www.canadiangeographic.ca/mapping/historical_maps/
Bibliothèque et Archives
nationales du Québec (BAnQ)
For another walk down memory lane and an even further look
back at earlier versions of the map of Canada, check out the following
links.
A digital collection
providing access to thousands of cartographic documents digitized
by BAnQ. Collection numérique Cartes et plans [Digital
collection - Maps and plans] (available in French only)
Welcome to the
digital collection of maps and plans of the National Archives
& Public Library of Quebec, which is comprised of thousands
of cartographic documents of Quebec at various periods of its
history, since the time of New-France and up until the present.
(original en Francais: Bienvenue dans la collection numérique
de cartes et plans de Bibliothèque et Archives
nationales du Québec (BAnQ), qui comprend des
milliers de documents cartographiques du Québec à
différentes périodes de son histoire, depuis l’époque
de la Nouvelle-France jusqu’à nos jours.)
http://services.banq.qc.ca/sdx/cep/accueil.xsp
America, 1500
- 1800
The collection set of themes America, 1500-1800 presents a few
hundreds of geographical maps of North America realized or published
before 1800. As much works of art that works science, these documents
testifies to the French and Amerindian presence on the continent
of North America as well as vast regions explored by the missionaries,
the soldiers and the trappers in search of knowing geographical.
(original en Francais: La collection thématique
America, 1500-1800 présente quelques centaines de cartes
géographiques de l’Amérique du Nord réalisées
ou publiées avant 1800. Autant œuvres d’art
qu’œuvres de science, ces documents témoignent
de la présence française et amérindienne
sur le continent nord-américain ainsi que des vastes contrées
explorées par les missionnaires, les militaires et les
coureurs des bois en quête de savoir géographique.)
http://services.banq.qc.ca/sdx/cep/accueil.xsp?col=america
Canada, or New
France, &c: what is advancé the most towards North
is drawn from various relations from Anglois, Danes, &c.,
towards the midy the costes of Virginia, Nouvlle Sweden, New the
Netherlands, and New England, are drawn from those from Anglois,
Hollandois, &c., the Large River of Canada or St Laurens,
and all the surroundings are according to the relations of François.
(original en Francais: Le Canada, ou Nouvelle France, &c :
ce qui est le plus advancé vers le Septentrion est tiré
de diverses relations des Anglois, Danois, &c., vers le midy
les costes de Virginie, Nouvlle Suede, Nouveau Pays Bas, et Nouvelle
Angleterre, sont tirées de celles des Anglois, Hollandois,
&c., la Grande Rivière de Canada ou de St Laurens,
et tous les environs sont suivant les relations des François.)
Date de publication : 1656
http://images.banq.qc.ca/erez4/download/2663301_1bf41ce6dd8f2c30.zipu
More History Links
A more in depth look at the history
behind the development and usage of modern mapping tools, way
back from its humble beginnings thousands of years ago. A good
read from Wikipedia.
History
of Cartography
Ancient Wisdom's details on early cartography and Prehistoric
mapping tools. "The unofficial oldest
map in the world was discovered in Ukraine in 1966, dating from
about 11 - 12,000 B.C. Inscribed on a mammoth tusk it was found
in Mezhirich, Ukraine."
http://www.ancient-wisdom.co.uk/cartography.htm
A tabled "Index
of Cartographic Images illustrating maps from the Ancient Period:
6,200 B.C. to 400 A.D."
http://www.henry-davis.com/MAPS/AncientWebPages/AncientL.html
Types
of Maps
When one thinks of a map, one normally
thinks of road maps and globes and atlases. This section provides
one link for those interested in exploring the vast array of different
types of mapping systems that exist. It's an interesting subject,
and one that will lead the reader into the many different areas
that have developed in the wide world of mapping technology.
This link is a Wikipedia reference
which lists about 55 types of maps, though there are probably
more. Chances are, you just might need a map to lead you back
here after delving into all of the topics it provides.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Map_types
Map
& Geography Glossaries
Canadian Atlas Online Glossary of
terms
This section links to the Canadian Atlas Online Glossary of terms,
which includes "hundreds of geographic
definitions, terminologies and concepts. Search by first letter
or simply browse through the terms from A to Z. Each term is illustrated
by stunning photography and is accompanied by an audio pronunciation
key - simply click on the sound icon next to each definition to
hear how the word is pronounced."
www.canadiangeographic.ca/atlas/glossary.aspx
esri GIS Dictionary
If you're interested in more advanced terms and concepts, you
can check out the online esri GIS Dictionary. It includes "definitions
for GIS terms related to operations such as analysis, GIS modeling
and web-based GIS, cartography, and Esri software."
esri
Gis Dictionary
For example, what is GIS?
GIS
See Also : analysis, model, spatial analysis, spatial data
1.[GIS technology] Acronym for geographic information system.
An integrated collection of computer software and data used to
view and manage information about geographic places, analyze spatial
relationships, and model spatial processes. A GIS provides a framework
for gathering and organizing spatial data and related information
so that it can be displayed and analyzed.
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